NEVER BEFORE HEARD CHRIS LeDOUX VOCAL TRACK BECOMES A NEW COLLABORATION WITH HIS SON, NED LeDOUX
Chris LeDoux was well-known, and well-respected, in a lot of circles. A chart-topping musician, an ACM Pioneer Award-winner, a World Champion bareback rider in the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and most importantly a hero to his son, Ned LeDoux who is about to make his on-screen acting debut in the upcoming feature film “Buffalo Daze”. But the sweetest thing going for the LeDouxs at the moment is Ned’s new single, “One Hand In The Riggin’” that combines all of those aforementioned accomplishments with a very special duet guest: his late father, Chris.
Ned, as many fans know, was a drummer in his dad’s band Western Underground until Chris’s passing in 2005. Deeply inspired to carry on the musical legacy Ned stepped out from behind the drums and picked up a guitar. With 3 albums and a thousand shows behind him, Ned has finally found his moment.
Out today, “One Hand In The Riggin’” was the last song the elder LeDoux ever recorded and the first release by Ned since 2022’s Buckskin—and a bit of a serendipitous musical meeting of both generations of LeDoux men. “In 2003, one of the song’s writers, Brenn Hill, was working on a new album and asked dad to sing on this song with him,” Ned explains. “Due to unforeseen circumstances, it didn’t end up on the record. Twenty-one years later, I ran into Brenn at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, and he reminded me that he still had that vocal track—and that God had a better path for it.” The timing couldn’t have been better as LeDoux was just getting started recording his next album with producer Mac McAnally.
“Mac dropped dad’s vocal in while I was out on tour,” recalls LeDoux. “So, the first time I heard it, Dad and I were singing together. Man, it gave me chills.” The driving strums of “One Hand In The Riggin’” carry the combination of lonesome road song and cowboy country tune from verse to verse with Ned and Chris splitting vocal duties until they join together for the song’s defiantly jubilant choruses: “If I keep one hand in the riggin’ and one hand on the wheel / No matter how far down the road I go, there’s always one more rodeo / She’d like for me to settle down / As long as I’m still livin’, I keep one hand on the wheel and one hand in the riggin.’” For a man who’s made a career out of not singing songs about things he doesn’t know and, in his words, “sticking to what I understand,” this new tune from LeDoux is as true and earnest as it comes. And cutting it with the help of his dad, well, that’s what makes it sing. “It’s just a very special song for me,” says Ned.
LeDoux’s mission in music has always been clear, a philosophy that rings more loudly now than ever before. “I’m just trying to write my own story and I’m a terrible pretender. I can’t write a song that I have no relation with because people would figure that out pretty quick. I’ll just stick to what I understand,” he explains.
Fans can stream or purchase “One Hand In The Riggin’” today at this link and be sure to keep an eye out for more new music from LeDoux in early 2025. This weekend LeDoux and his band will perform at Silverton Casino Lodge’s Veil Pavillion in Las Vegas as part of the National Finals Rodeo. LeDoux will also make his silver screen debut as Teton Ridge’s NFR pre-show broadcast looks at the premiere of Buffalo Daze theatrical trailer December 6th.