Douglas Ladnier ’92 says he’s living his dream.
“My biggest dream-come-true is writing, recording and performing with my Los Angeles-based ambient rock band, Beat&Path,” he says.
Beat&Path has released its second CD and played to sold-out houses in some of the West Coast’s most prestigious rock venues, including San Francisco’s Tongue & Groove and LA’s Viper Room, The Troubadour and El Rey Theatre (where the band threw its CD release party on April 19, 2003).
With musical influences ranging from trip-hop to jazz, metal to funk, rock to world-beat, and hip-hop to the blues, the band Ladnier founded with songwriting partner Barrett Yeretsian in 2001 is forging a new kind of sound.
Yet Beat&Path hasn’t been Ladnier’s only accomplishment since graduating from WSU with a stellar reputation as an operatic baritone. Far from it.
For starters, he’s traveled to some 60 countries and sung nearly every style of music. He’s received critical acclaim for his voice, most notably from New York Observer critic Rex Reed, who wrote, “This guy’s melting baritone could single-handedly revive the art of the ballad, the love song and the heartbreaker.”
He’s had a two-and-a-half year run in the Broadway musical, Jekyll & Hyde, in which he played 11 roles.
He’s dabbled in TV with spots on All My Children and MTV’s Video Music Awards and has broken into film with a part in Eric Shaffer’s “never again.” With all those credits to his name, Doug Ladnier is a name to remember.
