Singer/Songwriter Leo Rondeau Returns to the Region
[Live Music Alert:
Monday August 10 331 Club, Minneapolis MN, 10:30 pm
Tuesday August 11 Nestor, Fargo ND, 10 pm
Wednesday August 12 The Hub, Grand Forks ND 10 pm]
Leo Rondeau left the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota several years ago to find his way in the musical world of Austin TX. He will be touring the region for the next couple of weeks. So, please check out his list of gigs below.
A much-sought-after talent in a city that is recognizing his substantial songwriting skills, Rondeau mixes traditional country, bluegrass, and honkytonk with an acerbic honesty, reminiscent of John Prine’s early offerings. It is to his credit that Rondeau chose Austin and not Nashville where he might have succumbed to the songwriting habits and ultimate cliches of that music city. In Austin, he has been liberated to test out material that might be more in keeping with Asleep at the Wheel than Toby Keith.
His debut, Bangs, Bullets and the Turtle Mountains, a collection of songs about his home and some of the characters he saw or created from that experience. It is certainly a more traditional country album, more in the vein of Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams, with a couple of tunes like “Border Town Blues” that sound more like folk ballads. It is a well-crafted album with a superb backup band. Importantly, though, this album is laced with Rondeau’s stroke of realism and sense of humor.
Rondeau’s latest release, Down at the End of the Bar, drifts away from this more traditional foundation and moves into other realms—still country, with with a most definite alt feel. He’s been compared to Gram Parsons and Townes Van Zandt, but I see a quirky but deeper understanding of the human condition. Rondeau can write about hunting for love in a bar and realizing you aren’t much better than what you’re seeing (“Down at the End of the Bar”). He can paint a bluegrass portrait of quiet despair (“She’ll Get the Advantage”) or rag on about life as a performer and the demand of the audience, including a certain female fan (“Rhinestones”). Some of Rondeau’s ideas are a little obscure as in “Blues Came Today,” while others are quite plain as in “Elephant in This Room”–and even that one is rife with satire.
Two of my favorites show the range of Rondeau’s material. “Rapture” is a jug band satire about missing redemption and is funny as hell. Then there is “Had I Known,” an historical ballad about outlaws in the 1800s, a topic you’d expect Rondeau to mine from his new vantage point in Texas. It is produced with subtle touches like clickety drums and a haunting Mariachi horn.
The album ends with a wistful little song, “Better Place for You,” that has the singer plotting with storm clouds and birds to create a garden-like place to keep the other person’s demons away. It is a tender little song that is all the more heart-rending because the task is so idealistic and so impossible—but one we’d all want to do for a loved one if we could.
Lending their instrumental talents to this album are Jim Stinger (electric guitar), Ricky Turpin (fiddle), David Seeman (banjo), Chris “Howdy” Darrell (bass), Chris Wallis and Lisa Pankratz (drums), Burton Lee and Ricky Jackson (pedal steel), Matt Mollica (piano), Cindy Cashdollar (dobro), Silas Lowe (mandolin), Jon Doyle (clarinet), Oliver Steck (trumpet), and Cary Ozanian (Wurlitzer). Cindy Cashdollar has worked with Ryan Adams, Leon Redbone, Graham Parker and Bob Dylan, and played pedal steel for Asleep at the Wheel.
Moorhead MN native Brennen Leigh, who now also lives in Austin, adds backup vocals on “Down at the End of the Bar,” “Rapture,’ Blues Came Today,” and “Elephant in This Room.” Other vocal assists are done by Vaughn Walters, Cary Ozanian, Marlo Matteoli, Mike Nicolai, Maria Mabra, and Jenny Parrot.
Catch Leo Rondeau at any of the stops along his touring tour.
Leo Rondeau’s Tour Schedule
Monday August 10 331 Club, Minneapolis MN, 10:30 pm
Tuesday August 11 Nestor, Fargo ND, 10 pm
Wednesday August 12 The Hub, Grand Forks ND 10 pm
Friday August 14 Ebeneezers, Minot ND, 6:30 pm
Saturday August 15 Garden Tap, Dunseith ND, 9 pm
Sunday August The Blue Rider, Minot ND, 9 pm
Tuesday August 18 The Boot, Medora ND, 8 pm
Wednesday August 19 Horse to Harleys, Spearfish SD, 9 pm
