During his years in rock’n’roll, Fred LeBlanc has seen a lot of bands rise very high, then fall very fast.He’s watched them soar to the top with a million-selling record, make lots of money, get lots of publicity, then when the next album comes out, no one cares and the band tanks.
So after more than 15 years as vocalist/drummer and onstage focal point of Cowboy Mouth, after deals with such major labels as MCA and Atlantic, LeBlanc has learned many tricks of the trade.
"The thing you learn is that …," LeBlanc says from his New Orleans home, then pauses. "What didn’t I learn, actually?"
"It’s always best to trust your own instincts," he finally says. "And you should plan for the long haul. If you’re just looking at the short term, you screw yourself over."
But if there’s one thing that’s paramount, it’s: "Do your best to keep your business in your own hands."
Hard to do, sometimes, in an industry in which label execs, lawyers, booking agents, publicity departments and others have such an important hand in your life and livelihood.
And LeBlanc has plenty of horror stories to tell about his dealings with major labels — "some of what they do is a joke, a joke!" But right now, the members of Cowboy Mouth — LeBlanc, guitarist/vocalist Paul Sanchez, guitarist/vocalist John Thomas Griffith, new bassist Sonia Tetlow — are trying to handle their own affairs as much as possible.
"Things are getting done," LeBlanc says. "It’s all good, all very good."
For Cowboy Mouth, business means touring, a lot of it, usually between 150 and 200 dates a year. Touring is central to their life — of the band’s nine records, three are live — so it’s Web site lists technological and catering requirements for live shows, details that usually are printed on paper and mailed to the various venues and promoters. Cowboy Mouth, though, has streamlined the process, making things simpler all around.
In recent months, the band also hired a new management company and publicity firm and is keeping in close contact with both. So with business handled, they’ve been able to record songs for a new record due sometime in fall, even though no record deal is in place.
"We’re shopping for, if not a label deal, then a distribution deal of some sort. We want to test the waters and see what’s out there," LeBlanc says.
The band has recorded a couple of tracks produced by SR-71’s Mitch Allen, a couple produced by Hootie and the Blowfish’s Mark Bryan and several tracks produced by Cowboy Mouth.
And for the first time in years, the three longtime band members — LeBlanc, Sanchez and Griffith — are writing songs together instead of bringing separate songs into the studio.
"It’s the first time we actually got together instead of having one person choose the others’ songs or fix another person’s songs," LeBlanc says. "I’m very proud of the material."
The new record will mark the band’s first studio release since 2003’s Uh Oh, which LeBlanc describes as something of an "experiment" that didn’t quite work. It was released on a very small label, 33rd Street Records, and didn’t get much attention.
"Uh Oh was filled with good songs and I’m proud of it, but we didn’t really record it together; it’s kind of a hodgepodge album," he says. "I’m a lot more into the camaraderie of working together like we are now."
The band also released a live record, Live at the Zoo, in 2004, but sells it only at shows and through the band’s Web site, not wanting to hassle with finding a distributor or record label to get it into stores, he says.
"I was kind of burnt-out on major labels," LeBlanc says. "I found them to be completely non-constructive and filled mainly with egos and power plays."
He knows whereof he speaks, three of Cowboy Mouth’s releases were on major labels. Are You With Me? and Mercyland were on MCA and Easy was on Atlantic.
But it was not champagne and caviar. At MCA, for instance, the folks who’d signed Cowboy Mouth and were behind their debut on the label, Are You With Me?, were let go from the company after the record was released. Despite a burgeoning hit with "Jenny Says" and a rapidly increasing profile nationally, the band was almost "squashed" by MCA, LeBlanc says.
"The people who signed us were fired, and the people who took their place didn’t really want to see us succeed because no one would get the credit," LeBlanc says. "So we made it happen for ourselves by touring voraciously."
"I’ve seen a lot of bands that suffered because a label screwed them over and I’ve seen a lot of bands suffer because a label did them really right," LeBlanc says.
A band that’s done "really right" may find the powers at the label suddenly losing interest on a record, even if the band thinks there still is life left in it, he says.
"They may come to you and say, ‘We’re losing money; it isn’t working, we’re done.’ And there’s nothing you can do about it."
Cowboy Mouth, The Legendary JC’s
When: Tonight. 8 p.m.Where: WorkPlay Theatre, 500 23rd St. S., Southside.
How much: $15.
Contact: (205) 380-4082 or www.workplay.com.
