Laditude
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Laditude

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The best kept secret in music

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"Mountain Press Release"

Members of the popular band Laditude have released their newest CD and it’s available nationwide. The name of the CD is “Here.” Husband and wife team Ken and Amy Laderoute have entertained area residents for several years as part of the band Laditude (formerly Cloud Nine), playing at events such as the Fur Ball. Meanwhile, Ken and Amy spent the last five years producing the ten songs on the CD. Amy is the primary vocalist. Ken wrote the songs, played most of the instruments and recorded the cuts in his studio. He describes the songs as feel-good happy tunes with an underlying central theme based on the love he has for Amy. “It’s a sentimental emotional album that came out of me,” he says. “I wanted it to be honest. I wanted it to be true to me.” The title of the CD was taken from one of the ten cuts on the album. “We got together with some friends before the album came out,” Ken says. “We were listening to the music and just about everyone acclaimed ‘Here’ as the best song on the album—the most emotive, the most feeling, a John Lennon type song.” One of the reasons the CD took five years to produce was Ken’s decision to do it all. “I decided I was going to purchase equipment and learn the equipment so essentially I had to learn how to become an audio engineer,” he says. “So I did everything from start to finish—the composition of the tracks, the lyrics, the orchestration, the instruments, the production, the engineering, the recording and the mixing, the processing and the mastering.” The Laderoutes spent time evaluating how to package the CD, hiring graphic designers who eventually came up with an eye-catching triple-foldout CD package and a disc featuring their photos along with the CD title. “We were very pleased,” Ken says. “It was just what we were looking for. It has the ‘Wow!’ factor.” “Here” is available on-line at Laditude’s website, www.laditude.
One of Ken’s goals is to get one of the album cuts picked up and recorded by a major artist. “Several of the cuts are very accessible,” he says, “and I think they could end up on a major artist’s album.” If thousands of copies of “Here” aren’t sold, Ken says he’ll still be satisfied.He says he learned a lesson during the 14 years that he and Amy toured as part of a band, during which time people would ask them when they were going to “make it.” “I’d always say ‘We’ve already made it” and I still say that,” he says. “I’m doing what I love to do. I’m writing music and I’m producing music. It’s what I love to do.”  - Staff Writer


"Mountain Review"

Laditude is Here
I am a child of the sixties. Lots of exciting changes took place then, some interesting things were said. Perhaps my favorite quote from that era comes from a speech delivered by Robert Kennedy. In it he says, “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.” According to a recent commentator on National Public Radio, there are more than 80,000 songwriters living in the Nashville area. While that figure seems astounding, it tells you something important about the music industry. It helps to explain the sad fact that when it comes to producing a CD most musicians say “why.” It would be one thing if creating a CD was mainly a matter of talent, but far more is involved like money (lots of your own), connections, and luck. We can surely sympathize with those who say “why.” But with the recent release of “Laditude,” Ken Laderoute said “why not.” Ken knows the risks, the enormous odds against financial success. Maybe he’s a little crazy. It’s fun to think of our favorite entertainers as a bit daft, but with Ken it’s more a matter that his music comes from somewhere deep inside. He writes with passion, is a gifted musician, and a good lyricist. The songs on the CD needed to be birthed! In addition to Ken, we are treated to Amy, his wife of eighteen years, who does most of the singing. Her voice is distinctive, hauntingly beautiful, not easy to forget. On stage and live, Amy oozes with charisma. Her eyes jump out at you with warmth, compassion, and energy. Some of the charisma seeps onto the CD. For people who know her, this is not surprising. It should. The traits are genuine.
Though not sixties people, they are both too young to qualify, their music captures the essence of the sixties in one important sense. It is iconoclastic. It breaks all the molds. It is unique, their own sound. When you first hear “You’ve Got That Lovin Down,” you think this is country, but the theme of the song is anything but country. The mood is upbeat, peppy, full of inspiration and hope. With lyrics that are poetic, the song speaks simply about how humans love one another. It reflects the wisdom that comes from the solid ground of their committed relationship together. Perhaps the most distinctive song musically is “Listen to the Rain.” It is a meditative, sorrowful song about the vulnerability of commitment, about losing someone, about a relationship that doesn’t work. You hear the rain, you feel the melancholy. It’s an impressive achievement. The CD also has its surprises. It opens with four classic love songs-happy, feel good tunes that speak to the importance of love in a world that seems at times to have gone a little crazy. And then comes “Minefield,” a song about tiptoeing around a deeply troubled relationship. The music has an edge. It is loud, explosive, discordant in places. It captures and defines the lyrics of the song. The signature song of “Here” comes near the end of the CD. It’s a hymn to the power of a good marriage. The song is moving with harmony that is beautiful and guitar work that is masterful. The lyrics will make you cry. Like all of the songs on this CD, it contains a message, but Ken never preaches. His message is always subtly expressed, woven together with music that is both exciting and appropriate and presented through the voice of Amy, a voice that you will remember long after the music has stopped. This is definitely a CD you will want to add to your collection.

Rick Herrick, author of A Week in October and An Uncommon Woman
- Rick Herrick


Discography

Albums
1977 – The Great Rufus Road Machine Album - Axe Records Canada Limited
1982 – The Oui Album – The Oui Duo
Oui Music Inc. Canada
2002 – “Here” Laditude Duo
Oui Music Inc. USA

Singles
1976 – Single What Does It Matter – Rufus Road Machine - Axe Records Canada
1976 – Funny How Love Can Be – Rufus Road Machine - Rubber Bullet Records Canada
1977 – Tip of My Tongue - Rufus Road Machine - Axe Records Canada
1977 – I Believe in Sunshine - Rufus Road Machine - Axe Records Canada
1979 - Hello to Romance – Rufus Road Machine - Axe Records Canada
1981 – Reflections of My Life - The Boss
Walrus Records Canada

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Ken Laderoute -- Guitarist, Vocalist

Ken Laderoute was born in a small Northern town twelve hours north of Toronto, Ontario Canada. He learned to play the guitar at 12 years old and began playing weddings and dances with his father’s band around the area. The oldest of five, his father, mother and children were united by a common love of making music together. They called themselves “Father’s Childen” and grew to become very well known in the area.

While filming a documentary in the North, Bob Burt a renowned television producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation heard of the family band and invited them to record a demo of the family band at CBC Studio 6 on Jarvis street in Toronto. After recording the demo, the decision was made to move the entire family from their 20-year hometown to Kitchener, Ontario in order to be closer to music opportunities. During this time Ken taught classical guitar at the Cambridge Academy for the Arts and served as the musical director for several productions of Kitchener/Waterloo Theater.

Ken eventually moved to Toronto and auditioned for Axe recording group “The Great Rufus Road Machine.” A week after the audition he found himself on a nationwide tour that began a five-year career with this popular band. They went on to achieve national airplay success across Canada after their singles Can’t You Do It Now rose to number 28 and Say What’s On Your Mind to number 14 on Canadian charts. The band toured extensively in Canada and the United States and we’re voted Best vocal group 1977 mid year radio polls music finals.

In 1981 Ken was offered a position in an up and coming new band that his management company was forming called The Boss. He accepted the position and the band began their search for a dynamic lead vocalist. Through industry contacts they heard of a singer based out of Dayton Ohio that was in between bands. They flew her to Niagara Falls and she astounded everyone with her voice and stage presence! Her name was Amy Fuhrer. This meeting began a musical and personal relationship that has since lasted for over twenty years! Amy and Ken toured Canada and the US again for the next three years and released two nationally acclaimed singles Hello to Romance and Shake It.

As the market changed in the early 80’s, Ken and Amy responded by forming a high tech duo called Oui. Along with synthesizers, drum machines and back tracks they toured widely 6 nights a week 52 weeks a year throughout Southern Ontario. During this time they recorded an album of original songs called the Oui Album. They toured in this form for 8 years coming home on Sundays to manage their six town homes they purchased in Waterloo, Ontario.

Ken and Amy fantasized about warmer weather and exploring a new lifestyle. They heard that North Carolina was an exciting state with Mountains to the West and the Ocean to the East. So they flew to Asheville, NC to investigate. Upon returning to Waterloo they began the Immigration process and began preparations for the move. They eventually wound up in Boone, North Carolina and purchased two TCBY yogurt shops, which they co-own to this day.

Since 1994 they continue to be in high demand for weddings, country clubs and fundraisers both as a high tech duo and with their five-piece band “Laditude.”

Ken and Amy have just completed an entirely original solo CD entitled Here that will be officially released on November 10, 2002. Ken produced, played all the instruments and recorded the project in his home studio.

Ken is also active as the Program Director for the Blowing Rock Jazz Society and has served on the Music Industry Advisory Board for Appalachian State University.

Amy Laderoute -- Vocalist, Keyboards

Amy Laderoute always knew she would be a singer one day. Even at five years old her mother would catch her using a drapery cord as a microphone or find her outside singing in a mailbox for the reverb effect. She studied classical piano for six years and won a scholarship to the Fred Waring School of Music in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She enjoyed the school but she really wanted to sing like soul singers Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, and Natalie Cole.

At 17 Amy decided to leave her comfortable mid-western family home for a career in the music business. She auditioned for a funk band out of Dayton, Ohio called Crosswind. She landed the job as lead vocalist and hit the road. She played continually for three years and hit major cities throughout the US.

While gigging in Detroit Amy hooked up with a new band called McCormick Place. In her hotel room one night while watching the Tonight Show she saw John Davidson talking about his dream of having a camp for aspiring young singers. Amy sent in a demo tape and was chosen out nine thousand applicants to attend. She worked with John Davidson, Kenny Rogers, Shields and Yarnell, Lola Folana, Florence Henderson and Pete Barbuti.

After two years with that band she headed for New