Cowboy Mouth

This article is about the New Orleans rock band. For the 1971 play, see Cowboy Mouth (play). For The Glasgow band, see Grahame Skinner.

Cowboy Mouth
Cowboy Mouth performing in Nashville, Tennessee
Background information
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Genres	Rock
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Eleven Thirty Records MCA Records Valley Entertainment
Associated acts	Dash Rip Rock Red Rockers The Cold The Backbeats The Normals The Blue Runners Dingo 8, Cross Canadian Ragweed
Website	Official website
Members
Fred LeBlanc (drums and vocals) John Thomas Griffith (guitar and vocals) Casandra Faulconer (bass guitar) Matt Jones (rhythm guitar and vocals)
Past members
Paul Sanchez (guitar and vocals) Regina Zernay (bass guitar) Sonia Tetlow (bass guitar) Paul Clement (bass guitar) Steve Walters (bass guitar) Rob Savoy (bass guitar) Mary LaSang (bass guitar) Vance DeGeneres (rhythm guitar) Jonathan Pretus (rhythm guitar and vocals)

Cowboy Mouth is a rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Their name usually means "One with a loud and raucous voice".^[1] The nucleus of the band formed in the 1990s, and they have become a powerhouse live act whose performances have been likened to "a religious experience."^[2]

Some of their most popular songs include "Love Of My Life", "Everybody Loves Jill" (where the audience throws red spoons on stage),^[3] "Easy," "Disconnected," "How Do You Tell Someone," and "Jenny Says."^[4] They also perform a version of "Born to Run" on the Light of Day tribute album to Bruce Springsteen, a version of "The Pusher" on the soundtrack to Half Baked, and several of their own songs on the soundtrack to the 1995 film The Underneath (two of which they perform onscreen in the film). Their single "This Much Fun" from their 2006 album "Voodoo Shoppe" is featured in the trailer for the Disney animated feature Meet the Robinsons.

They maintain a very active touring schedule, primarily through the United States. The album Voodoo Shoppe is in part a tribute to city of New Orleans, Louisiana in the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In particular, the tracks "Home" a defiant vow to rebuild the city and "The Avenue", an emotional plea for the continued vibrance of the city. "The Avenue" features the lyrics "Because the marching bands will roll/I'll find my city in my soul/Because I plan on growing old on the avenue," a reference to watching Mardi Gras parades on New Orleans' famed St. Charles Avenue. A portion of the album was recorded with producer Mitch Allan and features engineers, Stewart Cararas and Danny Kadar at their studio Paradigm Park Studios in New Orleans. Unfortunately just seven months after the record's completion the studio suffered the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. They performed "The Avenue" on Mardi Gras Day 2006 live on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.^[5] The album also features the song "Joe Strummer", a semi-tribute to the late Clash frontman. The band released its first full length live DVD The Name of the Band Is Cowboy Mouth on November 20, 2007. The DVD, which was recorded in front of a packed house at the Roxy On Sunset in Hollywood, CA during the summer of 2007 features much of the band's classic material like "Light it on Fire" as well as some songs to be released on the band's new album, Fearless in September 2008. Among the new songs of the DVD set,"Kelly Ripa" was released in a very different studio version as a single on iTunes in early March 2008 followed by an appearance and performance on the Live with Regis and Kelly television show on March 13, 2008.

On May 14, 2011, during a performance at Bon Ton Louisianne in Houston, Texas, Cowboy Mouth was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.

Cowboy Mouth performing Everybody Loves Jill on Mardi Gras night in Houston, 2010, with fans waving red spoons in anticipation of their cue to throw them at the band.

Band members

Current members

• Fred LeBlanc (lead vocals, drums, and frontman)

Founding member. Formerly of Baton Rouge/New Orleans based trio Dash Rip Rock and the Backbeats.

• John Thomas Griffith (guitar and vocals)

Founding member. Formerly of the Red Rockers, purveyors of the 1980s "China" and "Good As Gold" as well as subsequent tourmates with U2, the Go-Go's, and Men at Work.^[6]

• Matt Jones (rhythm guitar and vocals)

Formerly Jimmie's Chicken Shack

• Casandra Faulconer (bass). AKA 2Funky. Toured extensively with Blues guitar goddess Debbie Davies. Has performed with a Who's Who of New Orleans' artists.

Former members

• Regina Zernay sixth bass player, and vocals (2007–2010)

Formerly the singer/bassist for Los Angeles band Méchant.

• Jonathan Pretus rhythm guitar, vocals (2007–2010) the third guitarist the band has had.

Formerly the singer/guitarist for New Orleans based band The Garden District.

Former singer/guitarist for Weezer cover band, called "Tweezer".

• Sonia Tetlow - fifth bass player and vocals (left in 2007)

• Paul Sanchez - founding member-guitar and vocals (left in 2006)

Formerly of New Orleans band The Backbeats.

• Paul Clement bass guitar, first bass player, and original member

With the band for six months prior to Walters, and has played with many New Orleans area bands including Woodenhead.

• Steve Walters - bass guitar (second bass player)

Formerly of The Backbeats and The Normals.

• Rob Savoy - bass guitar, (third bass player)

Past member of Louisiana Cajun rock group The Bluerunners.

• Mary LaSang - bass guitar, (fourth bass player)

Of Dingo 8 fame.

• Vance DeGeneres (guitar) 2nd guitarist

Credits include New Orleans band The Cold and The Backbeats, television writer and producer, former correspondent of The Daily Show, and brother of Ellen DeGeneres. DeGeneres played with Cowboy Mouth from December 2006 through September 2007, when he left to pursue additional television projects^[7]

Discography

Studio albums

• Word of Mouth • 1992
• It Means Escape • 1994
• Are You with Me? • 1996
• Word of Mouth (Remix) • 1996
• Mercyland • 1998
• Easy • 2000
• Uh-Oh • 2003
• Voodoo Shoppe • 2006
• Fearless • 2008
• Mardi Gras 2011

Live albums and EPs

• Mouthin' Off (Live & More) • 1993
• Mouthin' Off (Live & More) (Remastered) • 1997
• Cowboy Mouth Live! (limited edition 5-song EP issued with Mercyland) • 1998
• Live in the X Lounge "Jenny Says" • 1998 & 2001
• All You Need Is Live • 2000
• Live in the X Lounge "Easy" • 2000
• Uh Oh (5-song Preview EP) • 2003
• Live at the Zoo • 2004
• Mardi Gras • 2010

Singles

• I Believe (A Tribute To The Saints) • 2009^[8]

Filmography

• Underneath • 1995
• New Orleans Music in Exile • 2006
• The Name of the Band Is Cowboy Mouth • 2007

Discography

Main article: Cowboy Mouth discography

External links

• Cowboy Mouth official site
• Cowboy Mouth on Myspace
• Cowboy Mouth at Facebook
• Cowboy Mouth Artist Page at Valley Entertainment
• VoodooShoppe -- The Cowboy Mouth Wiki
• Quote from the play

Band member websites

• Fred LeBlanc's site
• John Thomas Griffith's site
• Casandra Faulconer's site

Former member websites

• Paul Sanchez's site
• Sonia Tetlow's site
• Vance Degeneres's site
• Dingo 8's site
• Regina Zernay's site
• Jonathan Pretus' site

Notes and references

1. ^ http://www.cowboymouth.com/bios Cowboy Mouth bio
2. ^ Goldfinch, Christy (2001-09-27). "The Show". Fort Worth Weekly. Archived from the original on November 26, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20051126202922/http://www.fwweekly.com/issues/2001-09-27/theshow.html. Retrieved March 17, 2006. 
3. ^ Mitchell, Steve (2005). "Inside Cowboy Mouth - "Fred's Perfect World"- Fred LeBlanc Interview". MusicPix.net. http://www.musicpix.net/home/content/inside-cowboy-mouth-freds-perfect-world-fred-leblanc-interview. Retrieved April 27, 2007. 
4. ^ Boltz, Janet Reid (2005-07-10). "Concert Reviews: Cowboy Mouth / Collective Soul". SoundAffects.net. http://www.soundaffects.net/concertreviews/cmouthcsouljuly1005.html. Retrieved April 21, 2007. 
5. ^ "Cowboy Mouth: Bio". JamBase.com. 2007. http://www.jambase.com/search.asp?bandID=11422&display=bio. Retrieved April 27, 2007. 
6. ^ Bio of John CowboyMouth.com. Retrieved on April 29, 2007.
7. ^ Vance's press release on his site Retrieved on October 12, 2007.
8. ^ "I Believe (A Tribute To The Saints)". Valley Entertainment. http://www.valley-entertainment.com/artists/cowboy-mouth-1/i-believe-a-tribute-to-the-saints.html. Retrieved 28 June 2010.