You Oughta Know: Eric Leadbetter

David Miller / 2 years
0
4 min read

Eric Leadbetter grew up on a ranch in Ennis, Montana, moving to Boseman when he was a bit older. While there was a piano in the house and mom and a sibling or two played instruments, music was not a big family focus. It was merely a past time.

That is, until Eric heard Jimi Hendrix one day on the school bus. A fellow student had his Walkman and headphones on. Eric asked, “What are you listening to over there?”

The kid handed over his cassette deck, Eric placed the headphones on, and Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” bored its way into his brain. When the song was over, Eric reluctantly handed the life-changing machine back to the Walkman owner.

“Naw,” said his new friend. “Listen til your stop.”

Eric did…”Purple Haze,”… “Little Wing,”… “Red House”…all erupted into the mind, heart and soul of the then 7th grader.

It just so happens that there was a classical guitar in the house, handed down from a grandparent. Eric started banging on it, but it wasn’t what he heard on the school bus. With money from a job with a local electrical company (Elvis anyone???), Eric eventually bought a “Homemade, red Stratocaster.”

“Man, I loved that thing,” he said.

Later, his dad bought him a real Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, which he still plays.

“We were looking at an Epiphone, which is a lower-priced line from Gibson,” said Eric. “But one day, dad spotted this pink Deluxe.”

Like many of us “self-taught” musicians, Eric learned songs, and in turn learned how to write songs, by ear.

“I did that BMI 20 CDs for a penny thing,” he said. “I got Allman Brothers, Skynyrd, Santana, some jam bands, Grateful Dead. And I started learning.”

Leadbetter also took a lot of influence from Seattle’s Grunge Scene.

“Bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden they all had an influence,” he said. “They were what was popular when I was a teenager.”

After high school, Eric relocated to Boulder, Colorado and formed the band Jive Coulis (you can look them up on You Tube). They toured some, opened for other bands and eventually made their way to Oregon.

A gig with the Infamous String Dusters at Silver Moon Brewing in Bend planted a seed for an eventual relocation. Eric spent some time in Ashland, but ended up in Bend about 10 years ago. Now residing in La Pine, anyone paying attention to the local music scene the last five years knows Eric has been writing great songs and delivering great performances in the area.

The Eric Leadbetter Band consists of an occasionally rotating cast of characters from the Central Oregon music scene, including familiar names like Patrick Pearsall, Aaron Moore, Kaleb Kelleher among others. Eric has found a place in the local music scene where he is respected and included. You may find him sitting in with others, inviting musical friends to join him at solo shows, as well as sitting in with his band. Eric Leadbetter is a musician at heart. Music found him and is fueling his life’s journey.

“We are getting ready to go to Seattle and record a new album,” he stated. “That’s exciting!”

Eric hopes the new album will be out by the year’s end, but cannot promise that. Until then you can grab one of his previous releases. There you will find music with heart, soul, humor and a solid rock foundation. Be sure to catch a show when you can. You will be glad you did.