| Fred LeBlanc | |
|---|---|
LeBlanc performing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in January 2009 |
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| Background information | |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, record producer, author |
| Instruments | Vocals, drums |
| Years active | 1980s - |
| Labels | EMI Records |
| Associated acts | Cowboy Mouth, Dash Rip Rock |
| Website | Fred LeBlanc website |
Fred LeBlanc is currently the lead singer/drummer for the New Orleans based rock band Cowboy Mouth,[1] as well as a freelance songwriter, record producer, short story author, and acoustic performer. Known for his "maniacal" performance style,[2] and described as "a short, muscular guy with a heavy brow and piercingly intelligent eyes", LeBlanc has been called "one of the more instantly recognizable figures in contemporary Louisiana music."[3]
After graduating from Jesuit High School in New Orleans, LeBlanc began his career in the early 80's with the Backbeats, also from New Orleans, which featured many future members of Cowboy Mouth. His tenure with this group was mostly relegated to background drummer.
A year after the Backbeats disbanded in the mid 80's, LeBlanc joined Baton Rouge power trio Dash Rip Rock not only as drummer, but also as contributing songwriter and co-lead singer.[4] The band was heavily influenced by the American roots music movement of the time, as well as the frenzied punk and rock stylings of both the Sex Pistols and Jerry Lee Lewis. To this mix, LeBlanc's songs usually had a very strong melodic component, with "Operator", "Blue Moon At Midnight", and "Go Home, Little Girl" being some of his more popular songs with the group. He also arranged and sang lead upon Dash's cowpunk version of the Hank Williams standard "I Saw The Light" which became a live Dash staple, even after LeBlanc left the band in 1989.
Frustrated with the band's focus on maintaining a bar band focus at the expense of songwriting, LeBlanc left Dash Rip Rock in mid '89 and signed a deal as a solo artist with EMI Records. Although no recordings were ever released from his tenure with the label, LeBlanc has said that the year off from the road "gave me a chance to focus on my songwriting," with LeBlanc writing many songs during that time that would appear on various Cowboy Mouth recordings later on.
LeBlanc formed Cowboy Mouth in late 1990 with a lineup that has changed variously throughout the years, with the main constants being LeBlanc and John Thomas Griffith on guitar and vocals. The band has maintained a steady touring schedule since their formation, gaining in popularity steadily throughout the years through the notoriety of their live shows. LeBlanc has written many of Cowboy Mouth's material, such as "How Do You Tell Someone", "Love Of My Life", "Disconnected", "Take Me Back To New Orleans", "Easy", "Tell The Girl", "So Sad About Me", "The Avenue", and the band's signature song "Jenny Says".
In addition to performing and recording with Cowboy Mouth, LeBlanc has mixed a few of their early independent label albums. He also produced an album called A Different Story by New Orleans-based popsters Deadeye Dick. The album featured the song "New Age Girl", which won the band and LeBlanc a gold record in the early '90's and was included in the Jim Carrey movie Dumb And Dumber.
LeBlanc has also produced material for Mark Bryan of Hootie & The Blowfish fame, as well as albums for Dash Rip Rock (long after he left the band), The Bingemen, and The Garden District—the latter of which are both from New Orleans. He also released solo CD's entitled Here On Earth, Shiver, Double Dammit, and Playing The Game Of My Life, as well as an album of spoken word short stories (also released in text form) called Always Give Thanks. In July 2010, LeBlanc said that he would continue to release solo music, a song or two at a time, during breaks in Cowboy Mouth's schedule.[5]
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