St. Louis band Ludo headlines concert at Show Me Center

From small St. Louis clubs to major music festivals to MTV, members of the band Ludo have committed their career to reaching the national music scene. After three albums and nearly six years of full-time touring, the band retired to the studio in January to work on its fourth record.

But Ludo is back on the road this month to do a short stint of college shows, including a performance for Southeast Missouri State University Student Activities Council at 8 p.m. Friday at the Show Me Center. The concert is open to the public and features opening acts The Graduate from Springfield, Ill., and Jackson teen rockers Small Town Boyz.

"We're looking forward to it. We have some friends from there, and we've heard good things," Ludo keyboardist Tim Convy said. "Anytime we're in Missouri we're kind of close to home."

Ludo's roots lie in St. Louis, where lead singer/guitarist Andrew Volpe and guitarist Tim Ferrell met in college. The band started as an after-school project, but Volpe and Ferrell decided to try it full-time. Convy was called in on synthesizer keyboards and an audition scored Matt Palermo his position as drummer.

Ludo was born.

"Some bands start as a hobby, but from the beginning we quit our jobs, school, girlfriends and everything," Convy said. "That's what is unique. From the day we started it was a full-time job with no intention except to get our music to as many people as we could."

From the first album in 2003 to the fourth album -- expected out next year -- Ludo has followed its intent to deliver music. The band put out its self-titled album in August 2003. Convy said the band had its first show that same month. Soon Ludo was headlining venues throughout the Midwest and Texas, and its video for "Hum Along" was playing on Fuse TV -- a first for an independent artist. The band has played at music festivals like Lollapalooza and South by Southwest.

In 2006, the band signed with Island Records and hit the studio with Matt Wallace of Maroon 5 and Faith No More. Ludo's major label debut "You're Awful, I Love You" was released in February 2008.

When asked to describe Ludo's music, Convy answered without hesitation.

"We have a saying that trying to describe what music sounds like is like trying to draw a picture of what spaghetti tastes like," he said. "Sometimes you're sad or angry or creepy, sometimes you're funny. Who we really are as people is how our music comes out."

The show starts at 8 p.m. at the Show Me Center. Tickets are $17 in advance, $22 day of show and can be purchased at the box office, by phone at 651-5000 or online at www.showmecenter.biz.