Chuck Leah | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | October 18, 1972 Weslaco, Texas, US |
| Genres | Folk-rock · Folk · Americana · Blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician · Singer · Songwriter · Record producer |
| Instrument(s) | Bass guitar · Vocals · Guitar · Mandolin |
| Labels | Dos Pistolas Records · Blue Hour Music |
| Website | chuckleah |
Chuck Leah is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. His seven studio albums [1] span genres that include folk-rock, folk, Americana, [2] and depression-era blues. [3] His main instruments include electric, acoustic, and bass guitar, [4] mandolin, organ, and keyboard. [5]
Leah was born in the small town of Weslaco, Texas [6] on October 18, 1972. He began playing music by the time he was three or four years old. Leah recorded for the first time around the age of 10, [3] getting his start playing bass for various Texas bands.
Beginning in the 1980s, Leah toured with and played bass for a number of bands and artists. [2] In the 1990s, Leah played in the American country-rock band Tumbleweed. Later in the 2000s, Leah began to work with the Minnesotan group Traveled Ground as producer and musician. [6] Leah has lived and worked in Italy, Los Angeles, Nashville, Austin, Puerto Rico, Minneapolis, and Houston. [3] [7]
Leah recorded his album, High Stakes, in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2015. High Stakes was produced by Leah, musician and composer Jeff Victor, and sound engineer Evan Bakke, [2] [8] whose credits include Prince, Hippo Campus, Daru Jones, and Sam Nitsch. [9]
In 2019, Leah composed and performed an original, live score for the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s presentation of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu. [10]
In 2020, Leah recorded and released his seventh album, Band of Ghosts, at the Power Station New England in Waterford, Connecticut. [2] The album's name is, in part, a reference to its recording process: due to COVID-19, recording sessions were socially distanced, with each musician recording alone in the studio. [3] [7] Leah's ensemble for Band of Ghosts included Jeff Victor, Soul Asylum’s Jeremy Tappero, singer Jenn Bostic, Sam Nitsch and bassist Michael Visceglia. [4] The album was also produced by Chuck Leah and Evan Bakke, through their record label Dos Pistolas. [4] [7]
Through the Blue Hour Music/Dos Pistolas record labels, Leah and Bakke co-produced Wangden Sherpa's 2022 debut album, Tangled in You. Leah also arranged, co-wrote, and played acoustic, 12-string, and bass guitar for the album.