Conversations with Tyson Leslie

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyson Leslie

Tyson, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Tyson Leslie has been playing professionally in clubs and venues all over the US and Globally since 1988.

Originally from Kansas City by way of Greeley Colorado, Leslie migrated to Nashville to pursue his dream further to be in a touring act, and upon living in Nashville for three months, he landed the keyboard spot for 90s country superstar Tracy Lawrence.

Previous to his tenure with Lawrence, he performed with Corey Taylor of the heavy metal juggernaut Slipknot and Stone Sour in 2008 to 2009 with his initial solo outing “Corey Taylor and the Junk Beer Kidnap band” – The worst band name…ever.

He has since been the keyboardist for late 80s hard rock all-female sensation Vixen and is still touring the world with them since 2017.

In addition to touring work, he has been a Dueling pianist since 2012.

Leslie has performed on the Kid Rock Cruise. The KISS cruise. The Megadeth cruise. Monsters Of Rock, On The Blue (Moody Blues), Cruise To The Edge (Yes/Prog Rock), Shiprocked, and the Rob Gronkowski cruise among others.

He has worked alongside members of Taylor Swift’s band, Beyonce’s band, Kelly Clarkson’s band, Florida Georgia Line, and a giant laundry list of other musicians that we’ve all seen either in concert or on our television sets at home.

Leslie released a solo album in 2013. In 2016 a follow-up single titled “Cradle To The Grave”.

In 2020, he produced a country album for Singer/Songwriter Dew Pendleton called “Might As Well Be Me”.

On New Year’s Day 2022, he released a hard rock single called “Burning Time” which featured members of Queensryche, Vixen, Mr. Big, and Autograph.

When Tyson isn’t on the road you can often see him performing between 6-7 nights a week on lower Broadway in Nashville or performing at a Dueling Piano bar somewhere across the country.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, Leslie continued to make a living playing music live on Facebook, Youtube and Twich 5 nights a week for between 4-6 hours a night.

He also has recorded for 80s sleaze rockers Faster Pussycat and David Ellefson of Megadeth, Enuff Z’Nuff, blues artist Amanda Fish, and numerous independent artist releases for artists of various genres.

In 2023, Leslie has also seen his Rare Hare jams become one of Nashville’s biggest and most successful musician gatherings and has attracted musicians from across the world who fly in just to perform in the series that takes place a few times a year.

In December of 2023, Leslie performed as the house keyboardist for hard rock radio DJ Eddie Trunk’s 40th-anniversary party backing up Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Sammy Hagar, and Michael Anthony of Van Halen, Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon, among many many others.

2024 is already extremely busy with bookings on 7 different cruises, arena shows with Vixen co-writing and recording with members of Megadeth, Dangerous Toys, Stryper, and others, and writing original material for himself.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There are always, and will always be struggles. Divorces, vehicles shutting down, friends getting fired, getting fired myself from gigs, equipment failure, etc. etc. etc.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a multi-instrumentalist live mercenary musician. I get called for various instruments for all kinds of gigs from main headliner bands and artists, to corporate events and weddings, to playing requests for drunk people in bars to going dueling piano shows all across the country. I’ve played with some of my biggest heroes alive, and I’m continuing to grow my network every year and as a result, I continue to get calls to work with some pretty amazing people.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
email me at [email protected] or just shoot me a message on social media. I’m on all the platforms mostly under the name tysonleslie or tysonlesliemusic.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @tysonleslie
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/tysonlesliemusic
• Twitter: @tysonleslie
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/tysonleslie

Image Credits
All Images – Mark Weiss