LeAnne McCabe: Taking it to the Top

By Diana Fuller-Rey March 1983 – The Magazine. Page 4
March edition cover photo of LeAnne McCabe, by Ed Wagner.

Colorado-born bundle of joy and energy LeAnne McCabe is continuing her rise to popularity in Arizona and Colorado.

The drive and determination by both LeAnne McCabe, a student at Amphitheatre High School, and her mother Leora McCabe, has brought to life the dreams in their souls. Jamming around Tucson and entering contests brought her from the cocoon of her talent into a real butterfly of a show business bug.

“Music is an art and the most beautiful form of communication,” seventeen-year old LeAnne said, “Music is something you have to live 24 hours a day and it makes me feel fulfilled.”

What music has done for LeAnne has changed her life from an average teenager to a lifestyle that includes living in the almost totally adult world of professional artists and hard work.

“Sometimes I get real excited to go up and do the show, but It’s not a matter of being nervous...just excited!” LeAnne remarked in a second Magazine interview.

What’s it like for this talented Tucson youth to be on stage?

“It feels like you are there to relay a message to everyone in the audience and a little bit of me is in each song.” she replied. “I feel that’s the only way to get the songs across. You live a little part of each song at some point.” Audiences are the most important part and LeAnne feels strongly that “If there are two people or five hundred you should still put on the same show.”

When LeAnne came to Arizona with her parents ten years ago, she began harmonizing with other girls and eventually a church youth group was formed with the help of her mother. She started singing at the age of five in her hometown in Cortez, Colorado.

She plays a wide range of songs with her talented band Persuasion. Ranging from country, country/rock, pop and rock and roll. She brings a special flavor to the music. A song written for her to sing, “Look Out For Me,” stirs emotion and feeling as she belts out the chords.

LeAnne currently performs at the Old City Jail weeknights and Saturday nights and will be in Colorado at the end of March. In April, she will be singing at the Festival ‘83; Nashville on the Desert and will do a show at the Pima County Fair on April 16, 1983.

LeAnne will appear for a special fundraising concert/dance at the new north side young adult club. Sundance West on March 20, 1983. The event benefits Magazine and is sponsored in part by Sundance West and KLPX.

For aspiring young vocalists, LeAnne hesitantly explains, “It definitely depends on who would ask me. You have to look at it as a business, but you have to also want it badly enough to put up with the low parts because it is a hard life to live. If you want to move to the top and not just play the same gigs all the time. It really depends on your goals and if it is going to be just a side job to make money, you’re going to stay at the same place forever.” This is not LeAnne’s goal...her plans are to take it to the top.

Sundance West advertisement with LeAnne McCabe concert, March 1983, The Magazine. Photo by Ed Wagner.

Young adult club opens

A new young adult entertainment nightclub opens March 18th (1983) on Tucson’s northwest side south of the Tucson Mall. Joe Tofel, owner of the new Sundance West, says the club is designed to provide a quality entertainment atmosphere.

Concerts and live bands will be featured throughout the week, as well as recorded dance tunes. Music videos will be projected onto a 14-foot screen inside one of the two gigantic rooms in the club. Sundance West’s concert and dance side can hold over 1,000 people.

The other side offers pool tables and video games. Non-alcoholic beverages and exotic drinks will be available with a wide selection of food. The club also hosts, an adult only After-Hours until 4:00AM, Local music will be showcased.

Sundance West is located at 3830 N. Oracle Road. Sundance West, in conjunction with KLPX, will host a Magazine benefit featuring Tucson’s rising young star, LeAnne McCabe, in a special performance. Records and T-shirts will also be given away on this Sunday, March 20, 1983 evening event.