Leah Marie King: there's a blues star rising

Leah Marie King

Leah Marie King has astounded audiences with a powerful combination of her craftsmanship as a songwriter, her skills as a fierce guitar player, and her captivating vocals. After relocating to Nashville, Tennessee Leah recently climbed to the #1 spot on the ReverbNation Nashville Blues Charts.

Leah Marie King is often compared to the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy, Leah's talent for aggressive and intense guitar work is considered the highlight of her powerful live performances.

Shreddelicious took some time out to catch up with this rising blues rock artist.

Leah Marie King

[Shreddelicious] 1 When did you start playing guitar?

[Leah Marie King]
I first picked up an acoustic guitar at the age of 15. I learned all the basics and commenced with learning songs by The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, Neil Young, and many others. I got into the electric guitar at the age of 20 and that is where the obsession began. Then I got fully into the blues and I heavily studied artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Albert King, Freddie King, amongst others.

[Shreddelicious] 2 What made you decide to take guitar seriously?

[Leah Marie King]
I was in my third year of University and I was getting obsessed with the electric guitar. I began going out to see live music anywhere I could, especially blues clubs, and that was it, I was hooked, I new that was what I was meant to do and I have never, ever looked back!

Leah Marie King

[Shreddelicious] 3 What are your favourite albums?

[Leah Marie King]
I have so many favourites! But I will try to narrow it down...

Buddy Guy's "Sweet Tea" is one of my favourites,
Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Couldn't Stand The Weather",
Neil Young's "Freedom", "On The Beach" and "Tonight's The Night",
Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours",
BB King's "There Is Always One More Time",
Freddie King's "Texas Cannonball".

And many, many more!!

Leah Marie King - I Smell Trouble

[Shreddelicious] 4 What do you think of the use of social media for promoting your work?

[Leah Marie King]
Social media has become a very powerful method of promoting one's music. Suddenly you have a worldwide potential audience and if you work the sites hard enough you can take great advantage of the internet. As much as I sometimes wish it was like the "good old days" there are some huge advantages to the online madness.

Leah Marie King

[Shreddelicious] 5 If you had a chance to play with anyone who would you pick?

[Leah Marie King]
I would have to say Neil Young. He is otherworldly to me!

I would love to trade riffs with Joe Bonamassa, jam with Keith Richards, sing with Stevie Nicks... gosh there are so many! If I had to choose one, though, it would be Neil.

Leah Marie King - Can't Watch You Go By

[Shreddelicious] 6 Have you ever had any live show disasters?

[Leah Marie King]
I have been extremely fortunate to not have any disasters befall me while on tour! Granted, there are constantly amusing things that happen whilst on the road, especially between band mates that are constantly making fun of each other and so on, and there's always your amusing crowd member that acts a fool, but other than the usual road antics, I have been safe!

Leah Marie King

[Shreddelicious] 7 How do record your guitar videos?

[Leah Marie King]
There are two sorts of videos, live videos and official music videos, the latter being made to a prerecorded song. Live videos are best captured by a camera that has extremely good mics and a built in compressor that can handle the loudness. They don't even have to be that expensive. I use a little Mino Flip HD recorder that has excellent visuals and the audio is pretty good for a little camcorder device. The compressor works extremely well and I have never had distortion problems. For official music videos the best thing is to be creative. There are a lot of great video editors out there, some are very easy to use such as iMovie. You can do a lot with a simple program and a very creative mind!

Leah Marie King - Wrong One

[Shreddelicious] 8 What do you think of illegal music downloading?

[Leah Marie King]
Illegal music downloading is frustrating, no doubt. I usually reply "well, you don't walk into an art gallery and steal a painting off the wall, do you?". Music is a piece of art. That being said, the genie is out of the bottle, illegal downloading will not go away. Musicians have to remember that their music acts as the best advertising there is... the more people listening to your music, the better, no matter how they obtained it.

Many modernized artists such as Joe Bonamassa happily give their music away for free in order to gain more and more fans and thus aid in becoming a household name. It's all about being creative. What I really want is for people to come to my shows in which case I don't mind providing some free downloads for people to check out. The industry is changing and we must adapt.

[Shreddelicious] 9 Can you tell us a bit about your Guitars and Amps?

[Leah Marie King]
My number one beloved guitar is a 1984 MIJ '68 reissue Fender Stratocaster fondly named ""Oldie"" (because he has an old soul), and my number two guitar is a 1985 MIJ '68 reissue named ""Jimi"" as he looks exactly like the Strat Hendrix used at Woodstock. Both Strats have been modified with Jumbo frets and graphite saddles. I also have an SRV signature Strat signed by Randy Bachman, Bo Diddley, Hubert Sumlin and others, and I have a Buddy Guy signature Strat that Buddy signed for me. I have another '68 reissue Strat, and a Mexican Strat. Yes, I am a Strat hound! I have an Ibanez hollow body and my acoustic guitar is a Takamine, which is an excellent guitar.

Leah Marie King - Storm Is Brewin

For amps, I use Traynors. I have a Traynor YCV15 and a Traynor YCV40-WR, both are amazingly great sounding tube amps that have a British sound to them - they have a tone somewhere between a Marshall and a Fender Super Reverb. I am fortunate to be endorsed by my favourite amp company, Traynor! I use my YCV40-WR for live shows, and for my latest recording I used that and a Fender Super Reverb together... they sounded incredible together!"

Leah Marie King

[Shreddelicious] 10 Can you tell us about your latest recording?

[Leah Marie King]
I recorded two singles in late September of this year (2013) in the famous Fidelitorium Studios in North Carolina. Artists such as R.E.M., Wilco, and Joe Walsh have recorded there and it is a wonderful retro studio with such a great vibe, and I had the honour of working with the Emmy winning producer Jason Richmond. The industry is moving away from albums and going back to a singles format, so my plan is to record a couple singles every three or four months. My latest two new singles will be out and day now, I am very excited, they sound excellent! My two other albums are available through my website and they are available on iTunes, Amazon, etc. online as well.