King Louie and the Loose Diamonds

King Louie Bankston
King Louie Bankston in 1993 at Pendleton Manor, New Orleans
Background information
Birth name	Louis Paul Bankston
Born	Harahan, Louisiana,  United States
Origin	New Orleans
Genres	Garage punk, garage rock, punk rock, bubblegum, swamp pop, boogie rock, blues rock, rock and roll, power pop
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Percussion, Keyboards
Years active	1987 – present
Labels	Goner Records, Sympathy for the Record Industry, Dirtnap Records, Empty Records
Associated acts	Royal Pendletons, The Persuaders, Bad Times, The Exploding Hearts, King Louie and the Loose Diamonds, The King Louie One Man Band, King Louie's Missing Monuments, Kajun SS, Kondor, Black Rose Band

King Louie Bankston (born Louis Paul Bankston) is a rock and roll musician from New Orleans. Associated early on with garage punk, he abandoned the genre in 1998 and has focused on Louisiana swamp pop, boogie woogie, boogie rock and power pop. He is best known for his work in the Royal Pendletons, The Persuaders, The Exploding Hearts, and The King Louie One Man Band. Bankston has toured Europe and the United States since the very early 1990s. He has released 53 records in the vinyl format. Louie does not use any outside promotion and uses a strict rule of ATTRACTION AND NOT PROMOTION for his music. Louis currently playes music based out of Oakland CA and lives in a suburb of New Orleans LA. Bankston has lived in New Orleans, Portland, and Memphis.

King Louie helped found the Royal Pendletons in 1991 along with Michael Hurtt on guitar/vocals, J. Matthew Uhlman on guitar/vocals, and G. Thomas Oliver on organ. The band achieved in the pre-internet years what is now known as a " Buzz Band " status today. Not concentrating on the studio or recording side of their set the band has little to show for their efforts. The RP's were known to have over 100 songs and usually played from open to close at New Orleans venues Checkpoint Charlie's, Benny's and Barristers (Memphis). The Royal Pendletons put out their first 7" on Goner Records in 1995, and in 1998 put out a full-length LP on Sympathy for the Record Industry with producer Alex Chilton entitled 'Oh Yeah, Baby.

Terry and Louie is a return to Louie's Exploding Hearts writing and playing with band mate Terry. After over a decade of no communication the two have reformed and are making records and touring throughout the year. The band has been active since 2013. They are on the Tuff Break record roster and are based out of Oakland. It is Louis' only current project of new music.