Country artist Ned LeDoux was the inaugural act at the Cache Valley Cowboy Rendezvous on Thursday, Mar. 14 at the Cache County Event Center. The annual event will continue through Sunday, Mar. 17.
CACHE COUNTY – County artist Ned LeDoux interrupted a national tour to perform here as the inaugural act of the annual Cache Valley Cowboy Rendezvous on Mar. 14.
LeDoux drew a sizable crowd to the Cache County Event Center, kicking off three days of festivities there celebrating Utah’s rich western and farm/ranch culture through Sunday, Mar. 17 with music, poetry, art, dance and education.
The son of the late performing artist and rodeo champion Chris LeDoux, the young LeDoux clearly demonstrated why he is well-respected for his high-energy shows featuring a blend of western music with rock and roll influences.
The entertainer performed a selection of songs — mostly his own compositions — that date from the release of his first album/CD “Forever a Cowboy” (2016) through “Sagebrush” (2017), “Next in Line” (2019) and his most recent release “Buckskin” (2022).
From the ten-gallon hat that frequently shadowed his face to his trademark dimples, LeDoux is the spitting image of his late father and many audience members also commented on the striking similarity of their voices.
While acknowledging that he stands in his father’s shadow, Ned LeDoux is proudly accustomed to having those big shoes to fill. He started as a drummer in father’s band Western Underground in 1998 and has never looked back once he got a taste of the freedom of the road.
His setlist here in Logan included tunes like “Never Change,” “Dance with Yer Spurs On,” “Forever a Cowboy,” “Some People Do,” “Tougher than the Rest,” “Open Road” and “Cadillac Cowboy.”
That set rang with an authenticity that fit right into the Cowboy Rendezvous’ theme of preserving a never-to-be-forgotten proud western farm/ranch culture.
Other entertainment at the annual celebration will include “open mic” amateur musical and poetry performances; a cowboy poetry contest; a family dance featuring music from “Sagwitch Basin Boys” on Friday, Mar. 15; a western-swing dance contest; a western-themed church service on Sunday, Mar. 17.
Headlining the performance portion of the remaining three days of the Cowboy Rendezvous will be singer/songwriter Dave Stamey at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 16, with “SaddleStrings,” a cowboy band from Hooper, and the storytelling/cowboy poetry of Jo Lynne Kirkwood, who hails from Sevier County.
Earlier that same day, Wylie Gustafson will take to the rendezvous’ stage at 2 p.m. to perform a heartfelt concert of music featuring his ethereal style of High Plains yodeling.
Gustafson will be joined by songsmiths Tony and Carol Messerly performing their quirky brand of music as “Manystring & Co” and the “Harwood Family Poets,” a three-generation storytelling clan from Sevier County.
While many of the rendezvous’ events are free to the public, event organizer Dale Major says that tickets to the featured concerts and dances can be obtained at www.cvcowboy.org
A full schedule of the Cache Valley Cowboy Rendezvous events can also be found on that website.