Leroy Thomas
Past Performances
June 29, 2001
Watch this Performance
Additional Resources
Millennium Stage Home Page
Part of the Performing Arts for Everyone Initiative
About the Artist
Leroy Thomas was eight years old when he first learned how to play drums on a set of five gallon paint buckets with a set of little tree branches as his sticks. He sang into a cardboard tube that he used as his microphone. Some time later, Thomas joined his fatherÆs band, Leo Thomas and His Zydeco Band, and he supplemented his income by doing a wide variety of jobs. He then moved to Houston and continued to gain notoriety as a gifted musician.
Now fronting his own band, Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Roadrunners, ThomasÆs latest release, Monkey and the Baboon, has become a favorite of the dance club, festival and zydeco cruise venues. Thomas enjoys keeping the tradition of Louisiana style zydeco in his music, what he refers to as ôold-school zydeco.ö He has been described as a ôthrowback to the first generation of zydeco masters."
In July of 1999, Thomas bought the music rights to his two CDs recorded on Bad Weather Records, and launched his own label, Thomas Records.
