Cowboy Mouth is four singers and four songwriters. One of the qualities that makes the band unique is that each member individually and sometimes in co-operation with others, contributes original songs to the albums and shows. The mix of styles and approaches make for a diverse and ever-changing live show. With over 150 original songs, the band rarely repeats a set.
Drummer Fred Leblanc and guitarist Paul Sanchez started the band
in the mid '90s in their native New Orleans and were soon joined by lead guitarist and keyboard expert John Thomas
Griffith. Bassist Rob Savoy, the original king of Mardi Gras, was the last ingredient to the rock and roll gumbo
that is Cowboy Mouth.
With two albums on MCA, one on Atlantic and several on their own Cowboy Mouth Records label, the band has enjoyed domestic sales of over 450,000 units, according to Soundscan, with tens of thousands more from various members' solo projects. But the album figures are insignificant compared to the number of tickets the band sells to their live events. In 2001 the band played in front of over 1,000,000 people with a touring schedule of about 150 shows. Their live shows have become legendary, best captured by Cake magazine, " on a bad night they'll tear the roof off the joint and on a good night, they'll save your soul." The band onstage, led by Fred's larger than life presence on his unique front and center drum riser, is extraordinarily intense, with lead changes, vocal changes and style changes that keep audiences glued. And the audiences very quickly become part of the show, usually leaving as drenched and spent as the band.
The band is extremely proud of their home city
of New Orleans and its diverse musical, cultural and culinary influences. The band's music is a similar mix with
the swamp-rock/zydeco of Rob Savoy, the hard rock and 'alt-country' of John Thomas Griffith, the neo-folk of
Paul Sanchez and the pop/rock of Fred Leblanc. They recently completed "Cowboy Mouth's 6th Annual Rock and Roll
Mardi Gras Tour™," which starts annually with the end of those minor holidays at the end of the calender year.
Wearing their Mardi Gras colors "on their sleeve,"
the band is currently in a second year of a marketing sponsorship with New Orleans' own Southern Comfort. The
locally created liquor, a part of every New Orleans style celebration, provided the band with a custom designed
tour bus and support to continue to take their New Orleans style revelry to the rest of the country.
The band traditionally plays between 150 and 250
shows each year and has enjoyed playing with Better Than Ezra, Barenaked Ladies, Hootie and The Blowfish,
and Southern Culture on the Skids, to name a few. Their audiences stretch from young kids at the festivals to
colleges to the clubs and theaters they headline around the country.
QUOTES:
Fred: "To me, Cowboy Mouth is all about
an experience for everyone in the room when
we play. It's meant to be an emotional, physical, spiritual, and sexual
release from the chains of life. Hopefully, through that release, we all (the
band and audience alike) can find joy in not only what we have, but also in
what we can all become
if we dare to dream. Maybe that's alot to want for a
rock 'n' roll band, but hell, life is too short to not live it!"
Rob: "The best thing about playing in a
touring band from New Orleans is that its an honor to be a part, no matter how small, of the
beautiful and amazing legacy that is Lousiana music."
John: "Cowboy Mouth has been one hell of a
ride. It's nice to have your cake and eat it too. It's opened up opportunities that I never thought possible, from
scoring film to ressurecting my solo career. All I need now is a platinum record and I can officially say, 'I've seen
it all'."
Paul: "Cowboy Mouth for me is about playing
and singing for people around the country and seeing and feeling the response to our music. There is nothing better
in the world than seeing people smiling and singing along."
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