The Whole Story

I guess when you talk to most people in the country music industry you'll hear about how they grew up in a musical family and how they knew in their heart that they wanted to be a recording artist and that this was what they wanted to do for the rest of their life.  That would be true with most, but not Les Hartman...he had no clue.

"Oh sure, I had little daydreams about it a time or two," says Les, "I remember when I was working overnights at a radio station I would slip the mic into audition so it wouldn't go over the air and sing along with the records so I could hear my voice in the headphones!  that's hilarious!" 

It may have seemed hilarious at the time but it was merely an ember left burning from his high school "band geek" days.  It would take him a few years to come back around full circle but he would make it.  A simple twist of fate would help propel him to the place that he is today.  That place where only he would know was right.

His love for music started in Junior High School.  See, it was during that time that he was taking piano lessons and had started playing the French Horn in band.  He was also trying to fit in with everyone else and play football.  One of the rare after school practices fell on a day that he had a piano lesson.  Well, the coach told him he needed to decide if he was "gonna play football or the piano."  Swayed by the desire to "be like everyone else" he opted out of the piano lessons.

"I've regretted it ever since," mentions Les.  "At the time they just didn't seem that important to me but hell I was in the 7th grade.  The only thing important back then to me was fitting in and tryin' to figure out who was desperate enough to go to the school dance with me!  If I had it to do all over I would have never quit taking piano lessons."

The music did continue on though.  For the rest of his school years he worked towards goals set by himself and his directors.  By the time High school graduation rolled around he had already won numerous musical awards and even held the position of Drum Major his Junior and Senior years.  After graduation he accepted a band scholarship to Tarleton State University and moved another step up the musical ladder.

That lasted for about a year.

In August of his Sophomore year in college he was involved in a motorcycle wreck that would not only come close to taking his life but it would change it forever.  Because of injuries sustained in the accident, his doctors told him that he could not go back to school right away and especially could not play his horn for a while.  It was during that time off from school that he started working part time at that radio station that we mentioned a minute ago.  His mother always told him that he could be on the radio or on the television but that's probably just because he had a big mouth...well, she might have seen a little talent in there somewhere.

For the next 5 years he would remain working in radio.  He even did a short stint working large nightclubs in the DFW metroplex.  It was while he was doing the morning show on a radio station that he got a phone call from a local riding club asking if he would announce their annual play day that they had coming up.  Always being a fan of rodeo, he gladly accepted and enjoyed himself so much that he began announcing rodeos and PBR events all across the United States.  This is where the taste for being in front of a crowd started coming back. 

"We were in front of huge amounts of people at the different indoor shows we did.  I remember The Mecca in Milwaukee, Wisconsin most of all...huge place and full of people!  I had hooked up with a production company that was doing a "Monsters and Bulls" tour.  What they did was have a 40 head PBR bull riding to start the night, which I would announce, and then they would open the floor and bring in the monster trucks!  It was wild...all the biggun's where there...Gravedigger and all those guys.  The concept was great!  You ended up with all the motor heads and rednecks together under one roof!  Talk about fun!"

During the 7 years or so that he was announcing rodeos he started teaching himself to play the guitar. Not very well, but he says he's still working on it.  He met so many different people out on the road and seems as though there would be pickin' parties in every town. 

"That's where the music really started coming back to me I think.  I mean, I still didn't really ever think of myself as a singer because I was all set on spending the rest of my career announcing rodeos and just playin' around with the music for fun.  I had absolutely no idea what would happen next."

What would happen next would be the "fate" part of the story.  He was home, in Llano, attending a wedding reception for a friend and started talking with the drummer of the band that was playing.  Somehow or another Les ended up getting on stage and singing a not-too-shabby version of "Amarillo By Morning."  After the song was over he stayed on stage, back in the corner, watching everything that happened.  That was it...he was hooked.

Turns out that the drummer with that band was doing a "fill in" gig and had his own band in Austin.  He and Les became friends and it wasn't long before Les joined his band and started learning the ropes.

Two years later Les struck out on his own to form his own band and here's where we catch up to him today.  7 years have passed since he went out on his own...one CD recorded and a mountain of memories that he wouldn't trade for the world. 

It sure is funny how fate steps in sometimes.

"I never woulda dreamed it like this" he says.  " I swear I thought I was gonna be a rodeo announcer and continue on ranching out here at the place for the rest of my life.  I would never have imagined that would have come all the way back around to music and still have the love that I have for it.  I have so much to be proud of too.  The shows are exactly how I envisioned them to be...full of energy and entertaining."

"I never, ever, really pictured myself as a singer or a musician.  I'm nothing more than a rhythm guitar player and I still suck at that sometimes.." he says laughing, "...but I do think that the one thing I CAN do well is entertain the people.  I want people to get their money's worth when they come to a place to see us.  I try to give them that, and a little extra in change, every single night we play."

He's quick to credit his band again in saying "without those guys up there on stage with me I wouldn't have the ability to do what I absolutely love to do.  I can go up there and concentrate on the crowd and what's going on out in front of the stage rather than worry about what's happening on the stage.  Having a band like I have been lucky enough to put together not only makes it fun, but it gives me peace of mind knowing that I can concentrate on my strengths...the entertainment part...and know that the music is in good hands."

So, there is the story...the beginning anyway.  Where will it end?  There's really no telling but...you see, there's a place toward the top that he's looking for.  A place where he can stop and see where all he's been, reflect on how he got there, and thank God every day for putting him there...for dealing him the hand of fate.