Ned LeDoux never considered himself a singer, despite all the times he played drums alongside his dad, country music star Chris LeDoux.
“I was the drummer,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “That was my job. And so I just wanted to be the best drummer I could be for him and the band. Singing never even crossed my mind because he was the singer.”
Now 20 years after his father Chris LeDoux’s death at just 56, Ned is looking back at a road that’s been full of surprises.
From the discovery that he was not just a drummer after all, but a pretty darn good singer-songwriter, to the more recent surprise song from his father hiding on a shelf for almost 20 years, “One Hand in the Riggin’.”
Written by his friend Brenn Hill, that never-before-released song allowed Ned LeDoux to create a poignant duet across time with his father.
“It’s crazy to think it’s been 20 years,” LeDoux told Cowboy State Daily. “But me and my family, we’re all very spiritual, and we know that he’s still with us, every day, every step along the way. And we’ll see him again, down the road.”
LeDoux sings about that idea a little bit in a song that will be on his upcoming album, out April 4, called “Real as I believe.”
“It’s a song I didn’t write, but it’s definitely very personal,” LeDoux said. “It’s just about believing in where we go when we’re done on this earth. It’s pretty powerful, and I’ve had a lot of really good compliments about it.”
LeDoux can’t think of a more fitting tribute to his father’s life than what he’s been doing the last 20 years, living life to the fullest, and writing and singing about it in songs. That’s why every one of his albums to date includes one of his father’s songs, alongside his own original work.
For the last 14 years, LeDoux has also appeared at Chris LeDoux days in Kaycee, a Wyoming Father’s Day weekend tradition. This year will be special, LeDoux told Cowboy State Daily, and it will also be the last, June 13-14.
“Mom just kind of asked all of us like, ‘What do you think we just kind of go out with a big bang,’” LeDoux told Cowboy State Daily. “And we didn’t want to just have it fade away, have it just kind of dwindle off. So we thought that would be a great way to go out, with a bang.”
Chris LeDoux Days in Kaycee, Wyoming, is ending, and going out with a bang for its 15th and final run. But 20 years after his death, the country music legend’s legacy lives on in his son Ned. (Courtesy Ned LeDoux) 
A young Ned LeDoux with his country music star father Chris. (Courtesy Ned LeDoux) 
Ned LeDoux performs on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. (Courtesy Ned LeDoux) 
Chris LeDoux Days in Kaycee, Wyoming, is ending, and going out with a bang this year for its 15th and final run. But 20 years after his death, the country music legend’s legacy lives on in his son Ned. (Courtesy Ned LeDoux) 
Chris LeDoux Days in Kaycee, Wyoming, is ending, and going out with a bang this year for its 15th and final run. But 20 years after his death, the country music legend’s legacy lives on in his son Ned. (Courtesy Ned LeDoux)
It All Started With A Little Idea
One thing LeDoux is particularly excited about for the Chris LeDoux Days finale this year is the appearance of country music band Sawyer Brown.
“We’ve been trying to get that band for the last three, maybe four years now, and we finally got them,” LeDoux said. “So it’s gonna be Sawyer Brown, then myself, and then Kip Attaway is going to open up the show.”
LeDoux hopes to see a great turnout for Chris LeDoux Days and the rodeo that goes along with it.
“That’s always got a great turnout,” LeDoux said. “And, who knows, maybe down the road, we’ll come up with something else. I don’t know, but I think this will be a good way to go out with a boom.”
Chris LeDoux days started organically after his father died, LeDoux recalled.
“There’s this little piece of land in Kaycee that my parents owned,” he said. “And while my dad was still around they thought, well, maybe we could just turn it into a little park. Put some picnic tables in there, maybe a couple of grills, do some landscape stuff, to where people coming off of I-25 could pull off and have a little break and let the kids run around.”
After his father died, that idea lived on. But the family also had a bronze sculpture of Chris LeDoux, and the middle of the park they had created seemed a fitting place for it.
“Meadow Acres Landscaping and Greenery donated a lot of stuff for that, from flowers and rocks and mulch,” LeDoux said. “And the whole family pitched in and helped put this park together.”
Having created this nice green space, the family decided to have a big unveiling to share it with everyone.
“We had a few bands come in and we had bareback and bronc riding going on,” LeDoux said. “And like the governor was there, and some other people went up and gave a speech. My mom gave a great speech.”
It was so much fun, and went off so well, the family decided it should be a thing every year. Invite Wyoming and the world down to Kaycee, Wyoming, to enjoy the little park they had made.
“It just really built up to be something that I think folks in Wyoming and people all around the country really looked forward to,” LeDoux said. “I even met a lady there five years ago who was from England. She had this really thick accent and I said, ‘Did you come here just for this?’ And she told me they planned their vacation around it.”
LeDoux said there may yet be surprises for the event this year, to ensure it goes out with a bang, as the family plans.
Learning To Sing
Singing and writing songs wasn’t something that ever came natural to LeDoux.
“I had played drums for most of my life, over 30 years,” he said. “But after dad passed away, I joined with a different band.”
Hanging out with them afterward at a hotel, one of the singers decided to take a break.
“He handed me his guitar and says, “Hey man, why don’t you play one of your dad’s songs?’”
LeDoux was floored. He realized he didn’t even know for sure if he could sing.
“Listen, I’ll hold your guitar for you,” he said. “But I don’t sing at all.”
That answer didn’t satisfy the guitar man, though.
“When he came back, he grabbed the guitar and goes, ‘Well do you know the words this song?’”
LeDoux thought about that and realized that he did know the words to all of his dad’s songs, even if he’d never tried to sing them.
The whole thing awakened a little curiosity.
“I remember driving home Sunday afternoon and thinking about how fun it would be to just learn two or three of his songs, whether they were good or not,” LeDoux said. “And then if I’m sitting around a cheap motel room or a campfire or just to go sit on my front porch with a tall glass of iced tea and just sing to the birds.”
LeDoux started off singing in secret in his basement.
“I didn’t really want to sing in front of anybody,” he said. “I just kind of sang to the chair in the corner and the pictures on the wall.”
Before too long, he had learned way more than two or three songs. He had 15 to 20 of them.
Then he took the next step. During breaks, he’d go up on stage to sing a couple of songs.
“I’d be like, ‘Well, don’t put any lights on me,’” LeDoux said. “I’m just going to see if I can do this.”
Eventually, it turned into solo gigs at little dive bars. That was fun, but it all just kept getting bigger and bigger, until it became the full-blown musical career that it is today.
(Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
Chris LeDoux performs on state in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1994. (Getty Images) 
Randy Wagner was well known for his rodeo photography, like this shot of Chris Ledoux. (Courtesy Photo)
Honoring His Dad Is All About Celebrating Life
Chris LeDoux days has always been a celebration of life, LeDoux said.
The longevity of the event, and the fact that 20 years later people are still talking about his dad never ceases to amaze him.
“I’ve never heard anybody say a bad word about him,” LeDoux said. “He was just that kind of a guy. And we lost him at the age of 56, but just thinking of all his achievements and accomplishments, in such a short amount of time. It would probably take most people like two or three lifetimes.”
Those achievements included high school rodeo champ, college rodeo champ, and 1976 bareback champion of the world.
“Then all the success that came in music,” LeDoux said. “I just recently put all of his vinyl records on display in my house, and it pretty much takes up the whole wall. He had so many albums that he put out.”
Despite being independent for most of that career, Chris LeDoux had sold more than six million records as of 2007. He had a gold and a platinum album certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, and was nominated for a Grammy.
His hit single, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” a duet with Garth Brooks, was certified gold and hit the top 10 nationally.
Music Is Forever
Listening to his dad’s work is great, LeDoux added. And he’s already listened to the “One Hand in the Riggin’” duet he recorded with his dad at least 255 times now.
“I still get goosebumps,” he said. “That’s the great thing about recorded music, it’ll be around forever.”
LeDoux feels those who have heard his dad’s music before won’t need any explanation. But for those who are just discovering it, he thinks what they’ll find is just inspiration for living life well.
“There’s nothing negative at all in his music,” LeDoux said. “Everything is just uplifting. And most everything he sang about was true. Even if it was a song he didn’t write himself, he made it his own. He was just a salt of the earth, great guy.”
LeDoux’s own work is in the same vein, and he’s continuing to produce it at his own pace.
That might be slower than other artists who produce an album or so a year, but LeDoux is busy living a full life, one that includes ranch life.
That brings depth and variety to his work, he believes. But that also means it takes a little longer to finish an album.
“I didn’t really expect this to become what it’s become,” he said. “I thought maybe I’d just make an album and play a few shows. But people keep asking us to come back.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
