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There's a core of strength that defines Chris LeDoux and his music. In HORSEPOWER, his 36th album, it's clearly spelled out in "One Less Tornado," about the passing of a rodeo champ, and in "The Ride," about a young boy's life lesson from his first ride on a horse. But it runs through even the toe-tapping fun songs about love, like "Smack Dab In the Middle," and "All Wound Up."
"As much as anyone, Chris LeDoux is the same man as a singer as he is a man," says Mac McAnally, co-producer with Alan Schulman of LeDoux's last three albums. "What you hear is a straight outgrowth of the life he lives." That's true of both the songs he writes himself, and of the ones he chooses to record. " I have to hear a song that just hits home in some way or another," LeDoux says. "It feels like something that I believe in or I can relate. We were able to find some great cowboy songs for the album. It's hard to find those true western type songs or songs about rodeo that ring true. We seemed to be lucky this time." If anyone can judge whether a rodeo song rings true, it's Chris LeDoux, onetime bareback bronc riding champion. He entered his first rodeo as a teen, about the same time he became absorbed in music. "All of us at some level love music and when I was in high school I loved it so much that I just had to be a part of it, - singing, even it was just for my own entertainment," he says. "It just hung on through the years like that. When I get away from it for a while, it's kind of nice, but then I start missing the old guitar and I'll go pick it up. If you love the music you won't be able to lay it down for long." By now it's a well-known story that LeDoux combined his love of music with his love of the west. He wrote songs about the rodeo life he was leading as he traveled the circuit, and soon discovered that a lot of people wanted to hear those songs. After making 22 albums on his own, he signed with Capitol Records in 1991. His fan base continues to grow, encompassing all ages, and his live shows are legendary for their rip-roaring excitement. He's sold nearly six million records, without much radio airplay and counts among his devoted fans Garth Brooks and Toby Keith. And though he doesn't rodeo anymore, he still lives the cowboy life on his working ranch in Kaycee, Wyoming. Chris got sidetracked in 2000, dealing with an illness that required major surgery. His first album following that life-changing experience, After The Storm, was a slightly more gentle project than his usual energized rocking fare. It expressed his deepened appreciation for the small joys of the day. Now he's onto the next chapter of his life and back rocking as always, as this latest album reflects. As the songs look back and look forward, LeDoux displays a respect for the cowboy ethic. Old pal Toby Keith, who joined LeDoux on1994's ode to chewing tobacco, "Copenhagen," shows up as a writer on Horsepower's "Rodeo Moon," a song based on the early years of LeDoux's marriage, when he and his wife Peg led a rodeo vagabond life. "Blue Bonnet Blues," written by LeDoux, is a memory of his childhood home. "Buffalo Grass," paints a musical picture, as a lone man contemplates the despair of winter and looks forward to the rebirth of spring. "Horsepower" celebrates moving a long at a fast pace. He's even trying something completely different - a Cajun song featuring Jo-El Sonnier, called "Pass My Hat." From top to bottom, HORSEPOWER offers the full range of LeDoux's strengths. It's cowboy in some places, rocking in others, but vivid and true everywhere. ChrisLeDoux.com (Opens New Window) Source: Capitol Records Label Profile |
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