A New Album By Ned LeDoux Includes Duet with His Father

Ned LeDoux's new album will release April 4 and it brings together three generations of a rodeo rooted family.

Ned LeDoux

Ned’s new album, Safe Haven, which will be released on April 4, 2025, resonates with rodeo from “One Hand in the Riggin’” to “Haven’s Lullaby,” the album brings together three generations of Chris, Ned and Haven. 

It is not a song title on the album, but Safe Haven, a title inspired by his late daughter Haven Jo, is an example of an album that “When the world gets heavy, there is music”, as Ned told us in a recent interview. A talented and devoted musician, Ned has not given up on music. 

When asked, LeDoux did not have a favorite song on the album. However, he had two special songs at the top of the list. One song is, “Haven’s Lullaby,” an amazing instrumental that LeDoux wrote a few weeks after the passing of his daughter. He said he “just took the guitar off the wall” and together came “Haven’s Lullaby.” 

The other special song is “One Hand In The Riggin’”. This is a duet with Ned and Chris together. This duet is over 20 years in the making. Brenn Hill was an up-and-coming artist in Utah when the first part of the  duet was recorded.  Chris LeDoux’s keyboard player, Bobby Jensen, who had a recording studio and was able to record the vocals for “One Hand in The Riggin’” in between shows during Chris’s 2003 touring schedule. It was the last song Chris would record and the last studio he would record in. His vocals were never released on the song. Years later, Hill would tell Ned, “The Lord has a plan, a duet with you and your dad.” Chris’ vocal track was pulled out. Ned and the instrumental were then blended together with Chris’ vocals by his longtime producer Mac  McAnally. The first time Ned received the song from Mac he was on the golf course. He said, “It was amazing! I got chills. I have listened to it hundreds of times since then.”

Ned LeDoux

Another rarity for Ned LeDoux on this album was recording songs written by other artists. “Boys Growing Up” is one of those songs. He said the guitar and vocal track was sent to him. He listened to the song and it had a “Tom Petty/ Sheryl Crow feeling” to it. Ned said, “It reminds me of working on the ranch with my brothers.” 

“Real As I Believe” is another song written by an artist other than himself. It was a song he had previously overlooked. He went back through his e-mails and found the song. Ned said, “One-third of the way through the song, I got a lump in my throat. It hit me in the gut.” He continued by saying, “This is the dark horse on my album.” He did change up the song a little bit. The original lyrics in the song included the words “see my grandpa.” Ned changed it to “see my daughter.” 

“New Roads” is a song that did not make the cut for his previous album Buckskin. It’s a message about the “path of life” according to Ned. He continued, “It’s a motivational message.”

“Long Ride” in Ned’s vision, is a horse, and a rider battling the elements to get where they are going. A metaphor to what can be accomplished if you work together and stay the course. Ned added the last verse for him and his wife, Morgan. 

LeDoux said he “dug deeper” for Safe Haven. Ned definitely produced an album with ballads, some rockin’ songs, and a great variety of cowboy and country music. Ned closed out our visit by saying his producer and mentor, Mac McAnally, has been his “go to guy since the beginning.” 

As Haven Jo is catching her grandpa Chris up, we know they are smiling on Ned, Morgan, and the entire family about Safe Haven.

Ned LeDoux’s latest album, Safe Haven, will be released and available April 4, 2025 via Thirty Tigers. You can find it on https://orcd.co/nl-sh. 

Ned LeDoux

The songs on the Safe Haven album are: 

• Boys Growing Up 
• My Father’s Boots 
• One Hand In The Riggin’ 
• Legend Born 
• Workin’ Man’s Dollar 
• Story of the Hired Hand 
• Real As I Believe 
• Haven’s Lullaby 
• Long Ride 
• New Roads 
• Traveling Man 
• Six Bucks A Day

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