Louisiana's LeRoux

Their 1978 Capitol press release read: "LeRoux takes its name from the Cajun French term for the thick and hearty gravy base that's used to make a gumbo." Louisiana's LeRoux (the first album) was a musical gumbo that blended various instruments and arrangements for some spicy, mouth-watering pop rock. Using blues, R&B, funk, jazz, rock and Cajun as their base, their southern anthem New Orleans Ladies, voted Song of The Century by Gambit Magazine, simmered with the laid-back feel of the "Big Easy," evoking images of Bourbon Street and the Bayou. That song, together with their smash hit Nobody Said It Was Easy, brings LeRoux daily airplay from D.C. to Baton rouge and they remain cult heroes to this day.

In '81, LeRoux moved to RCA, which decided to break the band as a singles act. They succeeded with the top-20 hit Nobody Said It Was Easy and received heavy MTV airplay with the top 5 AOR hit Addicted both featured on their fourth album Last Safe Place.

Soon afterwards, however, lead singer Jeff Pollard left the group to start his own Christian Ministry. He was replaced by Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen (formerly of Toto), and when Bobby Campo also exited, Berklee School of Music Graduate Jim Odom came aboard for the group's fifth album So Fired Up, that included their Chart single and MTV hit, Carrie's Gone.

LeRoux toured for ten years, headlining and supporting numerous groups including ZZ Top, Kansas, The Doobie Brothers, Bob Seger, Journey, The Dirt Band, John Cougar, Chicago,and many others. LeRoux's many television appearances included Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, Solid Gold, Midnight Special, MTV, and their own Public Broadcasting live video, Rocking the Nottaway, filmed in 1997.

Tony Haselden, guitarist and vocalist who wrote some of LeRoux's all-time favorites, relocated to Nashville, Tennessee several years ago and is one of the top songwriters/producers in Country music. Tony wrote many #1 Country hits, including That's My Story by Colin Ray, It Ain't Nothin' by Keith Whitley, and You Know Me Better Than That by George Strait; and he also produced The Kinleys and The Wilkinsons.

In 1996, the band's Bayoudegradable: The Best of Louisiana's LeRoux CD Release Party at the House of Blues in New Orleans created a renewed demand for the band to perform live. After the success of the disc, the group began to perform selected live dates, reviving some funky musical spirits from the bayou.

Today LeRoux continues to perform and share the stage with some of the biggest names in Classic Rock, playing primarily in the southeastern states where LeRoux continues to have a strong fan base spanning two generations. Some of the festivals where LeRoux has recently performed are the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Worldwide NYE 2005 telecast from the New Orleans French Quarter, Birmingham's City Stages, Mobile Bayfest, Shreveport's Red River Revel and Mud Bug Madness, Natchitoches Jazz and R&B Festival, and Lafayette's Mardi Gras & the Cajun Heartland at Cajun Field. Other festivals include the International Rice Festival, Contraband Days, Cotton Festival, Strawberry Festival, the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival, and most major festivals throughout the southeast.