Sometimes the stars align and fate drops something extraordinary into your hands.
That’s how it felt for Wyoming singer-songwriter Ned LeDoux the last time he was in Nashville, cutting vocals for his latest record "Safe Haven” before heading back out on the road.
Even though it was a tiny little window of time, his agent called him with big news, so big he could hardly believe he was hearing it.
The Dan Seals estate and Melody Records were putting together a duet project, built from Seals’ original masters, and they wanted Ned to sing “God Must Be a Cowboy” for it.
“I mean, you couldn’t have timed it any better,” LeDoux told Cowboy State Daily. “I was already in the studio, and so Dan’s group just sent the tracks to my producer, and we took a little break from singing my songs and laid down the vocal track for Dan’s.”
LeDoux didn’t do anything special to prepare. He just let loose and sang the entire song straight through, the way he felt it needed to be sung.
Then sound engineers worked a little technological magic, blending LeDoux’s track into Seals’ original recording until it sounded as if the two had been somehow standing side by side at the same microphone.
“It sounds like we’re in the same studio, but, of course, Dan’s been gone now for quite a while,” LeDoux said. “But just singing along, recording this song, just hearing (Seals’) voice in my headphones as we were laying down my vocal track, that was pretty magical.”
His Favorite Seals Song
It was a full-circle moment for LeDoux, one that tied into both his own story and his dad Chris LeDoux’s legacy.
Dan Seals wrote and recorded the hit song “God Must Be a Cowboy” in January 1984. Ned’s dad loved it so much he cut his own version of it that same year for his album “Melodies and Memories.”
Now, years later, to be picked for this track, which he and his dad both loved so much — it’s something LeDoux never could have imagined happening in a million years. And to have the call land when it did, right when he was already in the recording studio, that’s just incredible as well.
LeDoux doesn’t know why the Seals estate chose him for the new version of “God Must Be a Cowboy,” but it’s his favorite of all Seals’ many great hits.
“There’s just something about this song,” LeDoux said. “And maybe it’s the fact that my dad recorded it as well, a few years after Dan wrote it.”
LeDoux loves how visual the song is, and his favorite line is in the first part of the song.
“You just kind of imagine this cowboy,” he said. “You see the campfire, the coffee tin cup in my hand that helps warm the fingers when you’re cold. And playing this old guitar, a friend I understand, smooths out the wrinkles in my soul, and then sleeping beneath the moonlight a blanket for a bed, leaves a peaceful feeling in my mind.”
The song then talks about waking up in the morning, with an eagle flying overhead, which “makes me long to fly away before my time.”
“It’s just such a well-written song,” LeDoux said. “And it’s just appreciating the world around you, knowing that God created it for you.”
LeDoux also personally agrees with the song’s overall premise.
“God must have some cowboy in him, because this countryside is sure pretty,” LeDoux said. “If you just take a look around the country, everything he created on this earth … just to look at a sunrise or a sunset. I like to paint and draw and that kind of stuff. But there’s no way anybody could have that kind of paintbrush. God just has an awesome paintbrush.”
Fistful Of Feathers
The Seals-LeDoux duet was released March 13. That would have been enough to make LeDoux’s year one to remember, but LeDoux actually has a fistful of feathers to add to his Wyoming cowboy hat this year.
There’s his first movie appearances, for example, in the films "Outriding the Devil" and “Buffalo Daze,” which are now out on Amazon. And there’s soon to be a bucket-list show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, where he’ll open for fellow Wyoming singer-songwriter Ian Munsick.
“Obviously the LeDoux name is just so important for the culture of the West,” Munsick told Cowboy State Daily. “And also just for country music as a whole. For me to be able to bring Ned on as one of the openers, I feel like his music will just hit so hard there.”
This will be LeDoux’s first time as an artist playing on the stage at Red Rocks, and, he believes, a first for all his band members as well. It’s going to be incredibly special to do that with them and become “Red Rockers” alongside Munsick.
“You just think of all the other bands that have played that stage — this is where Bob Seger stood, or this is where Van Halen played,” LeDoux said. “Just knowing the history of a lot of these big-time legendary venues just makes it that much more special.”
For LeDoux, playing Red Rocks is on par with other milestones like stepping into the famous circle at the Grand Ole Opry or looking out at the crowds at Cheyenne Frontier Days.
“I couldn’t believe I was standing on the stage for Cheyenne Frontier Days’ main stage,” he said. “And then to have this opportunity to play Red Rocks … and also to play at the Grand Ole Opry, which I’ve been fortunate enough to play a couple of times.”
The Road Ahead
LeDoux will be hitting the road soon for his summer tour schedule, but in the meantime, he’s been working on a quieter project he calls Garage Sessions. It’s a video series LeDoux puts together on Sundays, which shines a little light on LeDoux family legends and lore.
In Garage Sessions Volume I, LeDoux explored his father’s deep catalog of songs, showcasing one song from each of his dad’s 36 albums.
“I just kind of tell a little story, maybe about the song or I talk about the album cover,” LeDoux said. “It just became a kind of ritual for me to go into the garage every Sunday night and maybe record a couple of videos to have those ready for the next couple of weeks.”
The videos have prompted family members and fans to reach out to LeDoux with more information sometimes, bringing new insights along the way.
“That’s become kind of a thing,” LeDoux said. “And this is the best time for me to do it, when we’re not on the road. Once we’re on the road, it’s hard to find a garage. But it’s just a fun little thing to kind of stay creative.”
This time around, for Garage Sessions Volume II, LeDoux plans to add some of his own work to the mix, including some of his “deep cuts,” which refer to songs that the band doesn’t usually play live.
“I’ll kind of tell a little bit of my story, like where these songs came from,” he said. “And where that album cover was taken, and kind of go through the liner notes and talk about the musicians who played on the other recordings. So yeah, it’s been fun to do.”
LeDoux isn’t stressing about what comes next around the next bend. You never can tell what the next phone call might bring, but he’s ready for it, come what may. He talks about his career a lot like any cowboy would, with gratitude for the ride and curiosity about the next trail.
“We’ve been almost everywhere,” he said. “The road goes on forever, and we’ll see where we’ll end up next.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
