INTERVIEW: Cowboy Mouth set sail for NYC cruise show
Photo: Cowboy Mouth are ready to ensure New York City fans know what the band’s name is. Photo courtesy of the band / Provided by Michael J. Media Group with permission.
New Orleans rockers Cowboy Mouth are ready to get the party started and play a full setlist of songs aboard a Rocks Off boat cruise Wednesday, July 24. The concert will be a rare chance to experience the dynamic and lively band in an intimate setting that is plying the waters of New York Harbor.
Cowboy Mouth, led by the deliriously energetic drummer Fred LeBlanc, are the band behind such hits as “Jenny Says,” “Light It on Fire” and “Everybody Loves Jill.” When LeBlanc takes the stage he often comes out from behind his drum kit and implores the audience to start rocking, dancing and jumping around. He demands attention and receives a spirited response in return.
The band — which also features John Thomas Griffith and Matt Jones on guitar, and Brian Broussard on bass — are gearing up to release a new EP as well, and fans might hear a few of the new tunes on the cruise. In addition to the New York City date, Cowboy Mouth also head to Texas, Louisiana, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and other states in the coming weeks.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with LeBlanc about the upcoming tour. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
Could you ever have imagined that the band would be going this strong this many years after your debut?
Are you kidding me? I didn’t think we would last a month! It’s been a pretty wild ride, to say the least. And the fact that we are still able to do this after so long, and to keep it fresh and exciting … I think that says a lot. We’re also incredibly fortunate, which I always try to stay aware of. But, at the same time, life is what you choose to make it. Let me say that again, ‘… what you choose to make it.’ I always tell myself that there are millions of people who’d give their left arm to be one of us (I mean, working musicians — not us specifically, but you never know) even on our very worst day. Keeping that perspective helps me maintain a sense of gratitude and humor about the whole thing.
Why did it make sense for you and the band to start releasing music on your own label? How did that decision come to be?
I got tired of having to have 10 chefs messing up our gumbo! With a big label there’s always people justifying their salaries by telling you how to be you. And unless you’re an act who’s plugged into the matrix of the entertainment-industrial complex, then there really is no need to sell your soul to a big label. I have nothing against that type of thing, and indeed it would make a lot of things easier. But unless there is some sort of professional quid pro quo, then it just turns into servitude.
What’s going through your head right before you’re about to take the stage for a gig?
Conquer!! I still really enjoy the constant challenge of performing. It’s a genuine thrill to play onstage with these guys and to create something unique and (hopefully) gratifying with and for the audience. Everyone in the band brings their unique element to the whole thing.
Matt Jones is an incredible guitarist and an all-around talent bringing a very intense and structured passion to the band that we’d never really had before he joined. Brian Broussard is the real anchor of the band onstage; he’s a great performer and hammers the beat down with a definite ‘gods of rock’ presence. John Griffith brings his flair to what we do and makes anything CM that much sweeter.
And me? Well, I just do my thing, and it all seems to work out somehow. Best not to think about it too much, better to just ‘be.’ I always tell young musicians that you’re trying to get to the point not to where you play the music, but to where the music plays you. Get it?
What was it like in the early days when you and the band were trying to get a name for yourselves in New Orleans?
We were really lucky. We came into being during a period of time when there was a bit of a vacuum in the Nola scene, and we fit right in. We’d all had varying degrees of success with other projects and came into CM with a fair understanding of what and what not to expect. We hunkered down, did the work, kicked ass and persevered. It was never glamorous, but it was an adventure. Still is.
Who do you count as musical influences?
Good Lord, that’s such a vague question. If I listed one, then there’d be 20 I’d have to leave out. In the early days I’d tell people, ‘If the Neville Brothers and the Clash had a bastard child, it’d be us.’ I think that still holds.
What does the future hold for Cowboy Mouth?
That would take me being a soothsayer to tell you that, which I’m definitely not. We’ll do what we always do — do the work, kick ass and persevere. I’m grateful for every show we play, and every show we have ever played because there’s always something new to learn — or to re-learn, as the case may be. It’s never about the last show; it’s always about the next show. Good motto for life, I think.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Cowboy Mouth, featuring Fred LeBlanc, are currently on tour and will play a Rocks Off cruise Wednesday, July 24 in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
