Leahey brings overcoming spirit to Chillicothe Tuesday

CHILLICOTHE - Andrew Leahey isn't just your ordinary Americana/roots singer from Nashville.

He's a music journalist, whose work has been featured in Rolling Stone (as well as been the subject of a recent story in that mag, as well), Spin, Paste and others. And, oh, by the way, he's also survived a brain tumor that impacted his hearing to the point where he was uncertain if he would play music again after surgery.

Lucky for music fans, Leahey survived that experience, channeled into his music and came away with "Skyline in Central Time," a recently released album that features a little bit of country, rock 'n' roll, folk and a few bluesy riffs for good measure.

As he preps for a happy hour show at Chillicothe's Steiner's Speakeasy Tuesday, Leahey was kind enough to answer a few questions for the Gazette:

I pick up a lot of Tom Petty and even some Jason Isbell in your stuff. Is that a comparison you’re comfortable with and who are some other influences that channel their way into your music?
You're right on the money. I've been a big fan of the Drive-By Truckers for years — we actually tapped their longtime producer, David Barbe, to mix some of our earliest songs back in 2013 — and I was lucky enough to meet Jason Isbell that same year, right before 'Southeastern' came out. He's a fantastic guy. Later that year, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and wound up undergoing an extremely expensive operation. Jason agreed to headline a benefit show on my behalf, with all proceeds going toward my health bills. I'll always be grateful for that. Coincidentally, he played that show with his guitarist, Sadler Vaden, who's since become one of my good friends, and his wife, Amanda Shires, who recently asked my band to be her opening act for a tour in December.
As far as I'm concerned, Tom Petty is king. He's my biggest influence, and songs like "Little in Love" and "Shivers and Shakes" are unapologetic tributes to his mix of rock & roll guitars and pop hooks. We frequently get compared to him, which is fine by me! Other influences include Ryan Adams, Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, and Mike Campbell's guitar playing.

One of the key parts of your recent story is your brain tumor and the recovery from the surgery to remove it. You’ve said that it played a big part in the new album. Tell me how it changed your outlook on life, on music.

The tumor was located on my hearing nerve, and before they removed it, my ears were going crazy. I was hearing everything in two distinct pitches, with one pitch dropped down by an imperfect octave. My wife and I called it "the demon voice." Basically, every sound I heard -- whether it was a car door slamming, or my phone ringing, or my own voice singing -- was doubled in an off-kilter way. I thought my music career might be over. And my career DID stop for more than a year, while I recovered from the operation. The music industry moved on during my absence, and once I was ready to resume playing shows, I realized I'd need to prove myself all over again. So that's what this band has done. We've played nearly 150 gigs over the past 12 months. We've slept on floors and logged as many as 700 miles per day, and I'm loving every second of it. My operation may have made it much harder to be a musician, temporarily speaking, but it also forced me to double down on my career choice. I was basically given a prolonged glimpse of what life would be like without music, and now that I'm spending most of my evenings onstage, I feel very lucky. Music has become such a daily part of our existence that we sometimes forget it's there. But I'll never forget again.

What’s your background? When did you get interested in music and how did you learn to play, etc.?
I was raised in Richmond, Va., and attended a pair of public schools with great music programs. That's where I learned to sing. I was pretty good at classical music and would up doing it semi-professionally in New York City, where I was a vocalist with the Juilliard Chorale — a community choir at the Juilliard School — for two years in my early 20s. At the same time, I was writing my own songs and playing guitar, an instrument that I began picking up at age 6. I think it took me getting to Juilliard — which is the top of the classical ladder, as far as I'm concerned — to realize that I needed to be somewhere else. And, since I've been writing songs since I was in elementary school, I've sort of been here all along.

You clearly love coming to Ohio. Why Chillicothe for this show?
Ohio has been very good to us this year, especially this year. We've played the big cities and the smaller towns: Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Maumee, Zanesville, Wapakoneta, Youngstown, Lancaster, Maumee, and so on. We've also become very good friends with Erica Blinn and Angela Perley, both of whom often play at Steiner's. They recommended we give it a shot, and they've never let us down so far. Never underestimate the smaller markets! We're playing a free show in Columbus the previous evening, so that gives us plenty of time to get down to Chillicothe on Tuesday morning and check out your town before showtime, which is a rare blessing. I'm looking forward to exploring! That said, if you hear the scream of police vehicles and fire trucks hurtling down South Paint Street, I swear it wasn't us.

If you go

What: Andrew Leahey and the Homestead

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Steiner's Speakeasy, 31 S. Paint St.