Artist description One reviewer described The Leela Fiasco as “a chance to see what Greensboro has to offer other than being halfway between Charlotte and Raleigh.” Don’t miss that chance. Over its four-year history, The Leela Fiasco has been a constantly evolving experiment in the musical interplay of form and libido, picking up the reigns from pioneers ranging from Big Star to Medeski, Martin & Wood. The Leelas serve as a respite from the prevailing cult of the underachiever, instead choosing to grow themselves sonically and thematically in unknown directions. More to the point, the band wishes to provide something more than entertaining dance music. Each song is an event that pulls in several external influences, a fusion not only of jazz and rock but also of poetry, visual design, and theater. Each studio session is a honing and sculpting of four fierce egos toward a common goal; each live performance is a conversation between hundreds.

Music Style Indie Fusion, Rock

Musical Influences Jane's Addiction, P-Funk, Sublime, Mr. Bungle, Grateful Dead, Radiohead, Jaco Pastorius, the Police, Thelonius Monk, Beethoven, Primus, the Beatles, Willie Nelson, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon, Pink Floyd

Similar Artists The Talking Heads, The Doors, Parliament Funkadelic

Artist History In the mid-90’s, Tommy, Clay, and Erik made up the core of an art-folk band called Oil Can Harry. In 1997, Oil Can Harry released their first album, Louis Lingg. Most of the songs were short, melodic pieces, although the first sketches of what would become The Leela Fiasco showed up in the penultimate song, an extended fusion of improvisation and poetry entitled “Diver.” After a couple of years OCH disbanded as a live project altogether, but the three musicians continued recording together, eventually putting together an entire album of post-mortem material under the title Gloria in Excelsis Proelio. By this time Clay and Erik had formed The Leela Fiasco, and Tommy was honing his writing skills at UNC-Greensboro. As of this writing, The Leela Fiasco have released two EP’s and an LP. Free and Tasty EP was The Leela Fiasco’s first venture into the studio, and contained a live version of the jazz piece “Sam’s the Man.” Shortly thereafter, Clay, Erik, and former bass player Scott Hinzman recorded the tracks for Smoke and Mirrors, which received considerable college radio play and excellent reviews from several indie music magazines. 2002 saw the release of Amirah, the first Leela recording to include Tommy on vocals and keyboards. The Leela Fiasco just finished their second full-length album - Stellar Window.

Group Members Clay Davidson’s lyrical guitar style has been referred to in print as being “where Hendrix would be if he’d gotten even jazzier than he was already.” He played with different bands in Syracuse and Santa Cruz before making his way back to his hometown of Greensboro. David Smith (the new guy) is an accomplished bassist, whose background lies solidly in jazz music. He’s the youngest member of the band, but has as much experience with live performance as anyone else. Erik Strom brings the durability of structure to his percussion work with the band. Erik is a visual artist by trade, and is also responsible for much of the band’s artwork. Tommy Trull is the singer, keyboardist, and primary lyricist for the group. He is a published poet who has also written for and played for a number of bands, and serves as both conversation piece and conduit.

Instruments guitar, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards

Albums Smoke & Mirrors (2000); Amirah (2002); Stellar Window (2003)

Press Reviews Review: Smoke & Mirrors ~ the leela fiasco I'll have to be honest. It's really hard for someone with a short attention span, like me, to get into improvisational, experimental, instrumental rock. But even though this genre isn't my usual musical fare, I did find The Leela Fiasco's "Smoke & Mirrors" fascinating in places. The instruments are talking. The mood keeps shifting. If you can't get into what you're hearing right away, give it a few seconds, and it will change. In the first track alone, the music starts as cymbals and primitive percussion and jangly, 60s guitar rock. Then it turns psychedelic and free-flowing. Suddenly it stops, and we get a hint of coffeeshop jazz and then full speed ahead into a rock opera. Then we pause for a moment for some finger-flying bass work while an electric guitar wails in the background before closing out the track with some Godzilla-Takes-Tokyo rock. That's all in the first five minutes of the CD. These guys try everything. "Demon?" has a shuffling R&B riff with tapping percussion and groovy guitar. "If I Only" features a guitar singing the blues against a pulsing, hypnotic background. Those who get restless easily will find themselves pausing as they reach for the "skip" button when a new shift in the music catches their attention. This CD will serve as a mind-expanding education for fans who have been stuck in a particular genre for a while. – Jennifer Layton, Indie-Music.com http://www.indie-music.com/article.php?sid=1052

Location Greensboro, NC - USA

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