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Leon Live - Childhood EP
The five tracks on 'Childhood' are taken from Leon Live's forthcoming album and the majority are plainly and simply Leon's diary entries, verbatim, put to music. Semi-acoustic is, I suppose, the best way to describe this remarkably honest work, totally home-grown and probably benefiting from its 'boy-next-door-records-at-home' open-ness, 'Childhood' is a very real and extremely heart-on-sleeve offering. By no means dour or cut-yer-throat morose, 'Childhood' is full of great songs performed with a sort of inner warmth and plenty of vitality - honest yes, meaningful yes, descriptive yes but, by no means overly 'bleak'!
Much of Leon Live's appeal is that he's letting you, the listener, into his 'private life' through words and music, his 'stories' are true, his 'ramblings' are factual, deep maybe but never too dismal; 'Childhood' tells you a great deal about this talented troubadour and his hands-on, kitchen-sink'n'all approach only adds weight to the trouble and torment emanating from the speakers. Not so much raw as real, 'Childhood', although sensitively handled, is hard-edged and tangibly honest; Leon Live is quite clearly driven by his music and the fact that his musical story-telling is based on real day-to-day feelings and actual events makes the words really come to life as the thoughts and observations unfold from within the empathetically 'scored' instrumental backdrop.
'Childhood' by Leon Live is by no means simply a solemn or mournful work; there's plenty to take in and loads to think about but it aint all dark and forlorn. In fact, much of Leon's music is quite up-beat and jaunty and therefore somewhat juxtaposed to the more harsh reality of the lyrics. Whatever, it certainly works!! 'Childhood' shows promise and potential; there's sufficient commerciality within these five songs to suggest that Leon Live could make a bit of a killing if he promotes the EP and manages to get decent exposure with radio 'jocks' and the like. Certainly, 'Childhood' would suggest that the album, when it's finished, should be well worth a looksee. 'Childhood' came as a bit of a surprise really; I read the press pack and thought that it might all be a bit self-indulgent and frankly a bit dull. No way!! 'Childhood' is a crackin' work and musical all-rounder Leon Live has impressed me and whet my appetite - pretty cool stuff, pretty impressive stuff, pretty bloody good!! - Peter J Brown aka toxic pete (www.toxicpete.co.uk)
"Forever maybe"..that was an awesome performance, beautifully written lyrics, lively vocals and the guitars sounds made it a great listen, keep up the good work! - Reverb Nation
Wow. Leon Evans in a Welsh singer-songwriter with guitar in hand and heart on his sleeve. Hailing from the town of Aberdare, Leon Live writes and performs emotionally honest diary entries set to music. There is no attempt at song craft or obfuscation; Leon Live simply gives his heart and mind in each and every song. The result is an incredibly nuanced, human experience in music. Leon’s debut EP, Childhood, is proof.
Childhood opens with Child Of Hell, a sharply pointed and poignant song about the unseen power a broken home can inflict on a child. Leon Live pulls no punches in painting a brutally honest portrait of the pain and confusion such things can incur. All of this is delivered in an upbeat acoustic rock arrangement in a vibrant rock voice. Blinded heads toward a southern acoustic rock sound (ala Pat McGee) in a song of pure desire. This one is very catchy and would play well to adult pop radio. Your Tears Are Mine is a beautiful guitar-based Americana tune that sounds a bit like Blue Rodeo. Memoirs Of A Dreamer has a thoroughly memorable melody that you don’t be able to shake. You’ll be humming this one for days. Leon Live closes out with Home, a down-tempo Americana tune you’ll have on replay. This is the class of the EP. Don’t be surprised if this song gets picked up by other artists to record.
Leon Live has a distinctive sound that will get your attention, and he’s a good enough songwriter to keep it. A strong, occasionally raspy voice fits perfectly with Leon’s songs, and the arrangements are top notch. Childhood is a keeper.
Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)
You can learn more about Leon Evans at http://www.leonlive.co.uk/, where you can purchase a copy of Childhood. - http://wildysworld.blogspot.com
Leon Live is a singer/songwriter from Wales. Nothing unusual about that. He even plays all the instruments on this five track EP as well. Not exactly uncommon. So what is special about him, I hear you say? He seems real, that's what, and he manages to get his message across in a natural, unforced yet commercial way.
Sure enough, there is a standard, by-the-numbers rock song in "Blinded" but the rest of the songs seem deeper and, according to the press release, are a lot more personal. "Memoirs of a Dreamer" stands out from the pack. Leon is not the first to use song writing as an emotional catharsis - the subject of the aforementioned song is indeed a painful one - but he knows how to wrap things up in appealing and memorable melodies. Even better, he has the pipes to sell it to us. The leaden drumming (or maybe drum machine programming) tended to annoy me over repeated plays but I did want to play the songs over and over and that's a good thing.
The main plus point of these songs is the honest and straightforward way they are presented. That's refreshing in these days of having your publicist make it all up. I think these five melodic rock songs (well, four of them anyway) bode well for the future of Leon Live and I hope that he gets a break. Unlike so many, I reckon he deserves it. - http://www.bluesbunny.com
Discography
1998 home Demo
2008 Childhood E.P.
Photos
Bio
"Be one of the few that knows how to help yourself, instead of expecting others to do it for you"
This is printed on a sheet of A4 paper above Leon's Computer, the very computer where this one man not only wrote his entire 14 track album thats due out next year. He also recorded it, played all the instruments and sung all the vocals and backing vocals, engineered & produced it, and then mixed it. Then he created all the artwork and created the distinctive 'Leon Live' and 'Double L' logo's for the debut EP "Childhood E.P.". To top it all off he also designed and coded his official website www.leonlive.co.uk.
This is a man who has literally done it all on his own, from a small one bedroom flat in the Welsh valleys town of Aberdare.
Leon Live is an extremely multi-talented welsh songwriter, singer and guitarist from the Welsh valley’s town of Aberdare. Leon Live is raw, emotional, powerful songs straight from the soul, This guy wears his heart proudly on his sleeve and his deeply personal, moving lyrics cant help but touch the emotional heart strings as you listen to a beautifully melodic soundscape of breathtakingly simple yet inspiring songwriting, brutally honest and transparent lyrics combined with infections melodies and hook laden choruses.
From May to October 2008 Leon wrote and captured 14 diary entries in his life. The lyrics were written in one sitting and capture unedited and un processed the raw emotions, thoughts and feelings of one man as he became self aware, self aware of an abusive, neglected childhood and the resultant emotional damage from it, and the damage it inflicted on his relationships.
There is no metaphor, no 'song writing', no adjustment to be more catchy or popular. Leon is not a 'song writer', he is a man who just writes songs.
Additional Info
Leon Evans is a 34yr old who has been playing guitar and writing his own songs since the age of 16. He joined his first band and started performing live at the age of 17.
Originally from the Fernhill Estate in Mountain Ash, Leon's disjointed and unsettled childhood saw him move 7 times (along with stays with other families at various times) until the age of 16 when he was unsympathetically kicked out by his mother.
He bought his first guitar for £40 from a second hand shop in Aberdare (a pink Honer stratocaster) and learnt to play from magazines and guitar tab books and a few lessons from a local Aberdare guitarist John Jones. Music was the norm during his childhood and was a bigger part of his home environment than television. Raised on 70's rock such as Journey, Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, Pink Floyd and AC/DC, he then developed his own musical identity from the age of 11 onwards with his first musical purchase, Iron Maidens Live After Death double cassette, Along with Maiden came Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and a multitude of classic 80's metal, along with a more classic rock side with bands like Cinderella, Danger Danger, Firehouse, Tesla.
Leon cites his 4 most influential albums as: Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, Pink Floyd – The Wall, Journey – Escape and Tesla – Five Man Acoustic Jam. Tesla's 'Five Man Acoustic Jam' introduced him to the 'unplugged' sound. Many people find it strange and almost contradictory that a man so entrenched in metal and heavy rock can write acoustically with such subtlety and melody.
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