LeRoux (band)

LeRoux (also known as Louisiana's LeRoux) is a pop/rock band founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA that saw its heyday from 1978 to 1984. Their best-known songs were "Take a Ride On a Riverboat" with its 4-part a capella intro, the regional smash "New Orleans Ladies", "Nobody Said It Was Easy (Lookin' For the Lights)" (their highest charting single), "Addicted", and "Carrie's Gone". Their early music, though pop-oriented, combined many elements such as Southern rock, AOR, Dixieland jazz, rock, Adult contemporary, Blue-Eyed soul, and some Cajun flavoring, thus defying a pigeonhole into one definable category, like many other diverse Louisiana artists common to an area known for its many musical influences and tastes. After recording the album Up in 1980, they became a noteworthy exponent of the developing AOR sound. The band continues to perform live throughout the U.S., mostly at fairs and festivals in the Louisiana area.

Albums

In 1977 several former members of a group called the Levee Band, who had been playing as backup players for Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Clifton Chenier, signed a deal with Capitol Records as The Jeff Pollard Band. Leon Medica, the band's producer and bassist, had presented a demo tape to Paul Tannen at Screen Gems-EMI while doing a session in Nashville and making trips to Colorado to contribute bass parts to a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album at William McEuen's Aspen recording Society Studios. McEuen, Tanney, and Attorney John Frankenheimer helped Medica secure the contract with Capitol.

By early 1978, they had changed their name to Louisiana's LeRoux, which refers to roux, a Cajun gravy base used to make gumbo. The band was originally composed of Jeff Pollard (vocals, guitars), David Peters (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Leon Medica (bass, backing vocals), Tony Haselden (vocals, guitars), Rod Roddy (vocals, keyboards, synthesizers), and Bobby Campo (horns, percussion, violin, backing vocals). All of the songs on the self-titled 1978 debut album were sung and written by Pollard, except "New Orleans Ladies", which was written by Hoyt Garrick with a contribution by Medica. It reached #59 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1978. Two more albums followed (Keep the Fire Burnin in 1979, and Up in 1980), but after neither was able to expand the band's fan base, they were dropped by Capitol.

Starting with the Jai Winding-produced Up, they dropped "Louisiana's" from their name and became simply "LeRoux". At this point they began to move toward a more AOR-friendly sound. In 1981 they signed with RCA and issued their 4th LP, Last Safe Place, which was their highest-charting album. The album spawned three hit Billboard singles in 1982: "Addicted" (#8 Mainstream Rock), "Nobody Said It Was Easy (Lookin' For the Lights)" (#18 Hot 100), and the minor-charting "Last Safe Place on Earth" (#77 Hot 100).

Other changes were in store as Campo and Pollard both quit later that year, with the former returning to school to complete his Master's degree in music and the latter renouncing rock music to enter the Baptist Christian ministry, where he remains today. Fergie Frederiksen and guitarist Jim Odom took over for Pollard on the fifth album, So Fired Up (which was released in February 1983). The album contained the minor-charting "Carrie's Gone" (#79 Hot 100), which Odom and Frederiksen had written after Frederiksen's breakup with actress Carrie Hamilton, Carol Burnett's daughter. The music video for the album's second single "Lifeline" also received MTV rotation, and was covered by Bobby and the Midnites and Uriah Heep. It wasn't enough to keep them from being dropped by RCA, however, and the band called it quits by 1984. Frederiksen then stepped in to replace (former Levee Band member) Bobby Kimball in the band Toto.

Recent activity

In March 1985 Leon Medica and Tony Haseldon were part of a USO organized traveling rock outfit that entertained US military troops in Europe, called First Airborne Division Rock and Roll.

Later in 1985, most of the band (sans Pollard & Frederiksen) got back together to do annual concerts in and around New Orleans with new singer Randy Knapps. Peters and Odom were also part of the group Network, who recorded the song "Back in America" for the movie European Vacation that came out that same year.

Medica and new singer Knapps were part of another edition of First Airborne Division Rock and Roll that went to the Indian Ocean and Europe in September through October 1986.

After releasing a greatest hits compilation entitled Bayou Degradable: The Best of Louisiana's LeRoux in 1996, the band decided to play more live shows in the southern U.S. and along the Gulf Coast and have been doing so ever since. By 1997, new members Boo Pourciau (drums, vocals), Nelson Blanchard (keyboards, vocals) and Steve Brewster (percussion) came in to sub for Peters, Roddy and Campo, whenever the increased tour schedule conflicted with their other duties. Shortly thereafter, Campo left the band again and Mark Duthu replaced Brewster.

In 2000 the newer members appeared alongside Knapps, Haselden, Medica, Peters, Odom, Roddy and a returning Campo on a new release, Ain't Nothing But a Gris Gris. The CD featured ten tracks – "all written or co-written by members of LeRoux" according to the back cover. The CD was produced by Medica with Odom credited as an Associated Producer.

Knapps left the group at the end of 2005 and Courtney Westbrook was lead singer in 2006 before Terry Brock (formerly of Network) took over in 2007.

After the group's heyday, guitarist Tony Haselden became a Nashville songwriter in the late '80s and penned the country hits "It Ain't Nothin'" for the late Keith Whitley, "That's My Story" for Collin Raye, "Mama Knows" for the group Shenandoah and many others. Bassist and producer Leon Medica resides in Nashville and is in high demand as a studio musician and songwriter.

Members of LeRoux backed up Tab Benoit on his Brother to the Blues and Power of the Ponchartrain CDs, recorded a live DVD and CD in Nashville with Tab in early May 2007, and toured nationwide with him in 2007 and 2008.

On October 10, 2009, during their performance at Tab Benoit's "Voice of the Wetlands" Festival in Houma, Louisiana, LeRoux was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame as their 50th inductee.

In 2010 Terry Brock was replaced as lead singer by Keith Landry and David Peters was replaced by new drummer Randy Carpenter.

LeRoux went back into Dockside Studio in May 2011 to record basic tracks for an album slated for release in 2012. This project, which included such diverse vocalists and musicians as Bobby Kimball, Steve Cropper, Jimmy Hall, and Sonny Landreth, has yet to be released.

Personnel

Members

Lineups

External links

• Official website