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Fred LeBlanc chuckles when asked about his oft-quoted comment about wanting his band, Cowboy Mouth, to be "the biggest band in the world." Ask him how he feels about performing and the hard-driving drummer/vocalist quickly gets serious. Another wild
Cowboy rompBy John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin"It's a privilege to be able to do what we do, and the more people allow us to do it the more thankful we are. There are moments on stage when I can feel the adrenalin just flowing through my body like rain and I feel like it just doesn't get any better than that.
"Those moments are more important than being the biggest. I just want to be the best rock 'n' roll band that we can possibly be.
Cowboy Mouth played its Hawaii debut at Poifest I three years ago. The quartet returns for a Saturday show at Pipeline Cafe. The show comes near the end of a summer tour supporting the group's new Blackbird/Atlantic album, "Easy."
LeBlanc says the title song did well as the first single but Cowboy Mouth will take two months off and not release a second until next year.
In concert
Who: Cowboy Mouth
"We'd just be competing for radio space with Madonna and U2 and Barenaked Ladies and it just seemed silly to do that."
It's shrewd move by an "unknown" band that stole the show at Poifest. Cowboy Mouth -- LeBlanc, John Thomas Griffith (lead guitar), Rob Savoy (bass) and Paul Sanchez (guitar) -- delivered an explosive set that energized the crowd.
"I like to run around and mess with 'em," LeBlanc says of his interactive style as the group's most in-your-face member. There's a reason for his madness.
"I think the reason we work so well with an audience is because we understand them," LeBlanc said. "It's not about being up there playing rock star because we're music fans too."
"When somebody comes to the show and pays to see you and gives you two hours of their life, that's a sacred trust and a pretty intense thing. We want to make it worth while.
"Hopefully, we can reignite the joy and passion of being alive in someone who might have forgotten it temporarily. It's a pretty high-minded desire for a rock band but if you don't shoot for the moon you'll never hit the stars."
LeBlanc was the primary writer on "Easy," although all four group members contributed to the 15-song collection.
The band has been working non-stop since its last visit to Hawaii. All going well, "Easy" will be Cowboy Mouth's breakthrough album, but they take nothing for granted.
"Opportunities aren't things that are handed to you. Opportunities are things you create by hard work and perseverance, by not giving up and by doing what you believe in. It's about putting in the work and maintaining enthusiasm.
"If we didn't believe in this we wouldn't be doing it. "
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