Laditude to play Fur Ball August 27, 2005
by Celeste Von Mangan

Hairballs and furballs have a way of coming up again and again; thankfully, the latter is the more welcome of the two. The Annual Watauga Humane Society Fur Ball fundraiser is set to purr and paw its way to the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center on Saturday, August 27, from 6pm until midnight. The ball will feature a cocktail hour, dinner, silent auction and dancing to the music of Laditude.

The silent auction will feature more than 200 items donated by local merchants, as well as Art in the Bark, that includes works by local and state artists and craftspeople.
Music, homeless animals and spirit are the engines behind the fundraiser. Ken LaDeroute leads his band Laditude along with wife Amy, a duo who have partnered in marriage and music for the past 20 years. And while Ken concedes that they will be playing upbeat rock-n-roll, pop, jazz, disco, Motown and swing-all of which "enliven the being"-he says that the band's music definitely leans towards the devotional; the different styles are a bow to the more commercial side of the music industry.

Laditude played the first Fur Ball and just about all that followed.
"All people at the Watauga Humane Society are close to our heart," said Ken. "Many of our friends will be there," he added.

Ken and Amy recently moved to Asheville along with their three animals, including two that they rescued from the "execution chamber." The couple left Boone because Asheville seemed a likely area for their music, with its New Age/spiritual flavor. And though Ken acknowledges that his music is designed more for humans than animals, after having played thousands of gigs, there is no doubt in his mind about the healing power of music on animals. As a case in point, Ken related a segment of a special he saw pertaining to Nomads in the Gobi Desert. For him, the scene perfectly demonstrated music's healing powers.

"In the Gobi Desert, a mother camel shunned her newborn baby," he said. "The camels are everything to the Nomads. The man who had the camel enlisted his young son to ask a music teacher to come out. The teacher rode out to the Nomad camp and began playing a violin-like instrument to the mother camel and the baby. The lonely, haunting melody was both enchanting and enchanted. The baby began to suckle his mother's teats. It was the power of that music that healed the chasm between mother and child."

While there will not be any homeless or shunned animals per se at the Human Society's Fur Ball, the music of Laditude will heal and help: the people attending the ball will have a good time and the event will raise funds for animals in need. En LaDeroute will play guitar;Amy LaDeroute is the vocalist; Wes Powers is on drums; Klee Liles plays bass; and Glenn Hubbard will be on keyboard. The LaDeroutes' CD Here will be on sale a the Fur Ball, and currently in the creative fires is a CD entitled The Healing Cycle. This work, inspired by Eastern and ethnic music, will be devotional and inspiring, but will also include joyful and spirited improvisational passages. Amy and Ken plan to perform this work in ashrams, spiritual centers, retreats, yoga centers and churches in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Tickets for the Fur Ball cost $75, of wich $45 is tax deductible. For more information about the event, contact Jan Watson at 828-264-1743 or click to www.wataugahumanesociety.org.

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