By: Devan Mighton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tilbury Times Reporter
When Joel Dupuis was 12 years old, every morning, before school, he would head over to his best friend’s house to jam to Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. The 2008 video game featured classic Aerosmith tracks like Dream On, Back In The Saddle, and Sweet Emotion, among many others, and having played the game’s entire soundtrack religiously for about a month, Dupuis had the playlist memorized note-for-note.
“Eventually, I got the bright idea to try playing these songs on a real guitar,” recalls Dupuis. “I figured, if they can do it, why can’t I? It was slow at first, and it didn’t help that I was trying to play Aerosmith songs on a $25 Walmart “special” acoustic, but, hey, everyone’s gotta start somewhere!”
…And does he still have that guitar? You better believe it!
Nowadays, Dupuis, 22 years old, fronts one Canada’s most talented Blues bands—the eponymous Joel Dupuis Band—who recently won the Forest City London Music Awards (FCLMA) Blues Band of the Year, were also named the top local blues band at the Southwestern Blues Challenge held recently in Windsor. This earns them the right to represent the Canada South Blues Society in Memphis at the 2025 International Blues Challenge, running from Jan. 7-11, 2025.
“It was a really cool moment that’s so hard to describe,” explains Dupuis. “Y’know, you work so hard at something for years and years and then suddenly the stars align and you get an amazing opportunity like this one. It’s gonna be a great way to kick off 2025. As a band, we’ve got a bunch of stuff planned for the coming year! As well, it’ll be such an honour to represent the Canada South Blues Society down in Memphis this coming January!”
The Joel Dupuis Band, based in London, consists of Dupuis on guitar and vocals, Marc Shickluna on bass, and Glenn Kitchen behind the drums.
Dupuis is a student of the game and still finds inspiration from the legends that came before him.
“Anytime I hear a good Stevie Ray (Vaughan) lick or some kinda crazy Derek Trucks lick, it just makes me feel something deep down, and I just want to immediately run to my guitar and try to create that same magic,” he states. “The thing is, you don’t always play the lick or melody perfectly the first time, but wherever you messed up in trying to recreate what they did, you’ve now found something cool and unique to yourself. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I love that the Blues is perfectly imperfect. There’s no real “right way” of doing things. If you mess up and it sounds good, did you really mess up? I don’t think so.”
This year has been a very good year for the Joel Dupuis Band. Having won the FCLMA Blues Band of the Year Award, their first recognition as a band, they enjoyed a successful festival season and, Dupuis believes, was the busiest year they’ve ever had in terms of gigs.
“As the year winds down, we’ve been getting into the studio quite a bit and we’re really excited to release our debut album in the new year!” announces Dupuis. “It’s going to be a 10-song, all original album, and I’m going to have some friends of mine guesting on a couple tracks.
“Aside from the album, we’re looking to out-do this year and make 2025 our busiest year yet, between shows and festivals, and what better way to kick off the year than by starting off in Memphis!”
