Street Level was a four-piece band based in the Annapolis Valley in the early 80's. It consisted of myself (vocals, keyboards), Grant Leslie (guitar and vocals), Dave Doherty (bass) and Billy Lucas (drums).
As I write this post, I have learned that Grant Leslie, band member and dear friend, has passed away suddenly at the age of 65. That was almost 8 years to the day after Dave Doherty passed away at 57. Just recently the valley musician community also mourned the passing of Vaughn Millet, who had stood behind the sound board for us at the Anvil.
If I still lived closer to Billy, I would give him a hug.
When Street Level formed, I had quit playing on the road, and somewhat reluctantly settled into a "day job." Grant, a friend and local musician, approached me and my then-partner and bass player Dave Doherty about starting a band. I knew Grant as a bass player himself, but that was no problem - he told us he was equally comfortable and happy playing guitar. He had a drummer, Billy Lucas, already lined up. How could I refuse?
Grant was a musician by career, and even though we were a part-time band, he booked us as often as I could tolerate and still make it to work the next day. In those days, like most bar bands, we played Monday to Saturday, usually until 11pm on the weeknights, 12:30 or later on the weekend, often with a Saturday matinee. It makes me tired thinking about it now, but we were young.
Apparently none of us owned a camera back then, not like today. The picture above is of our large canvass "backdrop". Grant commissioned it, I'm sorry I can't remember who created it, but it graced the stage behind us at most of our gigs. We didn't capture any photos, but that doesn't mean I didn't keep memorabilia. For those old enough to still read cursive, I've posted a list of places we played, and one of our songlists.
Grant quit the band in 1983, on good terms. I still remember him calling a meeting, telling us nervously that he'd been asked to join the Minglewood Band, as a bass player again, that he wasn't sure... We supported him whole-heartedly in that decision, and it turned into a gig that lasted for decades. The rest of us went on to other bands, but Dave, Billy and I remained a unit through several of them.
We saw Grant from time to time, and he and my husband Mike Hughes worked together on a couple projects. I'm lucky to have known him - a unique individual, with a legendary sense of humour.
I've always felt Grant was a bit underrated as a singer. He shared the vocal duties in Street Level and we sang several duets. At the bottom of this post, I've attached one of my favourites - a cover of James Taylor's song "Her Town". (Click play at the left of the track.) You can really hear the quality of Grant's voice on this one. It was originally recorded on cassette, 30 years ago, so keep that in mind.
People often talk about musicians joining bands in heaven. I don't know about that, but if so, I'm quite sure Dave would be playing bass; Grant will just ask the band what they need and effortlessly add his talents to the mix. Rest easy friends, rock on.
Gig Lists and Song Lists - Street Level
