Ray Legere

Early life

Legere was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia. His father taught him to play the mandolin when he was ten years old. When he was sixteen he was called unexpectedly to fill in for Bill Monroe when the famous mandolinist became ill before a concert.

Career

As a young man, Legere played in the Wyatt Rice band in the late 1970s. In 1987, he joined the Lonesome River Band.

In 1990, Legere played fiddle on the album The Lynn Morris Band. In 1992 he toured with Michelle Shocked.

In 1998, Larry LeBlanc of Billboard magazine named him as one of Canada's leading bluegrass musicians. In 2012 he performed at the Canso Stanfest.

Legere joined the celtic fusion ensemble Bowfire, and recorded on their self-titled CD, which was released in 2003. He toured with this group for several years.

In 2014 Legere played mandolin on Jared Lutes' album A Matter of When. and played fiddle on the album Bill Emerson and the Sweet Dixie Band. His band Acoustic Horizon performed at the 2015 Tottenham Bluegrass Festival. Legere also performed in the third video of the United Breaks Guitars trilogy.

Leger performed with the band Grasstic Measures on the 2016 festival circuit; that year he was also inducted into the New Brunswick Country Hall of Fame.

Discography