“It’s so important that we preserve and spread blues music because it has such raw emotion behind it. Its origins came from a dark time in history that we can never repeat. Every word that those original blues musicians sang came from truth and heartache. As well, every form of modern music has some relation to the blues.”

Joel Dupuis: Heavy Rockin’ Blues 

Joel Dupuis Band (Awarded London blues band of the year 2024 and guitar player of the year 2024) is an electrifying three piece band that gives an energetic performance, and a straight shot of pure, no filler, rocking blues in the form of soulful originals as well as an original take on old favourites. Joel Dupuis has played all over the Southern Ontario music scene as well as Festivals in Thorold, Toronto, Kincardine, and London to name a few. In January 2025 he represented the Canada South Blues Society (Windsor) in Memphis, TN playing at the IBC. He has shared the stage with the likes of Scott Holt (current frontman of Foghat), The Cashbox Kings (top 10 blues album of the year 2017), JW-Jones (JUNO Nominee) and Pat Harrington (Victor Wainwright and The Train, Grammy nominee) as well, he has also toured with Ghost Town Blues Band out of Memphis Tennessee (#1 Billboard Blues Album 2019, B.B. King International entertainer of the year). The Joel Dupuis Band is an experience, delivering an unforgettable live show that you won’t want to miss.                                                    (Photo: Joel Dupuis)

Very Best Fool (2025), the new album from The Joel Dupuis Band, leaps out of the gate with a confident swagger that belies the fact this is their debut release. At the ripe old age of 22, Dupuis leads his trio through a powerful set that is Blues to the core, but amplified with doses of vintage southern rock. Not only do these 10 songs showcase his stunning guitar work, they also display a very obvious deep respect for history. Across Very Best Fool's 10 songs, Dupuis leads his band through an array of grooves that channel a churning, smoky, chicago vibe, to powerful and precise ballads to riff heavy blues-rock, and more. The further you dig in, the more musical touchstones become apparent with every listen, and the more The Joel Dupuis Band positions itself as part of the next generation of riff-heavy blues and beyond.

Interview by Michael Limnios                Special Thanks: Larry Kay (Night Train PR)

How has the music influenced your views of the world? Why do you think that the Blues and Southern Rock continue to generate such a devoted following?

Music has massively influenced my views of the world. As a songwriter, I feel like I tend to “stop and smell the roses” just a little more. When I’m feeling good, I try to lean into it, and ask why, and I do the same when I’m feeling bad. It’s also the best way to get your thoughts out into the world, kind of like a journal. Music allows me to say things I wouldn’t otherwise say, it’s very therapeutic.

I believe that blues and southern rock both continue to generate such a devoted following because the material is real. The songs are about real, and relatable experiences and emotions that we’ve all felt in one way or another. The blues doesn’t sugarcoat things, but it makes you feel good because someone else, somewhere in the world - either 50 years ago or today - is singing about the same things you feel. When you feel like you can relate so closely to somebody you’ve never met because of a song you heard... well, that’s real, and that’ll keep people coming back for more.

“I think music has a really positive impact on racial and socio-cultural issues because it helps people connect beyond differences. It gives everyone a voice and lets folks share their stories in a way that others can relate to and feel. Music can bring different cultures together in a way like no other, it’s a language that everyone can understand.” (Photo: Joel Dupuis)

How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? Where does your creative drive come from?

In my mind, I’m a Blues guitarist. I’ve always been a guitar player first. When I say blues, I know I’m not everyone’s immediate definition of the genre, I have many influences from many genres of music and I love to wear them on my sleeve. I adore rock n’ roll, it’s my first love, after all, Aerosmith is what got me into guitar in the first place. Growing up I got the majority of my music taste from listening to old records with my Dad, we listened to everything from Jim Croce to Rory Gallagher to Johnny Winter and beyond. But, I really got into the blues when he showed me Stevie Ray Vaughan, after that, it was over and I was hooked. 

My sound is a jambalaya of all of my influences put together; it’s rock, it’s blues, and it’s what makes me smile and tap my foot. When I play, I play for myself first, and I listen. If I can’t “feel” what I’m playing in the music, then I’m not doing my job, because if I don’t feel it, then the folks listening aren’t feeling it either. My sound is very honest to myself and very explorative. I want to push the boundaries of blues, and where the line is between blues and rock and even other genres. 

My songbook stems from real events and times in my life, some are about great happy times, others are about low times. I also like to write in a way that’s not always right on the nose about what I’m singing. I like to leave it a bit open so that the listener can attach their own meaning to the song, that way it can mean one thing to me, and something completely different to someone else. The song then takes on a whole new life but means just as much to both of us.

What do you miss most nowadays from the music of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of music?

I miss how explorative musicians used to be, when every band had their own sound. Nowadays, to me, almost everybody sounds the same, more or less, in every genre. It almost feels like people found a formula that works, and then just stopped pushing forward. It feels like most music is almost at a standstill creativity-wise, and that worries me. There are so many amazingly talented musicians out there, but I want to hear what sets them apart, I want to hear their individuality and their creativity and I want to be inspired. I try to hold myself to these very same standards. My biggest hope for the future of music is that people start pushing boundaries again and exploring. It's what makes music fun and interesting for both the musician and the listener.

“I believe that blues and southern rock both continue to generate such a devoted following because the material is real. The songs are about real, and relatable experiences and emotions that we’ve all felt in one way or another.” (Photo: Joel Dupuis, Canada-based Rockin’ Blues guitarist)

What moment changed your music life the most? What´s been the highlights in your life and career so far?

There’s been a couple of really important musical moments in my life, the first one is when my dad showed me Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rendition of “Little Wing” for the first time. I can still see myself in the kitchen listening with my dad, I remember it clear as day. After that I was hooked on the blues. I started seeing who his influences were and that got me into Albert King and Muddy Waters and so many others from there on out. 

The other most important musical moment of my life happened in 2018. There was a local club that had a blues act every Thursday night called “The London Music Club”. Growing up I went there a lot with my parents. We knew the club owner and he always made sure to introduce me to all the acts coming through, and I would talk to them about everything music related and take their advice to heart. A lot of the musicians I met there growing up, I’m fortunate to now call my friends. One Thursday night in 2018 a fella named Scott Holt came through with his band. I sat down in the front row, all excited to hear him play. It was a packed house, as it was most of the time, it was a very small room. All night I watched his left hand as I tried to remember the licks he was playing. He picked up a trick that he learned from when he toured with Buddy Guy. He had a wireless guitar, so he would walk around the room and then put the guitar on a lady’s lap, let her bang away on the guitar, and then he’d take it back and give it to another gal. Well, he ended up putting the guitar in my lap, so I started playing right there in my chair. My mom was sitting beside me and yelled to stand up, so I did, and I walked right on the stage and finished the solo. It was a super cool moment for me as I’d never played in front of anyone before then. What was even cooler was the fact that the couple who put together the Kincardine Bluesfest every year were there that night, and gave me my first ever gig right there, on the spot, at their festival, and I’ve been playing live ever since!                                                (Photo: Joel Dupuis)

“When I write songs, if they don’t interest me lyrically/musically they don’t see the light of day; and trust me, I’ve written plenty of songs that won’t see the light of day! I try to write constantly or change up song arrangements so that when people come to a concert, they don’t see the same show twice.”

What is the impact of music on the racial and socio-cultural implications? How do you want the music to affect people?

I think music has a really positive impact on racial and socio-cultural issues because it helps people connect beyond differences. It gives everyone a voice and lets folks share their stories in a way that others can relate to and feel. Music can bring different cultures together in a way like no other, it’s a language that everyone can understand.

For me, I want my music to affect people by making them feel inspired. I want folks to be able to relate to what I’m singing about. Most of all, I want people to be able to feel something or think of something when they’re listening to my songs.

Why is it important that we preserve and spread the blues? What's the balance in music between technique (skills) and soul/emotions?

It’s so important that we preserve and spread blues music because it has such raw emotion behind it. Its origins came from a dark time in history that we can never repeat. Every word that those original blues musicians sang came from truth and heartache. As well, every form of modern music has some relation to the blues. Look at country for example, if you dig past the surface and the twang, you’ve got someone singing about how he’s lost his girl - you got the blues. Look at rock, so much of the foundation of rock was built on the back of the blues. From a musical standpoint, a lot of early rock was just blues licks and riffs that were sped up. It’s so important we preserve the blues, but it’s also extremely important that the genre continues to evolve. Blues needs to develop a sound that attracts the younger generation. At the moment, a lot of young people think that the blues is just an old man sitting and playing an acoustic guitar. That’s one form of the blues for sure, but there’s also young musicians like Marcus King who are pushing the blues, and blues-rock to the next generation in a not-so-traditional sense, which is extremely important for the survival and evolution of the genre.

As far as finding a balance between technique and emotion, I love to be technical in my playing but only if it serves the song. In my opinion, soul and emotion will always take priority over technicality. If you make a song overly complicated or over play your part on guitar, you’re taking away from the feeling of the song which can result in your message not getting through the way you intend. As well, if you make a song too complicated, people will have to listen twice as hard and may leave with a headache as a result and the song will have lost its meaning. It’s important to have technically interesting songs for sure, but only as long as it doesn’t interfere with the message and soul of the song.

“In my mind, I’m a Blues guitarist. I’ve always been a guitar player first. When I say blues, I know I’m not everyone’s immediate definition of the genre, I have many influences from many genres of music and I love to wear them on my sleeve. I adore rock n’ roll, it’s my first love, after all, Aerosmith is what got me into guitar in the first place.” (Photo: Joel Dupuis)

What are you doing to keep your music relevant today, to develop it and present it to the new generation?

When I write songs, if they don’t interest me lyrically/musically they don’t see the light of day; and trust me, I’ve written plenty of songs that won’t see the light of day! I try to write constantly or change up song arrangements so that when people come to a concert, they don’t see the same show twice. I always play what interests me, and I’m not afraid to play atypical licks or riffs you wouldn't typically hear in a traditional blues setting. I’m always trying to evolve and push forward and I have an amazing band behind me that has the same mentality, it makes the creative process stay fresh when you have three different minds working towards a common goal. It's always fun to see how we get there.

Let’s take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really want to go for a whole day?

Hmm, that’s a great question, of course there’s a bunch of “musical landmarks” that I’d love to see, Woodstock of course and Live Aid would be cool. If I could only go to one spot in time for a day, it would probably be to go back to 1983 and witness the recording of the Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King album “In Session”. Stevie Ray is my favourite musician of all time, and Albert King is top 3 for me as well. To see both of those guys playing all day in a room together, you wouldn't be able to get me back in the time machine to come home!

The Joel Dupuis Band - Home

(Photo: Joel Dupuis)