Louisiana music is just like the state itself; it's a gumbo...a flavorful mixture of the many ingredients that make it so unique.
The birthplace of jazz, New Orleans, also had a major role in the early years of rock and roll. Little Richard and Ray Charles traveled to the Crescent City for their early recordings to get the distinctive New Orleans sound that helped Fats Domino sell more than 65 million records.
Shreveport's Louisiana Hayride helped launch the careers of Hank Williams and Elvis Presley. Louisiana is the birthplace of rock and roll original, Jerry Lee Lewis and blues legend Buddy Guy. The Bayou State also gave us the Zydeco brilliance of the late Clifton Chenier and the Cajun sounds of Doug Kershaw and BeauSoleil.
Throw in hit-makers like Johnny Rivers, Dr. John and Aaron Neville and you have a solid legacy of music. It's from this musical gumbo that Louisiana's LeRoux emerged in the 1970s...
Bobby Campo on the band's sound (0:09)They actually got their big break as the backup band for blues legend Gatemouth Brown. Soon the band, then known as the Jeff Pollard Band, was opening for Brown playing their own unique brand of Louisiana rock. A record deal followed and they went to the studio to record their first album. The only thing they didn't have was a name:
That first album in 1978 was called "Louisiana's LeRoux" and launched the band on a musical voyage that produced five albums, a Top 20 single and their signature hit "New Orleans Ladies."