Fred LeBlanc is back for the third time on Jump Start Your Joy, and he’s joining me this time to talk about his new single, “Mardi Gras State of Mind” and his reflections on how things changed for him (and all of us) during the pandemic. In refreshing Fred style, we also dive into talking about the influences that shape people (including Elvis and Anne Rice), and how dreaming big can change the world. I hope you enjoy this discussion with Fred LeBlanc on finding a Mardi Gras State of Mind.
Joy Hits Different
During the month of March (2022), much of the conversation on Jump Start Your Joy has been about finding your passion. And, knowing that one of Fred’s great passions is playing live music, I wanted to hear how he’d coped with the impacts of the pandemic, especially given that they’d stopped touring for about 18 months. What he shared is that in many ways, joy hit different for him and for fans while we were all in lock down.
The other thing Fred discovered was that it was a joy and a gift to return to some of the music he’d written in years past. In 2021, Cowboy Mouth released “The Things You Wanted to Do,” which was a song that had been written prior to the pandemic. He shares that it had originally been about the band, and when he started thinking about it in the context of how the pandemic had shut so many things down, it took on new meaning. “You can’t just be afraid all the time. It’s just, it’s not what we’re put here to do. That was really me addressing that idea of, ‘are you ready to start living again,’ and when you’re ready to start being a lot of being that person that you hoped you would be. Now’s your chance, but honestly, every single day is a chance. Every single day is a new opportunity. Every single time you wake up, it’s like, ‘okay, I have another chance.’”
“I was very fortunate in that people would send me emails saying what this song or that show had meant to them. In the constant progress of moving forward, you never really get a chance to look back. And the way people let me know how much the band and songs had done for them or enabled them to, to bring joy to their lives was really eye-opening because it’s something I never really considered.”
Mardi Gras State of Mind
Pushing the philosophy of embracing the gift of life every day even further, Cowboy Mouth’s most recent single, “Mardi Gras State of Mind” is all about re-embracing the joie de vivre that New Orleans is so well known for. It’s got that classic Cowboy Mouth sound, and the lyrics tap into that passion and joy in life that I know I’ve been longing to feel again.
“I started thinking about Mardi Gras and the lockdowns being lifted and everything, and being a child in New Orleans. It’s a chance to cut and loose, and boy we had a good time. I was taking a bath and it just relaxing and it just hit me. I was like, “wow, I’m really in a Mardi Gras State of Mind.” The whole questions of you know, ‘how much longer can you deal with this BS shouldn’t we all just stop the silliness…’ We had a great time and just the idea, the just hit me.” As always, it’s a pleasure to have Fred on the show.
In this episode, Fred LeBlanc and I talk about:
- His time during the pandemic: getting married, shelter in place, doing online concerts, and revisiting music
- Playing Lundy Gras and the Jazz Festival
- Tupolo Mississippi, the birth place of Elvis, and how our environments have a profound impact on our lives.
- Anne Rice, and how she was a friend of Cowboy Mouth
- The inspiration for Mardi Gras State of Mind
- His excitement about touring again.
- Their San Diego, CA concert.
Resources
Mardi Gras State of Mind by Cowboy Mouth
The Things You Wanted to Do by Cowboy Mouth
The Secret of Life by Dr.Joseph Murphy
Fred LeBlanc’s Frist Two Interviews On Jump Start Your Joy
Fred LeBlanc of Cowboy Mouth on Learning to Create Your Own Joy From the Inside Out (Open Wide)Energy, Joy, and Cowboy Mouth with guest Fred LeBlanc