One of the rowdiest and longest-tenured bands in the Austin scene,
the LeRoi Brothers emerged in 1981 with a raucous sound macerated in blues, rockabilly, R&B, country, soul, zydeco, and garage rock. Starting as a trio with drummer
Mike Buck (founding member of
the Fabulous Thunderbirds), guitarist
Don Leady (who later formed the
Tailgators), and guitarist
Steve Doerr, the band issued their debut album, Check This Action, in 1983. As the years progressed,
Doerr and
Buck would remain the group's sole constant members, culminating in a handful of studio releases and plenty of sweaty live performances. While the band never found mainstream success, they remained legends in Austin, were inducted into the city's Music Hall of Fame in 2014, and continued performing live shows regularly.
The LeRoi Brothers' story begins with
Steve Doerr,
Don Leady,
Mike Buck, bassist
Alex Napier, and vocalist
Lou Ann Barton, who played clubs under the alternating monikers
the Headhunters and Lou Ann & the Fliptops. When Elektra Records started courting
Barton,
Doerr,
Leady, and
Buck began operating as
the LeRoi Brothers, their frenzied and infectious live shows quickly began amassing supporters. They released an EP, Moon Twist, through Amazing Records in 1981, followed two years later by the full-length Check This Action for Jungle Records. The latter effort, which featured
Fabulous Thunderbirds bassist
Keith Ferguson, became an underground hit, earning acclaim for its nervy energy and raw power and eliciting praise from contemporaries like
Rank and File,
the Blasters, and
X. The band added
Steve's brother
Joe Doerr and bassist Jack Newhouse to the roster and inked a deal with
Columbia, which put out a pair of EPs, 1984's Forget About the Danger and 1985's The LeRoi Brothers. Despite their best efforts, the band was unable to parlay their regional success into the mainstream, resulting in the departure of co-founder
Don Leady, who went on to form the swamp rock power trio
the Tailgators.
Replacing
Leady was no easy task, but the band found a kindred spirit in D.C.-area six-stringer
Evan Johns (the H-Bombs), whose spitfire guitar playing, howling vocals, and mischievous on-stage antics fit right in with the group's dynamic live shows.
The LeRoi Brothers continued to release new material as the decades progressed --
Open All Night (1986), Viva LeRoi (1989), Rhythm & Booze (1990), and
Kings of the Catnap (2000) saw them settle into a reliable rockabilly/country/R&B groove -- but the stage was their true home, and their performances remained both wild and impeccable. In 2014, the band was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame, and in 2019 Jungle reissued a definitive version of Check This Action, which included the group's 1981 EP Moon Twist. ~ James Christopher Monger