Bernie LaBarge

Bernie had cervical spine surgery in 2015, causing him to temporarily retire from the club scene, although he maintained a recording and concert schedule. He semi-retired in 2020 after a reunion gig with The Dexters. Bernie is an avid guitar collector, and spends time digitizing his extensive collection of tape from a 51 year career.

LaBarge played guitar on TV shows shown worldwide such as Fraggle Rock (a Jim Henson production), Care Bears (with John Sebastian), Twilight Zone (with David Cassidy), Danger Bay, Smith & Smith (starring Steve Smith (comedian)), and Party with The Rovers, backing up artists such as Roger Miller, B.J. Thomas, Andy Gibb, and Boxcar Willie. LaBarge worked extensively with Jack Richardson (record producer), who produced the Guess Who, Alice Cooper, the Irish Rovers, Bob Seger, and Poco. As lead guitarist for the Dexters, Off The Record, Stem, and the Stickmen, LaBarge performed regularly at the Orbit Room in Toronto from 1994 until 2004, and occasionally after that. The Orbit Room is co-owned by Alex Lifeson, one of the founders of Rush. LaBarge holds the record for the most performances at the Orbit Room, more than 1,000 appearances. He was the guitarist for The Doodlebops TV show, which is released worldwide. In 2019 Bernie was the featured guitarist on the 50 year anniversary re-recording of The Unicorn by The Irish Rovers.

LaBarge signed with WEA Records and released a single entitled Dream Away in 1981. He performed at Toronto's El Macombo night club. He recorded his first solo album, Barging In, in 1984 on the Sony label; He was nominated for Most Promising Male Vocalist at the 1984 Juno Awards for this album. LaBarge has released records on Warner Bros., Sony, BMG, and various independent labels, and performed on tour and recordings with The Irish Rovers, Kim Mitchell, Ian Tyson, Frank Biner of Tower of Power, Long John Baldry, Doug Riley, Dione Taylor, George Canyon, Cassandra Vasik, Joel Feeney, David Clayton-Thomas, and Rhinoceros. He has composed and/or performed on many North American and worldwide jingles, i.e., Coke, Pepsi, GM, Ford, and Nissan (his singing can be heard on the Coke jingle which opens up the original Batman video). Bernie has written songs for Long John Baldry, the Irish Rovers, Lisa Price, the Good Brothers, and many others. Bernie won the Canadian Songwriting Contest in 1986 (Best R&B Song category). "Dream Away" (produced by Daniel Lanois) was one of the most-played songs of 1981, and still receives extensive airplay.

LaBarge began playing professionally in 1967. He was the frontman and/or guitarist for a number of bands in Ontario, including Bond, Rain, Sweet Blindness, Zwol, Stem, Stingaree, The Dexters, The Stickmen and the George Olliver band.

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, LaBarge began studying guitar at age 11, shortly after seeing The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 9, 1964. He is primarily self-taught, having spent many hours hanging around record shops and burying himself in his parents' basement, listening to records owned by his older sisters and then by himself. Needless to say, Bernie's extensive vinyl collection contains many original, heavily scratched records!

Bernie LaBarge (born March 11, 1953) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter.