By Todd C. Elliott
When Matt Heasley packed up his car and left Lake Charles for Nashville, Tennessee, he wasn’t chasing fame—he was chasing a feeling. That wild, unshakable pull of music that had kept him up on humid Lake Area nights, hammering out melodies on a worn keyboard at his parents’ home. Like so many before him, he arrived in Music City with a dream and not much else—an old keyboard, maybe one contact, and a stubborn belief that somehow, someday, he’d make a living doing what he loved. What followed was a decade of near misses and waiting tables, along with some side gigs that barely covered rent. This is a story of Matt’s journey of perseverance. Heasley kept playing, learning, and waiting for his break as his dreams and aspirations got bigger and bigger. A personal quest for that fabled “big break” somewhere out there would lead him to a life of achievements that he could look back on with pride shared by his friends and family in Southwest Louisiana.
That break finally came when country music hitmaker Jon Pardi—known for his neo-traditional sound and high-energy shows—was putting together a new touring band. Pardi, whose hits like “Dirt on My Boots” and “Head Over Boots” helped reintroduce honky-tonk swagger to modern country radio, was looking for a player who could blend classic country feel with arena-rock precision. Heasley’s versatility on the keys, honed from years of drive, ambition and backroad festivals in his mind, fit the bill perfectly. A few rehearsals later, he was out on the road, trading bartending in small bars for sold-out stadiums and late-night sessions with one of country music’s most dynamic frontmen.
Lagniappe Magazine caught up with Heasley on the eve of a concert in Beaumont, Texas, where John Pardi was slated to perform at the Ford Park Arena on October 24th. It was the closest he had been to home in some time, and he was thankful for his home which helped him achieve success in Nashville and every major city between Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Green Bay, Wisconsin as a touring member of Pardi’s road band.
“The exposure to the culture and music of the Louisiana is undeniable,” said Heasley. “I’ve been all over this world and there is no place like it. The backbeat of Louisiana music is ingrained in us if you’re from there and that translates to country music probably more than any other genre.”
He joined up with Pardi about six years ago after Pardi had already proven himself a chart-topper in the Nashville Music industry. Heasley knew the studio keyboardist for Pardi while also knowledgeable of the fact that most studio musicians in Nashville don’t want to give up their full-time job in being a studio musician. The keyboardist that had recorded with Pardi slipped Heasley’s name in the hat for Pardi’s potential road band. In three years, Heasley recorded a live album at Pardi’s studio and then a Christmas album. Last year, when Pardi was up for another studio album, Pardi enlisted a new producer that wanted to capture the sound of a road band that was congealed and cohesive to strive for a more fluid sound, capturing the rowdiness and feeling of a touring honky-tonk band. The first single broke into the Top Ten Country charts, “Friday Night Heartbreaker” which signaled Heasley’s first major-release recording and landed him on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where the group (and Heasely) performed “Tequilla Little Time” on April 16, 2021 and then returning to Fallon’s show to perform “Last Night Lonely” to millions of television viewers on August 9, 2022. From there, Heasley found himself on the soundstages for Seth Myers, Jimmy Kimmel and various morning TV shows across the USA.
For Heasley, this was a dream come true. Albeit one that had humble beginnings and went beyond any expectation the 1994 Barbe graduate had.
“I’ve always wanted to play music for a living and kind of figure out that lifestyle,” he said. “I went to Nashville in 2000 because I had a buddy that was a guitar tech for Richochet, who had a couple of hits back in the 1990s. The band needed a ‘merch guy’, so I thought: ‘alright, I’ll bite.’ So, I got on the tour bus and started selling t-shirts. When I got on a tour bus for the first time, I saw what that life was all about. At that time, the members of the band were in their mid-thirties and at the time I was maybe 25. But I saw that these older guys had wives and kids, being professional musicians and that really blew my mind. I knew then that this was what I wanted to do.”
After selling band merchandise for two years, Heasley took any gig he could get and made the best of his networking skills and personal relationships. In Nashville, it’s not always what a musician knows, but more so who that musician knows. Heasely shared lessons he’s learned for any would-be musician in Southwest Louisiana.
“I think the most valuable lesson I’ve learned is this: everyone is a good musician, some better than others but we all came to play, you know,” he said. “So, what do you bring that someone else might not? And that translates to all other areas of touring. Not just the stage. You’re only on stage for 90mins of the day. The other 22.5 hours you’re trying to figure out how to occupy your time. So basically, being a good hang, leaving your drama at home, treating everyone with respect. From the guy who’s pushing cases loading the trucks to the artist and everyone in between. The relationships you make out here are paramount in this industry and keep you working.”
Following Jon Pardi’s show at Beaumont, the act will travel to Phoenix, Arizona and from there, with the holidays around the corner, they will make their way to Florida in December. This current tour will take them to Nashville on December 21, 2025, when the band will perform at the Grand Ole Opry House for the Opry Country Christmas Show. The coming year will see the band supporting Alan Jackson on June 27, 2026, for Jackson’s farewell performance at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
“To play music and use this gift I’ve been given to actually make a living is a dream come true and something I never take for granted,” Heasley said. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else and we’re on a nice steady climb right now. And the band has started to play on Jon’s records too, which is not the norm for Nashville. And the first single off the newest record just broke the top 10 and the next is hopefully going all the way.”
Now, ten years after leaving the bayou, Heasley stands center stage behind his keyboard night after night, helping drive the sound that’s redefining mainstream country. Yet, in true Louisiana fashion, he remains grounded—equal parts humble and grateful, with a little swamp mud still on his boots. From Lake Charles to sold-out arenas, Matt Heasley’s journey to Nashville wasn’t paved with luck, it was powered by grit, faith, and a love of music that refused to quit. After a decade of struggle, he’s finally found his rhythm as the keyboardist for country star Jon Pardi, proving that sometimes the long road really does lead home—to the stage.
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