Indie Ezine - Todd Lemoine

Todd Lemoine

Friday, 26 June 2009

I started to play guitar at the age of six after hearing "Eruption" from Van Halen. I fiddled around and learned on my own until my freshman year of high school when I decided to join the Mandeville High jazz band. Not only did I learn a lot of scales and chords but I met a lot of musicians, including percussionist Ben Adams. In no time, we decided to start our first real rock band called "The Drones" , we had two shows including the first Bogafalia fest that has sense become the biggest festival in Covington, La.. I left The Drones shortly after and started the alternative Grunge band "Vertigo" in 1994 with life long friend and bass player Jensen Penny.

Vertigo played shows all over including the 1995 Floodfest show in Slidell. Songs such as "On Your Own" and "Fences", which appear on "The Lost Highway", came from this time. After two years of alternating members due to band members going off to college, I decided to disband Vertigo and start over. Then there's "Longplay", a story all it's own. Me and former "Zauf Dingbats" singer Chris Benning started this band in 1998 but didn't get the first line up together until summer of 1999 with bassist Kenny Philips and former "The Drones" and "Last piece of Earth" drummer Ben Adams. This line up stayed together for about a year playing such shows as the grand opening of the Mandeville Trail Head in 2000 and Headlining a concert at Audubon Zoo. After the departure of Chris and Kenny, I was once again singing lead and decided, along with Ben, to keep the band going and record Longplay's first album "Wyoming" with former "Ugly Kid Joe" guitarist turned engineer Dave Fortman. But first, we needed a bass player. After alternating members, we finally decided to record as a three piece with former "Gemini Project" bassist David Landry. The album was recorded in 2001 but never released. Shortly after, David left and the band alternated bass players for the rest of it's time.Longplay became a name that was recognized for great original music, and still is.

After a while, I decided to start over again. With Ben and David back in the picture. We decided to start another band in 2002. For two years the name of the band alternated either because we didn't like it or someone else had it. Names include " No Imagination, Fiver, and For Karma". At the end of 2008, I got tired of dealing with all the major label dealings and decided to start my own label Wishpool records and release the "Wyoming" album. The name was changed to "The Lost Highway" for obvious reasons and the name of the band was changed to Todd Lemoine for other reasons. The second album is already written and do out this fall. As for the rest, we will just have to wait and see what happens

Press Release: DEBUT CD “THE LOST HIGHWAY” NOW AVAILABLE FROM LOUISIANA GUITAR ROCKER TODD LEMOINE

Todd Lemoine’s The Lost Highway 12 new tracks with an emo/punk slant is now available from Wishpool Records. A great blend of modern styles and solid songwriting, The Lost Highway includes Mindtrap, with its blanket of heavy, moody guitar; the dynamic On Your Own which inspires mosh pit head-bobbing; and the lyrically engaging, emo-influenced One Way Mirror. In all, The Lost Highway is a testament to Lemoine’s appealing versatility and talent. The album features southeastern Louisiana rockers David Landry (Gemini Project) on bass and Ben Adams (The Drones, Last Piece of Earth) on percussion and was recorded and engineered by Dave Fortman (Mudvayne, 12 Stones, Evanescence). The CD is available through CDBaby.com, Bestbuy.com, Apple iTunes, MusicNet, MusicIsHere, and at select Barnes & Noble locations.

Mandeville, La., native Todd Lemoine has been a guitar player, singer, and songwriter in area bands for over a decade, and part of such renowned locals acts as The Drones, Longplay, and Vertigo. In 2008 after dealing with the frustration of trying to work with record labels, he decided to start his own label, Wishpool records. This is the first release on Wishpool records and includes material Lemoine took with him from earlier incarnations of the band. Their second album is already written and scheduled for release this fall.

For further information and song samples visit www.toddlemoine.com