with a lot of crowd involvement, which is absolutely perfect for what we’re doing.” Though Cowboy Mouth frontman Fred LeBlanc shies away from any kind of “up with people” talk, he does acknowledge his band’s ability to inspire and motivate, a talent that leads to several fundraiser concerts throughout the year. “We’re a band that encourages positive energy from the stage and the audience, and I think that’s because we work to make sure that the audience has a great time and leaves feeling good,” he says. “It just goes along with the fundraising/ community spirit thing. You just have to go out there and encourage people to be positive, encourage them to celebrate and kind of bring those parts of themselves out of themselves and then it just becomes a great thing.” A drummer, LeBlanc has been at it long enough to be humble. Though Cowboy Mouth has been fortunate to maintain a comfortable level of success, he spent some lean days with the southern punk band Dash Rip Rock. “I’ve never looked at it like I’m a rock star bestowing my greatness and my genius on the undeserving masses or any of that crap,” he says. “For me, it’s always been this little game. It’s called rock show. Me and my three friends are going to be the band and you guys are going to be the audience. And who knows, maybe sometime we’ll play this game again and you guys can be the band and we’ll be the audience.” Though Cowboy Mouth has a long list of former members, LeBlanc and lead guitarist John Thomas Griffith represent
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the band’s longstanding core. Currently, they’re rounded out by Casandra Faulconer on bass and Matt Jones on rhythm guitar. Born with tonsils and adenoids blocking his ear canals and lungs too underdeveloped for surgery, LeBlanc spent the first three years of his life deaf. Desperate to provide their son some stimulation, his parents would lay his head on the stereo so he could experience the vibration. Dealing with that kind of adversity seems somehow fitting for a band from the Big Easy. “New Orleans has always had kind of a tenuous grip on the reality of life and death because they kind of go hand in hand down there,” he says. “There’s always the knowledge in the back of your mind that this place could be wiped out at any minute.” Out of that low-grade fear comes some pretty high-energy music. “Basically, all I’m trying to do with the audience is to get them to have as much fun as I am,” he says. “I get to get up there and play drums and act like a five year old for a living, and I’m just trying to get them to that place I get to go every night.” And unlike some drummers, who are lost in the spectacle and motion of the concert, LeBlanc has made sure you’re going to see him, though it has nothing to do with ego. “I spent years in other bands staring at guitar player’s behinds,” he says. “That just irritated me to no end, so when I finally decided to put this band together, I said drums are going up front. I didn’t
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