Biography

Amy LaDeroute - Vocalist

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 vocal 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 out of 9000 applicants she was chosen to attend! She worked with John Davidson, Kenny Rogers, Shields and Yarnell, Lola Folana, Florence Henderson and Pete Barbuti.

After two years with McCormick Place, she headed for New York City and joined Manhattan-based, jazz-fusion band, First Light. It was there she met and worked with famed jazz drummer, Chico Rouse. While singing in the band, she held down day jobs on Wall Street and auditioned for various productions. The band hit the road and toured widely throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Amy moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she joined a Vegas style show band out of Detroit called Michigan Avenue. She left Ann Arbor after a few months for yet another U.S. and Canadian tour.

When Amy got the call to audition for a band from Canada, she was very excited. She flew to Niagara Falls and landed the lead vocalist role in a new band called The Boss. It was in that band that she met her husband, Ken LaDeroute. After three months of intense rehearsal, they embarked on a Maritime, Western and Southern State tour.

Years later, Ken and Amy created a duo called Oui. They toured continually from their home base in Waterloo, Ontario. After eight years, they moved to Boone, North Carolina.

Today Amy performs constantly in one of the top event and wedding bands Asheville North Carolina has to offer!. Laditude! She is also in high demand as a voiceover artist for radio and television.

Ken LaDeroute was born in a small Northern town twelve hours north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  He taught himself 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 siblings were united by a common love of making music together. They called themselves “Father’s Children” 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  in Toronto. After recording the demo, the decision was made to move the entire family from their beloved 20-year hometown, 900 miles south 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" rose to number 14 on Canadian radio charts.  The band toured extensively in Canada and the United States and were voted Best Vocal Group 1977 radio polls music finals.

In 1981 Ken was offered a position in an up-and-coming new band that his management firm 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 with The Boss 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 six nights a week, fifty two 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 eight years, coming home on Sundays to their home in Waterloo, Ontario.

Since 1994 they continue to be in high demand for corporate events, weddings, country clubs and fundraisers, both as a high-tech duo, and with their five-piece band, “Laditude.”  They have just released their lastest record "Soul Affirmation -- Music for Better Outcoms."

For a Discography of Ken's prior recordings click here.

Klee Liles is a seasoned entertainer and has been wowing audiences for over 12 years. His playing ranges from cool walking bass lines, to funky, slap, hip hop grooves, to aggressive rock and roll.  He’s also an excellent vocalist and an accomplished guitarist. From Nashville to Hilton Head, you may have seen him as a solo act or fronting popular bands like the Groove Gypsies. He’s also played with Carol Channing and the Glenn Miller Orchestra but can easily switch to jazz, funk and rock and roll with style. He’s a top notch musician and pays attention to every detail. Klee is a graduate of East Carolina University and lives in Boone with his wife and son.

Wes Powers is the newest member of Triage, replacing Josh Day, currently with Maroon 5. Wes grew up and began learning how to play drums in school band in Morganton, NC. While still in high school, his band, Copperhead, opened up for many national acts including: Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, David Allen Coe, and Nantucket. While earning a Bachelor of music at ECU, the percussionist broadened his horizons studying and performing jazz. Upon his return to Morganton, Wes has had the unique experience of playing music with extraordinary artists such as Reggae Harris, Francios Vola, Steve Davidowski, and fiddle legend, Vassar Clements. He is currently making music with Pianist Nathan Hefner, Laditude, Up and Coming Singer-Songwriter Sarah Evans, The Grandfather Mountain Highlanders Pipe Band, and Triage.

Laditude Keyboardist Glenn Hubbard is a living, breathing mixed metaphor: a musical chameleon and jack-of-all-trades rolled into one. He's been playing professionally for nearly a quarter century – a pianist, bassist, drummer and guitarist who even picks up a saxophone every now and then. He has performed just about every style of music imaginable – from Top-40, Jazz, Rock, Blues, Country and Bluegrass – to Classical, Broadway, Polka and Dixieland; and he's equally at home in all of these. He started playing in the "Green Park Inn Big Band," under the direction of his father, Bill Hubbard, in 1983. Since then he's entertained thousands across the eastern United States in the bands "Azz Iz," "The Animal Crackers," "Cloud Nine," and "Liz Harmon and the Common Threads." When not playing in established bands, he's been one of the most sought-after "hired guns" in the Western North Carolina music scene. Glenn has produced and engineered several popular CDs, including his new solo release, "The Hubbard Concept." In his spare time, he's working on a Ph.D. in Communications at the University of Tennessee.