Richard Lepinsky has recently released a digital album of original songs, entitled Balance in Life.

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Lepinsky is a lifelong musician, taking up the drums at the age of 11, and expanding to a keyboard and voice training as a teenager. After high school, he played drums professionally for several years.

In 2012, Lepinsky watched a PBS documentary called ‘The Mighty Uke’, which led him to buy a ukulele and rekindled his interest in music.

The music is a reflection of a life well lived, and the ups and downs of such a life. The songs touch on many subjects; from social and economic issues, to growing older and striking a balance between work and life, to looking back on one’s younger years and ahead to the future, asking, “What will you leave behind?”

As Lepinsky settled into retirement, he joined a choir and enjoyed playing ukulele in music groups he started such as the Mission Ukulele Circle in Mission, BC where Lepinsky lived with his wife before moving to Merritt in October 2019. He carried that idea with him to the Interior and started the Merritt Ukulele Circle as well.

From there, he began mulling over the idea of recording an album so that he could share his music with others. 

“The idea of recording a solo album only started germinating as I started to write songs about five years ago. As time progressed and the song writing got better, I felt that the work was worth recording,” Lepinsky explained. 

“Having been a drummer in bands in my early music life, I knew how instruments should fit together in a song. I also had some studio recording experience, so I knew how the recording process worked. I took that experience and added the lyrics and ideas playing in my head, to write songs,” said Lepinsky.

And so, now in his 60s, Lepinsky has released his very first album, which he shares for free on hearnow.com, hoping others will enjoy listening as much as he enjoys playing.

“I am happy to let people listen to the music for free, hoping that some people will like the music, and maybe the word will spread,” Lepinsky said.