Onion Loaf

Most members of the band are still teenagers, but Onion Loaf hopes to present fans with a sound currently absent from the Baton Rouge music scene.

Formed a year ago, the three-piece Baton Rouge group has been playing private parties, open mike nights and a few neighborhood bars to get recognition. Influenced by the improvisation-oriented jam bands of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Onion Loaf aims to bring spontaneity and a funky undertone to their live shows.

"We listen to a lot of Phish and the Grateful Dead, and we feel like that aspect is getting lost in today's music with alternative being so popular, especially in Baton Rouge" said drummer Ben LeBlanc, 19. "All the radio stations out here besides KLSU are country or rap or alternative [rock]."

Since its formation, the band has focused on live shows rather than the studio, though it did release a 10-song demo, "Fe Fi Fo Funk," over the summer. And the band's trademark improvisation has become a staple of its live performances.

"Usually, we will open up with a completely improvisational jam and get the feel of the crowd," said LeBlanc, a philosophy freshman at Louisiana State University. "We will play the songs some people want to here and at the end of the song we will do a little jam. You never know – it could be a five-minute or a 20-minute jam."

And regardless of how long a jam, the crowd seems to appreciate the spontaneous performances.

"A lot of the people who come to the shows say they like the jam band aspect of us," said James Hobgood, 20, of Baton Rouge. "I don't know a lot of local bands around here that are jam bands. There are other funk bands, but I think we just bring a different style."

With the band practicing up to three times a week together, improvising as a group has become a natural, effortless process.

"Improvisation always comes pretty easy to us," Hobgood said. "Either Ben will have a drum beat or I'll have a bass line and we'll come up with something that sounds good."

Even though improvising is an integral part of the band's songwriting process, it takes time to construct each song's lyrics and melodies. Singer and guitarist Eric Peters, 17, described the writing songs as a mix between jamming on the spot and carefully crafting lyrics.

"We'll come with the whole instrumental part of the song and I'll go by myself and write the lyrics," said Peters, a senior at St. Michael the Arc Angel in Baton Rouge. "The way the jam feels has a lot to do with what I'm writing lyrically. Blending the lyrics and the music is very important to me."

"We'll have either a song name or an idea of how it will sound, and it always comes out of jam," LeBlanc said. "We'll find a chorus and lay out the chord progression then Eric will go and write the lyrics."

With singer Peters still in high school, the band has trouble playing at some venues reserved for patrons 21 and older.

"A lot of times, we try not to make it known unless they ask," Peters said. "We've been really lucky to have some places which are focused on having good music. I'm not going to sit there and order drinks and cause trouble for the bar – we're trying to get them good business."

But with his 18th birthday – the legal age for someone to enter most bars – coming in May, the band is hoping to get some exposure at some different places in Baton Rouge and across the state.

While all three members were either in college or plan on attending, they hope to make Onion Loaf a more permanent job.

"Honestly, I know how all of us feel about what we're doing," LeBlanc said. "We're all just killing time going to college. We honestly want to go on tour and play music, and we're going to give it everything we can to make it big." - WAFB Louisiana News Channel - Ben Bourgeois

Imagine the look on teenager James Hobgood’s face when he opened his Christmas present from his parents to find a professional recording session for his band, Onion Loaf. It’s a memory Cindy and Jack Hobgood will never forget.

“We wanted to give him something exciting and that would surprise him,” said Cindy Hobgood. “He’s always loved music even when he was a small child. The past three or four years he’s really gotten interested in music and he’d indicated it (recording a CD) was something he’d like to do.”

Ecstatic with his gift, James Hobgood quickly called his band mates, drummer Ben LeBlanc, son of Linda and Tom LeBlanc, and guitarist/vocalist Eric Peters, son of Margaret and Dennis Peters. James was introduced to Ben last September by a mutual friend. By the first of November, they had teamed up with Eric Peters to form the band Onion Loaf.

“Ben and I were sitting around one day and I had an epiphany,” Hobgood said. “It just popped into my head. I told him we were going to have a band and it was going to be called Onion Loaf.”

“We have similar tastes in music so it just made sense (to start a band),” LeBlanc added.

Hobgood, 19, first fell in love with music when in the third grade he got a “cheap guitar” and taught himself how to play popular songs of the day. Then he taught himself to plays bass. “Now it’s my favorite instrument,” he said.

LeBlanc, 18, is the band’s drummer.

“I always wanted to play drums,” said the recent St. Michael’s High School graduate. “I started taking private lessons in fifth grade and when I got to high school I joined the drum line.”

Peters plays the guitar and does most of the singing for the group. It’s just one of several instruments the 17-year-old St. Michael’s High School soon-to-be senior plays. He started taking piano lessons as a kindergartner and has been taking private guitar lessons since he was 11. Peters also plays jazz trumpet in the St. Michael’s band.

Once the Hobgoods had settled on what to give their son for Christmas, Cindy Hobgood began to research how to make it happen. A friend told her about Harold Cowart and Bluff Road Productions. An Internet check later and she knew she’d found the man to help her son realize his dream.

With a body of work to record, the boys met with Cowart to see what he thought and begin planning their session.

“They’ve got a lot of potential in my opinion,” said Cowart, who played bass with the Bee Gees and a host of other well-known artists. “They jump in and out of different genres of music. They’re intelligent kids.”

“We wanted to make our own music not just covers,” said Hobgood, who describes their genre as funk.

The band’s main influences are a mixture of old (Jimi Hendrix, The Meters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and new (Blink 182, STS9, Sublime, Galactic and Phish). Their creative process begins when someone comes up with an idea for a song. Then everybody figures out their individual part. When that’s all done, Peters writes the lyrics and melodies.

“I write new music every day,” he added.

After working with Cowart to fine tune their repertoire, Onion Loaf finally stepped into the recording studio.

“I knew he had a studio but I didn’t know it was as professional as it was,” Hobgood said. “It was really neat to work with Harold; he has all these gold and platinum albums on the wall.”

“We were all ears anytime he told us something,” said Peters. “The studio has top-of-the-line equipment — stuff companies stopped making and limited issue.”

“It was awesome,” added LeBlanc. “It turned out better than we expected … we stayed there until 2 in the morning.”

While Hobgood recalled they had to play each track over and over, Peters and LeBlanc reminded him that they only had to do one song twice, and only needed one take on the last song.

“The CD gave us a way to listen to our songs,” explained LeBlanc. “We’d never been able to do that before.”

“It was a dream come true in so many ways,” said Peters.

Onion Loaf has already sold its first CD. While they’ve played several venues around town, the band had its first out-of-town gig over Memorial weekend. They played in Shreveport at a party thrown by a friend of James’.

“Once Eric turns 18 we’ll be able to play more bars and clubs,” said LeBlanc, teasing the youngest band member.

“It just keeps getting better and better,” concluded Hobgood. “We let our music speak for itself.”

Meanwhile, the boys keep on writing songs and playing music while pursuing their education. Hobgood attends Baton Rouge Community College but has yet to declare a major. “I don’t know what else I want to do except music … what better job?”

LeBlanc heads to LSU this fall, and while he’s unsure about his major, he plans to study music and philosophy. “I’m really putting all my hope in the band.”

Peters has another year of high school but plans to major in music at LSU, concentrating on music composition and theory.
- 2 the Advocate - Pam Bordelon