Originally from the Montreal area, Justine Blanchet has been spending much of her recent time living in Nashville. Known to perform in English and French, she has matched her release output on stage at the Festival Country Lotbinière, the Gatlingburg Songwriter’s Festival, Big Valley Jamboree, the Bluebird Café in Nashville, the Festival Western de St-Tite, and three Diamonds in the Rough showcases during Canadian Country Music Week.
Her debut EP “Don’t Ask Me to Dance” was released on June 23rd and today we are ecstatic to be teaming up with Justine to give our readers an exclusive behind the scenes look at each song!
My name is Justine Blanchet and I grew up in the province of Quebec in Canada. I decided to give music a shot when I was 12 and started with the opera genre. A few short years later, after feeling unfulfilled, I made the change to country music. At the age of 15, I began writing my own songs and released an average of 2 singles every year. I began traveling to Nashville to create music in 2021 which also marks the beginning of my work on “Don’t Ask Me to Dance”, my debut EP that was just released on June 23rd. This EP was produced by Danick Dupelle at Vibe Recordings and has some amazing songwriters on each track. It’s my honour to take you Behind the EP today!
1. “Hard to Love” (Writers: Derrick Southerland, Courtney Cole, Kelly Archer)
This song originally came out August of 2022 and was the first single that would lead to the release of the EP. The song is about recognizing that your partner is emotionally unavailable. Ultimately, your partner decides to use you only when it’s convenient to them.
2. “Cheap Sunglasses” (Writers: Emma-Lee, Madeline Merlo, Lindsay Rimes)
This song is my personal favorite on the record. It’s one of those “roll your windows down while cruising the backroads”. This summer song uses the “cheap sunglasses” metaphor to talk about being hurt so badly by relationships that it results in creating superficial connections only. Those connections only mask the pain.
3. “Don’t Ask Me to Dance” (Writers: Emma-Lee, Jason Nix, Laci Kaye Booth)
This track was the last addition to the record. When I was selecting songs to choose from, I had originally picked a different one. As I sat with my decision, I had recently started to listen to rock and roll music again. The demo for this song really stood out to me at the time and I decided to change my choice. I’m so glad I did because this song really adds to the EP in terms of style. In addition, this song is all about knowing your worth and recognizing boundaries.
4. “Waste the Weekend” (Writers: Whitney Duncan, Ashlee Hewitt, Evan Coffman)
This song is another fun summer song that takes a little break from talking about relationships and explores the theme of letting loose and loving life. My favourite things to bring back from any trip are the memories and this song encompasses the beauty of making long lasting memories with those special people in your life.
5. “Heart Less” (Writers: MacKenzie Porter, Emily Weisband, Jordan Schmidt)
This last song on the record is the second single that released in February of 2023. This song is all about recognizing your partner as a narcissist. Making decision about the people you love are often led with our hearts, but this song encourages such decisions to be made with our heads.
These songs all work together in a way that I didn’t know they could. When it comes to talking about the realities of dating, I couldn’t have imagined a better collection. Thank you so much to Live in Limbo for having me and let me know which song is your favourite!
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