Stoney LaRue specializes in a sound of outlaw country emanating from the Red Dirt Country scene. He interweaves comedic anecdotes and emotional sincerity throughout his albums, creating extreme lyrical dynamics as well as diverging musical styles. One constant in LaRue’s career is the “good ol’ boy” nature of his songwriting.
LaRue was born in Taft, Texas, US, but spent the majority of his childhood in Southeastern Oklahoma. He developed an interest in country music at a very young age and when he became older he moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to pursue a career in music. He and his brother Bo Phillips were both musically inclined and wasted no time touring around a variety of bars primarily located in the neighboring college town. Along the way LaRue developed a friendship with fellow aspiring musicians Jason Boland and Cody Canada. The three became roommates, occupying a place they called the “Yellow House”. In their new home they would often participate in late night jam sessions that attracted the attention of other local musicians like Mike McClure and Brandon Jenkins. Jenkins would eventually collaborate with LaRue on his 2005 LP co-writing a large portion of the songs.
La Rue’s first album “Downtown” was released under the alias Stoney Rue and the Organic Boogie Band in 2002. La Rue’s next full length “The Red Dirt Album” was released three years later through the record label Smith Music Group. The wait seemed to pay off as this was the first time LaRue entered in the Top Billboard Albums chart, debuting at No. 70 in the country category. This album also gave his audience a taste of his influences as he closed the record with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young”.
The next two releases LaRue put out where live recordings. This included 2007’s “Live at Billy Bob’s Texas” and 2009’s “Live Acoustic (EP)”. Both entered the Billboard Country Charts at No. 65 and No. 66 respectively. These releases were followed up by his anticipated LP “Velvet”. This release saw a 6 year gap between it and his previous feature length. The album was commercially viable peaking at No.15 on the US Country Charts, No. 53 on the US Charts and No. 5 on the US Indie Charts. 3 years later LaRue put out the album “Aviator” through eOne Music. It also did reasonably well on the charts entering the US Country charts at No. 17, the US Charts at No. 72, and the US Indie Charts at No. 15. The album’s title track was also turned into a music video directed by Coleman Saunders. In between “Velvet” and “Aviator” LaRue appeared as a backing vocalist on Miranda Lambert’s 2013 single “All Kinds of Kinds”.
Malcolm Todd
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