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J.P. LeBlanc has already had a pretty full music career: three CDs, awards, hundreds of shows and tours, two ECMA nominations.

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J.P. LeBlanc

And now he’s decided to settle down and put it aside – at the ripe old age of 23.

LeBlanc, who started performing in Bathurst at the age of 12, wraps up his bachelor’s degree in business administration at Université de Moncton next month and is looking for a job in Bathurst.

When it comes down to it, LeBlanc said he found he just didn’t like touring for long periods of time. After he spent two and a half months on the road last fall – travelling across Canada, including a performance in Vancouver – he knew it wasn’t for him.

“I like to stay put,” he said.

“Bathurst is really home. My family is there, my girlfriend is there.”

LeBlanc says he will still sing and write songs and play his guitar on evenings and weekends.

There may be another CD some day – but not for a while.

His music career had seemed poised for takeoff. Two years ago he released a French blues CD, Le blues m’emporte. While nine of the songs were written by LeBlanc, renowned Louisiana artist Zachary Richard wrote two. (The pair met when Richard featured LeBlanc on his telelvision show.) The album was nominated for two East Coast Music Awards – blues recording of the year and francophone album of the year.

When asked for his list of favourite 10 songs, LeBlanc came up with an objective rating system.

“I decided to base it on the goosebumps they gave me,” LeBlanc said.

“I can’t really get tired of these songs. Every time I hear them, it just feels good.”

1. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry My first album was a Chuck Berry album and the first song was 'Johnny B. Goode.' I used to wake up my dad every Saturday morning with it and I still play it at my shows. You just can't get tired of it.

2. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd I just love that song for no particular reason.

3. Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan That song is like a blues encyclopedia.

4. Crossroads - Cream I never knew you could play guitar like that until I heard this song. It made me want to learn everything I could about soloing.

5. Have You Ever Loved a Woman - Freddie King I had to put a Freddie King song in there somewhere.

6. Red House - Hendrix Best intro ever, or is it Johnny B. Goode?

7. Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd The buildup in that song is amazing. Try listening to it with your eyes closed during the entire song.

8. Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan Live at the El Mocambo. Incredible, flawless.

9. Hellhounds On My Trail - Robert Johnson Scares the bajesus out of me.

10. Who Did You Think I Was - John Mayer The best tone I've heard since Stevie and that song just rocks. He's my favourite new guitar player, hands down.