About Me
Born, Jeffrey Philip La Bar on March 18th, 1963 in Darby, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia to parents Robert and June, I have two brothers and a sister, Jack being the oldest, me, then Diane and Dave. Growing up in Upper Darby, PA and moving to Springfield, I married my after-high school sweetheart and had a son, Sebastian. I am since remarried to the love of my life, Debinique, an Iowa girl & reside in Nashville, TN.
In 1985, I joined a band called Cinderella with Tom Keifer & Eric Brittingham. Myself and another drummer, named Jimmy Drnec replaced the two founding members of the band, who would later be known as Britney Fox. Already having a record deal with Mercury/Polygram in the works, pending the labels approval of Me and Jimmy, one might say I was one lucky asshole. Well sure, but that's not to say, a little talent and alot of hard work didn't play a part as well.
1986 brings Cinderella's debut album "Night Songs" and the addition of Fred Coury. Studio drummer, Jody Cortez records the record after producer, Andy Johns' inability to work with Jimmy, so while Tom and Andy mixed, Eric and I auditioned players until we find Fred for the album cover and tour to follow. Our first tour would be with another new band called Poison, opening for the Japaneese heavy metal band, Loudness. 1986 thru '87 would see Cinderella open for the likes of David Lee Roth, on his first solo tour for five months and Bon Jovi, on their "Slippery When Wet" tour for seven months. The rest of '87 would be spent over seas, headlining in Japan and Scandinavia before playing The Monsters of Rock festivals in England and Germany.
Three more studio albums (or should I say CD's) would follow... "Long Cold Winter", "Heartbreak Station" and "Still Climbing", as well as tours opening for AC/DC, Judas Priest and The Scorpions. 1989 thru '95 would allow Cinderella to start headlining arenas with openers such as... Bullet Boys, Winger, White Lion, Tangier, Nelson, Lynch Mob, Badlands, Slaughter, Hair of the Dog and Frank Hannon's Moondog Mane. Polygram then drops the band from the label.
After a three year hiatis, 1998, Polygram wants to release a greatest hits CD with a bonus track. Tom, Eric, Fred and I return to the studio together and record "War Stories" for the "Once Upon a..." CD and decide, hey, this is fun again. With no management, booking agent or record deal, we start to plan a U.S. tour ourselves. Before long, we get Union Ent. APA & Sony Records involved and we're back!
2000 brings us a new tradition of Poison/Cinderella tours. Sharing the stage in 2000, '02 and '06, we've enjoyed the company of... Slaughter, Dokken, Faster Pussycat, Winger and a gerat new band called EndeverAfter. In 2005, we headlined "The Rock Never Stops" tour with Ratt, Quiet Riot and Firehouse and I must say that it was, by far the greatest bunch of rejects I've ever had the pleasure of pilaging the country with. LOL!
2004 brought me a new venture, Naked Beggars . The band, consisting of Inga Brittingham (Eric's wife) and Kris Casamento. Having played on one track of their debut CD, I was asked, by Eric to join the band and take it on the road. One week in and we were opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special. We toured clubs throughout the midwest and up the eastcoast before recording my first CD with the band, "Spit it Out" in '05. Naked Beggars had become a full time job in between Cinderella summer tours, throughout '06. Things changed though on Saturday, April 21st 2007. I am no longer a part of the band. We have parted ways, apparently based on a "difference of opinion", according to Inga.
In closing, I would like to say, "I've led a pretty charmed life and I thank you all for your time and support of my career and Myspace and I hope to see you all again in the years to come!" Be sure to keep an eye & ear out for me with a kick ass new band soon & my internet radio show with my lovely wife, Debinique on Realityradio.biz , "Late Night with the LaBars", Saturdays, at 11:00 EDT/10:00 central. We'll be spinning our favorite songs of the 70's, 80's & 90's with behind the scenes stories to go with every track & I have lots of stories! We hope you'll tune in while you're playing on Myspace.
Peace and Prosperity in '07,
J.L.
Jeff LaBar
www.jefflabar.com
www.cinderella.net
