I grew up in an Irish-Italian family. My Dad was the third of nine children. Music was a staple of his life growing up. All of my Dad’s brothers and sisters would gather around the piano while my grandfather would play and sing. Thankfully, that lifestyle and talent would be transferred to my generation. If you are around the Leahy family, you will hear music. Homemade music. It’s inescapable. The very first instrument I ever learned on was the keyboards. Organ and piano. To this very day I love walking into a music store and sitting down and playing the keyboards. From there I picked up the guitar, and then on to the ukulele, and the banjo. I even have a set of bass pedals that I play along with, and I’ve even added the steel drum to my arsenal.
I’m available for hire on Cameo!
I was in a few rock bands in high school, and that was all well and good and served it’s purpose. I then got into folk music- especially Irish folk- while in high school. I’ll never forget my first exposure to it- I heard my Uncle Dave’s Boston based Irish band , the Irish Volunteers. From that point on I was hooked. Wanting to learn more about it, I bought my first Irish album on LP- the Clancy Brothers Greatest Hits in 1980- which I still have to this very day. I then went on to buy all their records.
I love almost all kinds of music, but as of late I really love the tropical sounds- comes from loving the uke so much- the Jimmy Buffett stuff. I have all of Jimmy’s albums- 50 years worth- and I love being close to that “escapism” style of living. I post songs on the Internet and play out whenever I can. I post on Facebook primarily with live shows and songs to my FB group, ” Leahy’s Live Music- The Rafters Are Ringing.“, as well as my YouTube channel. I’m grateful that social media has given me the opportunity to share my gift with the world.
Below are a few links of some songs I’ve done online and live.
And here is my pride and joy, probably my favorite memory of my baseball career, playing a ” Pump Up Video” in the Lowell Spinners clubhouse- pregame from Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Connecticut prior to a Lowell-Connecticut game. (It must have worked- the Spinners won, snapping a losing streak). The song is called the Wild Colonial Boy.