Hello WU Nation!  For all of you who have been wondering how the bronze of Chris riding Stormy Weather to win the 1976 Bareback Riding World Championship is coming along, well, we have an update with pictures!  Michael Thomas is nearly done with the clay work which will lead to the casting and bronzing of the sculpture later this year.  The sculpture stands at about 13 feet right now from the bottom to the highest point and is 1 and a half life size (this makes Chris about 9 feet tall!).  It is expected to take until early next year to get the bronze finished and a summer 2010 unveiling ceremony in Kaycee, Wyoming is in the works.

For more information on how you can purchase a small version of "Good Ride Cowboy" please visit  www.chrisledoux.com/store3.htm  (scroll about halfway down the page).

For more information about sculptor Michael Thomas, please visit his website at www.dmichaelthomas.com

We will keep you all updated as we get more information!  Hope all is well with you wherever you may roam.

Take care,
The WU

                              


Hello WU Nation!

I just returned from my little trip out to Tampa Bay for the Super Bowl.  I must tell you it was the most exciting game I've ever been too in my life!  I met up with some of my old college buddies on Friday and we terrorized the town for a few days before the big game.  My partners in crime, Mac, Wirth, and Shane, along with a few BYU grads did our part to show Tampa just what it meant to be a part of Steeler Nation!  There may have been some harmless trash talking done to the handful of Cardinals fans but it was all in the spirit of the big game.  Some Arizona fans didn't like our jabs but that's a story I'll save for another day... anyway, the day of the game brought lots of nerves and excitement as we enterered the stadium.  It looked like a home game for the Steelers with about 80% of the fans toting "Terrible Towels" and clad in black and gold.  We cheered the Steelers onto a very dramatic victory and watched them complete the "Six Pack" of Super Bowl rings.  After the game we got to go down to the field and celebrate the win.  I'd like to thank Brett and Sarah Keisel for being such gracious hosts while we were down there.  Brett played one heck of a game and Sarah made sure she kept all of us hooligans on schedule so we didn't miss anything.  She gets extra brownie points for that!  I hope all of you out there in WU Nation had a wonderful time watching the game wherever you may have been and best of luck to your favorite NFL team next year! 

Take care,
Will LeDoux

                
                                 
                                       
                                            

WU Nation,
 
You know the greatest thing about January ending is that the Super Bowl is approaching rapidly. With only a mere 10 days until the Super Bowl I was curious as to who the fellas in the Western Underground were pledging their allegiance to as the Steelers and Cardinals clash for the Lombardi Trophy. First off, since I’m writing this blog it’s going to be biased towards the Steelers because that’s who I’m rooting for (my apologies to any Cards fans who may read this). My biggest reason for rooting for the Steelers is my buddy Brett Keisel starts at Defensive End for them. He’s a Wyoming boy (well more of a beast than a boy) but most of all a great all around guy! I’ve got other reasons as well, such as; The terrible towel, great uniforms, Hines Ward and the “Crack Back” block (ring any bells Bengals fans?), Aaron Smith’s heart, Big Ben’s play making ability, Heath Miller’s hustle, Dick LeBeau’s defensive genius, Steeler Nation, Terry Bradshaw, their “blue collar” mentality, great team play, Terrel Owens doesn’t play for them, they don’t have cheerleaders (seriously, who needs them), James Harrison’s never give up attitude… I could go on and on but you get the idea. Therefore I predict Steelers will own the day with a 34-17 victory. I believe Big Ben takes home MVP honors when its all said and done as well. So there you have it, I’ll step off my soapbox now and give you the rest of the WU’s projections. So enjoy the Super Bowl and Go Steelers!   

-Will LeDoux

WU SUPER BOWL PROJECTIONS

I talked to Mark Sissel and he predicts the Cardinals will prevail 24-20 with Larry Fitzgerald taking home MVP honors.  I'm sure it was tough for Mark to not select former Iowa Barnstormer, Kurt Warner as his MVP but Fitzgerald has done too much for his playoff fantasy football team to not select him... ha ha! 

Dustin Evans predicts an 11 point Cards victory (28-17) with Kurt Warner snagging the MVP. 

Ned LeDoux believes the Steelers will come out on top 24-17 with Defensive End and Wyoming native, Brett Keisel coming away with the MVP. Keisel might be a long shot to get the MVP but I like where Ned’s heart is!

KW Turnbow has selected the Cardinals to find sweet, sweet victory next Sunday. He believes Kurt Warner will take MVP honors after leading the Cards to a 4 point win, 24-20.

Lyle “Pops” Evans hops onto the Cardinals bandwagon and picks them to win 24-23 with Kurt Warner doing just enough to take MVP honors.

Bobby Jensen took time away from his books to give me this projection; “Steelers get the W with a score of 31-21. Willie Parker will win the MVP…. Now I have to get back to my studies. Go Steelers!”

Mike Browning could not be reached for comment as he is off on some sort of crazy adventure in the great state of Utah.  But if I was to speak for him I'm sure he'd say something like, "Well If a Steeler was to get into a fight with a Cardinal the Steeler would win."  Therefore I'm assuming Mikey would be pulling for Pittsburgh. 

Hey all

Just dropping a line to everyone, and hoping you're getting a good start on the new year.
The holidays were excellent here in Tennessee, and I know the same is true in, WY, ID, and UT,
(homes to the rest of WU). The music industry gets pretty quiet in late December, actually shuts down
for a couple weeks, so we've been gearing back up this week, and started working on dates for the year.
Might have to jog to a few of the first dates to shed a puond or two of all that holiday cookin'.

I've been writing more lately, although some of the material not exactly suited to WU, but hey, you just
write what comes, and see what happens from there. Business tends to get in the way of the creative
sometimes, and it's a matter of shutting everything out long enough to let the juices flow. Now this brings me to
a thought I had. What if we all wrote a song together? We pick a title...say "What I Like About Rodeo", and
everybody just start sending us lines , stories, and thoughts, and we'll see if we can turn that into a song.
If we get enough to actually put it all together, we'll have something for the next album and we can put your
name on it. This isn't a means to get rich as a songwriter, since making a profit on an album as an independent,
(or a major label for that matter), is about as likely as me being the secretary of state, but it would be a kick to
have something that we all did together. Just a thought, and it may be a whacky one, but nobody ever said I
was normal anyway.

Well good luck to all with your new years resolutions, (I have never made one of those yet), and keep
an eye out for WU coming to your area, and we'll see ya down the road.

Cheers
Mark / WU

Hey All

We hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving, and had the chance to get together with family and friends.
It's a time to give thanks to the people that mean so much to us, and to all we have, and Western Underground would like to say how grateful we are to have such incredible fans and friends.

We are headed for Harrah's Las Vegas for shows 4th through 7th, and are excited that so many of our fans
are making the trip. It looks to be a wild week at Toby Keith's I LOVE THIS BAR.

On Friday the 5th Western Underground will be signing autographs from 1:30 to 2:30 at Cowboy Christmas in the convention center. We'll be in the Cactus Ropes booth with the Rodeo Historical Society, so if you're in town please stop by and say hi. If you haven't been to the Cowboy Christmas you should make the trip just to check it out, it's an
awesome event, and a chance to pick up some great gifts for the holidays.

Cya down the road
Mark / WU

Hey all

The new single GOOD OL' DAYS TO COME is getting play on a lot of stations, and especially in the intermountain west. I will send a list of stations on it soon, and if they are in your area you might give them a call and request it. Every little bit helps.

I've been getting e-mails from alot of you lately, and it really feels good to hear that you still feel the sense
of family that Chris instilled in all of us, friends and fans alike. That is something we want you to always feel, and
each and every one of you are impotant to us. To know that someone will climb on a motorcycle, or in truck, tractor or bicycle, and make a road trip to see us play music is the ultimate compliment, and we don't take it for granted.
THANK YOU ALL, and let's keep it rockin.

Cya soon
Mark / WU

We made it back from the Cali run, and I wanted to let everyone that came out to see us, know that we had an awesome time, and it was great to see alot of faces we hadn't seen in some time. Santa Maria was a blast!! The crowd was fired up, and rocked as hard, (if not harder) then we did. Robin Whitney, one of the owners,  runs the Maverick, and she's sensational. If you get through Santa Maria, make sure to stop in for a cold beverage and say hi to Robin and the staff. It's a little piece of honky tonk heaven.
The Crystal Palace in Bakersfield (tippin my hat to Buck Owens here), is always a pleasure to perform at. Quality people, that treat you well and always very proffesional, and the food is EXCELLENT!!
The crowd was great, and they were having a big 90th birthday celebration for Archie, (who didn't look a day over 78), and a group of 60 bikers in the house also, along with a variety of loyal fans. The Crystal Palace is a really nice restaraunt and club, so it generally doesn't get as rowdy as some spots. but there were enough great diehards, and a few new ones, hyping the crowd up, and it all turned into another rockin' evening. I borrowed a camera from Julie, sitting up front, and took some pictures of the crowd and will get those up on the site as soon as I get them from her.
We headed up to Freemont on Sunday to play the Saddle Rack. We had played the old one in San Jose a couple times with Chris, but I have to say this new one is a nice set up. Not a bad seat in the place if your goin to see a show. Andy runs the place and his hospitality was exceptional. I was also impressed when he asked me how my son was doing and actually knew his name.... damn I was shocked. I asked him how he knew that, and he said, "well he was just born the last time you were here with Chris and we talked about it then". Well that was about 12 years ago, and I don't care who you are, that's impressive.
The turnout was lighter there, but no less enthusiastic. I think that everybody in the crowd came through the meet and greet line after the show, and that really felt good.
One great thing about this trip was getting a chance to hang out after every show and talk to people. Now that does take it's toll on us when we have to get up early and drive to the next city, but it was worth it.
I told Jesse, (one of Chris's long time fans from Santa Maria), that one of the biggest reasons I personally wanted to continue the band, was to be able to see your faces... all of you that have come to so many show over the years, ran into us in the hallways of arenas, amd clubs, or the midways on fairgrounds.
Shared a beer and a story, or dropped off a box of goodies for the band, or just showed up to enjoy Chris's music. All of you that become like friends and family, and I guess I wanted to hang on to that. Well we're still kickin' down the road, and it means alot to see your faces time and again, so thank you all for hanging with us, and let's keep it goin.

Till next time
Mark

We're just getting this site up, so bear with us while we get things in order. We want to say to all that have supported us over the years, THANK YOU, and we hope you stay with us while we work to carry on the traditions of our mentor and hero Chris LeDoux. We're gonna keep crankin' out great Chris music, and also writing and recording new music that will stay true the core values of the great American west. We would love to hear your comments and thoughts, so feel free to blog us anytime.

Join the e-team and help us spread the word about the band, if you like what you hear, and we'll keep the family rockin' forward. There's a lot of great country music out there, and we want to fill our niche with some great rodeo rock and roll. It's not for everybody, but that's what makes us all unique.The best comments we ever get are from
people that tell us how the music touched a part of their lives. That's what country music is about and there's no greater compliment then that. So let's share some great memories, and create some new ones to talk about down the road.


Cya soon
WU