We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leo Duke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Leo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I was always involved with music as a kid. My dad played in a band around the New England Area where I was born and raised, and I always loved going to watch him play. My mom wasn’t a musician but she loved music. She was very influential when it came to me finding the first artists I really liked. She would buy me DVD’s of old Muppet Show Episodes that had classic rock artists on them.

I was hearing artists like Paul Simon, Alice Cooper, John Denver, but the most influential one was Elton John. I can easily say he was the first artist who’s music I truly fell in love with. So much to the point that when I was five years old, my parents took me to see him on the Peachtree Road tour! I had never seen a venue that big in my life, so that really showed me how important artists could be in society.

I didn’t know I wanted to really be a musician until years later when I got Guitar Hero III for Christmas in 2007. I remember hearing the song Welcome to The Jungle by Guns N Roses, and thinking “What the hell is this?!?!”. From that moment on, I became obsessed with getting a guitar and learning how to be like that long-haired guy in the Top Hat from my video game!

Leo, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a Rock Musician who grew up in the Boston Area. I’ve been playing music for most of my life and moved to Nashville six months ago with the hopes of becoming a professional musician! I have been releasing music on my own over the course of this year, and have released an EP entitled “Coming Home” on all streaming platforms around two months ago!

I am not like many Nashville musicians for a few reasons. The first being that this area is primarily focused around country music. However, the rock music scene here has really been picking up in recent years. A lot of bands here try to go down the glam rock route exclusively. I try to be a bit different. While I am influenced by and love tons of glam rock bands, I try to also throw in influence from more modern artists like Dirty Honey, Mammoth WVH, and Greta Van Fleet!

Something I’m really proud about is my hesitance to compromise my vision for my music! I never write a song to just simply write a song. The song needs to sound perfect to me before I end up releasing it, or even playing it for people. The last thing I want to do is put out work that seems uninspired or for lack of better word, “half-assed”.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Honestly, with the ever changing nature of the music industry, bands and artists have a great desire to be paid for their work. It may sound a bit blunt, but a lot of smaller artists are really struggling to make a living off of their art. Specifically musicians. With streaming taking over almost the complete music listening world, it has become harder and harder for musicians to see profit when it comes to recording their music. Especially when they pay thousands of dollars to record one song. Whether it’s throwing a few dollars in the tip jar, or buying a CD or a Tee-Shirt at the merch table, paying your artists makes a massive difference to their lives!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Playing Music is what I love to do more than anything else in the world! I really want to forge a career for myself doing this full time. Whether playing with a larger artist, or on my own as a support act, this is what I know I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. I don’t intend to let anything stop me from getting to where I want to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: Leoduke.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leodukemusic/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/leodukemusic/
• Other: Coming Home (EP): https://open.spotify.com/album/39AY0UZq55q9HnIbvlSSDU?si=Qk2B09xiRiOnA8jMqXZObw

Image Credits
Chelsea Erica Smith NashBash Collective Lauren Miller