Dorothy C. LeBlanc
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States | SELF
Music
Press
"I arrived just as Dorothy LeBlanc started her set. Dorothy is better known around town at Miss Dorothy, the Shaky Egg Lady, Baton Rouge’s most indefatigable children’s musician, or as a member of The Buskers, performing bluegrass and folk favorites at the Farmer’s Market and Whole Foods. Tonight, we see another side of Dorothy. She took the stage with a resonator
guitar, sheepishly admitting that she was new to playing in bars, and appropriately opened with “The Brass Rail,” a song about “drinking quarter shots of bourbon” with a boyfriend at the long-lost LSU watering hole. Dorothy has a well-honed stage charm and an unsinkable ego when she gets on stage, opening up her life through her songs. In one about her arents’ death, she offers “It was easy to clear out that old house/Not so easy to clear out my mind.”
- Alex V. Cook, Country Roads Magazine (August 2009)
"I arrived just as Dorothy LeBlanc started her set. Dorothy is better known around town at Miss Dorothy, the Shaky Egg Lady, Baton Rouge’s most indefatigable children’s musician, or as a member of The Buskers, performing bluegrass and folk favorites at the Farmer’s Market and Whole Foods. Tonight, we see another side of Dorothy. She took the stage with a resonator
guitar, sheepishly admitting that she was new to playing in bars, and appropriately opened with “The Brass Rail,” a song about “drinking quarter shots of bourbon” with a boyfriend at the long-lost LSU watering hole. Dorothy has a well-honed stage charm and an unsinkable ego when she gets on stage, opening up her life through her songs. In one about her arents’ death, she offers “It was easy to clear out that old house/Not so easy to clear out my mind.”
- Alex V. Cook, Country Roads Magazine (August 2009)
I am both an avid music fan and a parent, and mixing those worlds can sometimes involve difficult compromises. Mrs. Dorothy and her Shaky Egg Band have kept area kids entertained for years by making real music for kids. On Rockin’ the Blues Away, she enlisted local rocker Fred Weaver and his band to help her craft an affable, believable and entertaining set of songs. There are your game songs and clean-your-room advice numbers, but the record really shines on the ones that sound the least like kids’ music. “Occupation Rock” and “Phone Zone” can best be described as bar-band songs for kids about what you want to be when you grow up and knowing your digits. As someone who has wanted to do bodily harm to a Wiggle after repeated listens, I appreciate children’s music that bypasses the usual saccharine tropes, and I know kids would too. At least until they get old enough for High School Musical. After that you’re on your own.shakyeggband.com
Essential Tracks: “Occupation Rock,” “Blue Crayon Blues,” “Phone Zone”?Recommended if you like: Juice boxes, car trips, not throwing your kid’s favorite CD out the window while stuck on the Bonnet Carré spillway, which almost happened once.
- Alex V. Cook, 225 Magazine (March 26, 2009)
I am both an avid music fan and a parent, and mixing those worlds can sometimes involve difficult compromises. Mrs. Dorothy and her Shaky Egg Band have kept area kids entertained for years by making real music for kids. On Rockin’ the Blues Away, she enlisted local rocker Fred Weaver and his band to help her craft an affable, believable and entertaining set of songs. There are your game songs and clean-your-room advice numbers, but the record really shines on the ones that sound the least like kids’ music. “Occupation Rock” and “Phone Zone” can best be described as bar-band songs for kids about what you want to be when you grow up and knowing your digits. As someone who has wanted to do bodily harm to a Wiggle after repeated listens, I appreciate children’s music that bypasses the usual saccharine tropes, and I know kids would too. At least until they get old enough for High School Musical. After that you’re on your own.shakyeggband.com
Essential Tracks: “Occupation Rock,” “Blue Crayon Blues,” “Phone Zone”?Recommended if you like: Juice boxes, car trips, not throwing your kid’s favorite CD out the window while stuck on the Bonnet Carré spillway, which almost happened once.
- Alex V. Cook, 225 Magazine (March 26, 2009)
With the start of school, soccer, and LSU football season, we have been on the geaux constantly. That is why this past Sunday after church we stopped by a local coffee shop to say hello to our favorite local children's musician, Mrs. Dorothy, and relax a bit. We first met Mrs. Dorothy and her traveling shaky egg band about four years ago when she performed at the Main Street Market. We were faithful followers for years, even inviting her into our home to perform for Annabelle's second birthday!
For those of you who do not know Mrs. Dorothy, she is a wonderful songwriter and musician with a great imagination and generous heart. Her songs are encouraging and uplifting, fun and educational -- songs about manners, doing your best and so much more. Check out her music here.
She will be performing at Brew Ha-Ha coffee shop on Jefferson Highway the second and third Saturdays of each month from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. So if you and your crew need an outing that provides a break for Mom and Dad (I actually read the entire paper and enjoyed my coffee while they sang!) and simple entertainment for the kids, check this out. I will be there for my post-soccer caffeine fix. Happy shaking at the brew house!
- Katherine Chenevert, 225 magazine blog (Sept. 18, 2007)
With the start of school, soccer, and LSU football season, we have been on the geaux constantly. That is why this past Sunday after church we stopped by a local coffee shop to say hello to our favorite local children's musician, Mrs. Dorothy, and relax a bit. We first met Mrs. Dorothy and her traveling shaky egg band about four years ago when she performed at the Main Street Market. We were faithful followers for years, even inviting her into our home to perform for Annabelle's second birthday!
For those of you who do not know Mrs. Dorothy, she is a wonderful songwriter and musician with a great imagination and generous heart. Her songs are encouraging and uplifting, fun and educational -- songs about manners, doing your best and so much more. Check out her music here.
She will be performing at Brew Ha-Ha coffee shop on Jefferson Highway the second and third Saturdays of each month from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. So if you and your crew need an outing that provides a break for Mom and Dad (I actually read the entire paper and enjoyed my coffee while they sang!) and simple entertainment for the kids, check this out. I will be there for my post-soccer caffeine fix. Happy shaking at the brew house!
- Katherine Chenevert, 225 magazine blog (Sept. 18, 2007)
Discography
CHILDREN'S ALBUMS:
1. BLUEgrass? Everyone NOSE grass is green! (2006)
2. Rockin' Those Blues Away (2008)
3. My Day with Grandma (2010)
ORIGINAL OFFERINGS FOR THE NON-PRESCHOOL SET:
1. Wander (2011)
2, Legacy (2012)
3. Reminiscent (2012)
CELEBRATING THE MUSIC OF THE EARLY THROUGH MID-1900S:
1. A dvd entitled "Memories 'n Song"...A sing-along dvd featuring the music of the early to mid 1900s.
2. Memories 'n Song Vol. 2...a cd produced to have a sing-along quality, featuring songs of the early to mid-1900s.
3. Memories 'n Song Vol. 3...a cd that features those wonderful "night on the town" tunes of the early to mid-1900s.
Photos
Bio
"Dorothy has a well-honed stage charm and an unsinkable ego when she gets on stage, opening up her life through her songs. In one about her parents death, she offers It was easy to clear out that old house/Not so easy to clear out my mind.
Dorothy LeBlanc resides in Baton Rouge, LA, and is a self-described 55-year-old
mommy turned musician. She has been married for the past 29 years to Warren LeBlanc, and they have two grown sons,
Travis and Chris. Though she received her formal academic training at Louisiana State University, she will tell you that her
career in music evolved outside of the traditional classroom!
Her early musical experiences were very eclectic, running the gamut from folk to bluegrass to big band to rock 'n roll to traditional country. She did not make it to center stage as a musician until her kids were grown, her husband had retired, and she had successfully tackled a pesky run-in with breast cancer. At that point, Dorothy felt like it was time to get out there and express herself...and express herself she has!
She worked tirelessly for 5 years as the music teacher at early learning centers in the Baton Rouge, LA, area. She continues to teach music at special needs schools in the Baton Rouge area. Additionally, she adds musical merriment to children's birthday parties and other community events geared towards children and families!
In 2006, Dorothy expanded her business to include performances at seniors' centers and Alzheimer's facilities. Her program is lovingly called "Memories 'n Song" and each performance is filled with tunes that these seniors knew and loved when they were younger.
She has been bombarded throughout this time with lyrics and melodies of her own. She is daily honing her skills as a songwriter and singer of the realities of life from the perspective of a mommy-turned-musician. This is quickly becoming her greatest passion, and very often the reason she wakes at 1:45 in the morning, seeking pen and paper and some of the answers she hasn't found yet.
Dorothy plays acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, keys, dulcimer, uke, and is learning the cello! Let the musical adventure continue...
Band Members
Links
