Fred LeBlanc was born deaf. For the first three years of his life, until he had an operation, he could not hear. Music became his connection with the world. Its remained so for the vocalist-drummer, lyricist, and founder of the intriguing and long running New Orleans rockers calling themselves Cowboy Mouth. (The name comes from a line in a play co-written by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith.)

Before my operation, my parents would put my head on a speaker and crank up the volume, he recalls. Show tunes, opera, other songs, they played whatever they could to try to elicit a reaction. I could sing before I could hear, LeBlanc says. Music to me has always been my primary form of communication. When Im sad, I sing. When Im happy, I sing. When Im angry, I sing. For me its purely about communication, telling the world I exist and this is how I feel.

Everyone in the band embraces the music in different ways. But as a band, we all want people who come to the shows to leave feeling like theyve been part of something special, LeBlanc says. That might happen on stage or inside themselves, using us, something we triggered. And, what a trigger! The playing is nothing, if not inspired; a reflection, perhaps, of what LeBlanc calls a New Orleans devil may care attitude. People in New Orleans believe that life is meant for living, so live it now and live it hard, live it to have a good time. Its basically an idea of celebration. Were not here for that long so we might as well enjoy it as we can.

That philosophy became part of Cowboy Mouth even before the musicians realized it, he says. We became a celebratory rockn roll organism. Or was that orgasm? LeBlanc may sit behind a drum kit front and center on stage, but he is not a prisoner of it. Hes been known to join the crowd when the spirit moves him. People who come to our shows should expect to dance, scream, smile and leave covered in sweat and hopefully look at the world a little bit differently, he says. We want to make 1,000 brand new best friends every night.

Cowboy Mouth tries to make the vibe as positive as possible with their music. Its not like we are Up With People or anything. We deal with issues of life. When bad things happen, and they do, its just part of life. Its not about whining and bitching and moaning. Its about What will you do about it? and What can it teach me to make me strong? He enjoys the give and take at a concert. We all give our very best. Its a great feeling when you look into the audience and somebody is 5 years old again for whatever reason, they are having the time of their life. Its the very best feeling. Its kind of losing yourself to find yourself, which I think is the cornerstone of what its all about.

Out on their fourth annual Rock n Roll Mardi Gras Tour, the band winds up with two days of Mardi Gras madness in New Orleans. Its crazier than you can ever imagine, total insanity, LeBlanc says of the annual Mardi Gras performances. How everybody else feels about Christmas morning when they are kids, thats how people of New Orleans feel about Mardi Gras. Regardless of the time of year, LeBlanc says that drumming and singing feels like the most natural thing in the world to him. The best thing to do when you play music or do anything is not to think. Do your very best to get to the point where youre not thinking. Thats where the music plays itself and basically just uses me as a channel. Ive played music for 20 years. Its something that just comes very naturally to me, ever since I was a child. Im very lucky but Ive also done it a lot.

While Cowboy Mouth, in his view, offers good songs and good stage presence, he says the strength of the band is its audience. I always thought when you play a rockn roll show, its not about being a rockn roll star. Its not about trying to get, its about trying to give. The audience to me is just as important an ingredient of the show as the band is. There has to be give and take, push and pull, bringing and putting away, he says. He enjoys working an audience and bringing them some place they havent gone in a while, where they can forget their cares and celebrate who they are, not just being in a room and watching us.

As a kid, LeBlanc was turning heads as the frenzied drummer in Dash Riprock, a touring group in the southeast. When it was time to give birth to a new band, the spirit of Sam Shepard and Patti Smith spoke with their line, You gotta grab the little broken-up, busted pieces of peoples frustration, youve gotta give it back to them bigger than life. You gotta be a rock and roll Jesus with a cowboy mouth. LeBlanc said Amen to that, bringing aboard his friend and guitarist Paul Sanchez; guitarist John Thomas Griffith (former guitar prodigy in The Red Rockers and author of the international hit China.); and, eventually, one of New Orleans best, bassist Rob Savoy. Everyone sings. They began building a most loyal fan base, picking up new people each time they returned to a town. Oh, yes, if they werent loyal you wouldnt be talking to me, he tells his interviewer. Id be working at 7/11. Our audience gives us the power to make our dreams come true. If it wasnt for them we wouldnt be following our dreams, he adds.

That audience has a demographic that is really wild, he says. Its everybody from five year old kids to skateboard and punk teens, to Yuppie parents and grandparents. They all know what they are getting, he says a very rockin, powerful, emotionally uplifting, raucous good time. Does he sense the music industry has a grasp on what Cowboy Mouth is all about? I stopped worrying about that a long time ago, LeBlanc says. Weve had a couple of mild hits. The weird thing is there are bands out there with platinum albums who cant do what we do. Were not a show band, but an original band. We are a rock band.

The bands latest album is Easy. We wanted to make as creative a record as we possibly could, to do something that sounded relatively current, but still with a strong song structure that is missing a little bit today. He once worried about what the future might hold in terms of trying to score a hit record and various other industry achievements. Now, he says, he doesnt. The thing about it is Cowboy Mouth has done so much more than I ever thought it could. Weve played in front of so many people. We know what its like to perform in front of thousands and thousands of people in one night. At the same time we keep a success level that is constant. Some platinum bands cant even get gigs now.

The band has given up trying to assess its musical journey, he adds. Every time we try to figure that out we have no idea. We always get it wrong. The four of us are just as much at a loss to explain what we are and what we do. Were all kind of just riders on the stream, something that stuck together almost by accident and stayed together a lot longer than a lot of us thought it would. Its something we all are a part of. The chemistry exists beyond the four of us. The Lord only knows how long it will last, he says. I stopped trying to guess that nine years ago. Its something that is passionate, that is fun, that allows us a certain amount of creative leeway and something we did ourselves. You cant put a label on it and say They made this and this.

The game plan never changes, he says. Its tour, tour, tour. Thats what we do, and put on the very best show we possibly can, and give it all your heart. Hopefully somebody leaves thinking it was one of the best shows that they ever saw and feeling so good they want to grab the world by the (balls). When he finally decides to retire, LeBlanc says that he just wants to be proud when he looks back on his career. I hope my little corner of the world will shine a little brighter for us being here.