Long Beach rock band rides high

By Alex Roman
Daily Forty Niner

The story of the Long Beach band One Way Ride sounds a lot like a Hollywood movie.

It all began 10 years ago when the lead singer, Leldon, took a bus to California from Alabama, reunited with a friend and discovered that they were both homeless. With a couple of guitars and $165 in his pocket, Leldon and his friend went to the store, bought a couple of beers and started walking from Anaheim towards Long Beach.

"It was freaky at first because I've never been out here, and I was pretty much homeless," Leldon said. "There were a bunch of times that I wanted to leave, but Long Beach has a draw."

Ten years later, Leldon is the lead singer of One Way Ride. The band consists of Leldon on vocals and guitar, Brian Carhart on percussion and vocals, Timmy Lunsford on bass and Chris Scott on guitar.

Leldon began as a solo artist, and One Way Ride formed last year after record label executives decided to hook him up with a band, he said.

"I wanted a band and I would tell them that I wanted a band," Leldon said. "The reason that I didn't have one was because I was jamming with a lot of flakes."

MCA Records gave Leldon $1,500 to hire some people to do a show with him to see what it might sound like. Carhart was already on board as a producer of Leldon's solo stuff, and the rest of the band vacancies were filled in time for them to play a showcase at the Viper Room.

"When the deal went down, I didn't ask them, I just left the positions open," Leldon said. "They were in other bands that I was affiliated with so I didn't want any hard feelings. So they approached me and we went from there."

The band's success seemingly came over night.

Its first single, "Painted Perfect," from its debut album "Straight Up," reached No. 13 on Billboard's mainstream rock chart, despite the fact that it has not received airplay in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

"Oh yeah, I'm irate, but that's the whole political side of the industry," Leldon said in reference to the lack of radio support. "That's the way it goes. That's the way things happen and you deal with it."

"Painted Perfect" exploded onto the charts while band members were still getting to know each other. In fact, they got acquainted on the road during their first tour of the United States.

"We hit the road in an RV and we're all good now," Leldon said. "Stink, sweat and smelly feet living together on the road. You pretty much get to know how someone is going to be, and I'm trying to get as close with them as I can."

The songs that comprise "Straight Up" are mostly products of the initial collaboration of Carhart and Leldon, but as band members continue to get familiar with each other the writing process is becoming a group project.

"We write a lot," Leldon said. "Me and Brian collaborated on this album and now Chris and Timmy are beginning to get more involved. Musically, it's good because we're a young band so everything is still exciting."

The band is hoping that the success of its first single will open the door for its next one, "Pot of Gold," Leldon said. It also hopes that stations like KROQ-FM will play its music, he said.

"I want to appeal to the world. That's my goal," Leldon said. "It's all good because that's the way it works for them. I won't badger that station at all because I do want to be on there, but you can't always get what you want."

• Long Beach rock band rides high