LaDeroute release CD "Here"

Special dedication to their friend Ms. Gwen Tyrie

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

By Dr. Carl Tyrie

As two members of the popular Watauga County band Laditude were recording their CD “Here” earlier this year, the death of a Blowing Rock School teacher had a profound impact.

The CD, which has recently been released, includes ten cuts, all of which were written and recorded by Boone musician Ken LaDeroute with his wife Amy as the primary vocalist. The husband-and-wife team head up the band Laditude (formerly Cloud Nine), which has played several times at the Blowing Rock Country Club and at Blowing Rock Park.

When working on “Here,” Ken had written one of the cuts, “Safe In Your Arms,” following the terrorist attacks of September 11. The underlying theme of the song is one of love and of appreciation for the important things in life. Included are the lines

Being close to you calms my fears.
Knowing nothing’s for granted,
Nothing’s guaranteed,
But this love that I feel right here.

The day Ken and Amy had planned to record “Safe In Your Arms” was the day Gwen Tyrie was struck and killed by a truck as she was jogging near her home in Boone. Gwen was the LaDeroutes’ next-door neighbor. In fact, Ken was one of the first to arrive at the scene, staying with Gwen until medical personnel transported her to the morgue.

Ken and Amy first thought they would have to delay recording the song for weeks, perhaps months. But, according to Amy, she decided to attempt it the very next day. “I remember having a really hard time,” she says, “but I wanted to use the pain of that emotion to sing the song. I think Gwen helped me sing that song. It was a very emotional time.”

The other songs on “Here” are described by Ken as more upbeat, although the album in general is sentimental. “There are songs on there that are more happy-go-lucky feel-good pop tunes,” he says.

The title of the CD is taken from one of the cuts, “Here,” which is based on Ken’s feeling of security and satisfaction with living “here” in Watauga County. “We got together with some friends before the album came out,” Ken says. “We were listening to the music and just about everyone acclaimed ‘Here’ as the best song on the album.”

The CD is available in Blowing Rock at Pandora’s Mail Box, Dress Barn and in Boone at TCBY, Grapevine Music, Hully Gully Music, Bare Essentials and Claison Salon. It’s also available at Laditude’s website, www.Laditude.com.

A final step the Laderoutes took when preparing to market their album was taking a look at CD packaging. They wanted a package that is eye-catching. One result was a disc that includes their photos as well as the album title. Another result was a triple-foldout package that includes lyrics to the ten songs and photos of Ken and Amy taken by area photographer Todd Bush.

Included in the package’s credits: a dedication of “Safe In Your Arms” to Gwen Tyrie.