In a short span, the Tom Leggett Band has emerged as one of the hardest working up-and-coming roots rock & blues acts in New Orleans. Led by guitarist, singer & songwriter Tom Leggett, the group presents a cast of some of the Crescent City’s finest musicians to headline clubs and festivals around the Southeast and beyond.
After cutting his teeth playing gigs in his birthplace of Little Rock, Arkansas, Tom moved to New Orleans in 1997 with friend and musical collaborator Aaron Wilkinson (Honey Island Swamp Band) to soak up the area’s rich traditions and explore the city’s deep musical heritage.
While studying under legendary jazz guitar instructor Hank Mackie, he and Wilkinson co-founded jazz-funk band idletime in 1999. The band signed with Louisiana Red Hot Records in 2000 and toured nationally, playing 200 shows a year, headlining clubs and festivals, and opening for groups like the funky Meters, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Derek Trucks Band, North Mississippi Allstars and others before disbanding in 2005 when hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated New Orleans and scattered the band’s members.
Rebuilding post-Katrina, Tom began working regularly as a freelance guitarist in a wide range of styles, playing alongside world-class musicians in the Crescent City and on the road, including Koan, Soul Brass Band, Derrick Freeman & Smoker’s World, Sunpie & the Louisiana Sunspots, Ted Hefko & the Thousandaires, Jenn Howard Band, Rockin’ Jake Band, Clint Kaufmann, Jesse Hiatt Band, Corey Henry & the Young Fellas, and alongside top-shelf musicians like Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown, Paul Longstreth, Khris Royal, Scott Jackson, Pat Casey, John Fohl, Nigel Hall, Danny Abel, David Torkanowsky, Jonathan Freilich and many more.
Original cover Art by Catherine Todd
After nearly two decades of performances as a New Orleans artist, Tom assembled his own band of closest musician friends. With the independent release of the band’s first album Spinnin’ My Wheels, Tom launched his blues & roots rock band to perform original compositions. The self-produced record, released independently in 2013, features original songs with influences from rock, blues and outlaw country, becoming core material for regular live performances by the Tom Leggett Band.
In May 2017, the band added horns on their sophmore release, Jewel In My Crown, a “more polished and fully realized“ album of original music, featuring 10 new songs written by Tom and performed by an all-star band of New Orleans’ finest musicians, including Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown, Terrence Houston, Tom Worrell, Michael “Mikey B3” Burkart, Rik Fletcher, Pete Bradish, Scott Jackson, James Martin, Terrance Taplin, Jimmy Sweetwater, Jerome Harris, and Derek Eidson. The album garnered both popular and critical success, positioning the band for a full calendar of performances, including the group’s first appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2019.
Following the band’s successful festival and club performances in support of Jewel In My Crown, the band earned a grant from Threadhead Cultural Foundation to support a new recording project. The resulting album, Cross That Line, the band’s third studio album, features 10 new original songs for digital release on all platforms on September 1st, 2024 with vinyl records coming later that fall. Produced in New Orleans– recorded and engineered by Rick Nelson at Marigny Studios, mixed by Chris Finney at the Truck Farm, and mastered by Misha Kachkachishvili at Esplanade Studios– the album represents the band’s highest quality recording to date, positioning the group for continued success in live performances around the Southeast and beyond.
