stephen leeson

Stephen Leeson for the past 4 yrs the youngest LEAD SINGER for the The Dublin City Ramblers .,from tallaght currently the young voice of former ex dublin city ramblers "The Ramblers" playing in The Rare Auld Times .A young Irish voice of Ireland from Dublin.He started playing music when he was at the age of 17, but has been listening to the best of bands from a very early age, as his father (Brendan Leeson) introduced most of it to him and his mother (Jean Leeson) being a big fan of the Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem, nothing could go wrong to that introduction to music.Eventually at about the age of 17 he took a big interest and began playing the Bohran and at about the age of 18 plucked up the courage to sing a song now and again.As time went on he began to take an interest in playing the guitar and learn a few chords from his dad. Finally he caught the bug and got great help from the band who his dad plays with called ' Whiskey still ' and also from going to a gig out in the Lighthouse out in Howth with the famous Sean Og McKenna (brother of Barney McKenna from the Dubliners). Their were many musicians who called into that pub including Barney who only lived only a couple of doors away, but one helped him in a big way was Philip McCaffrey('The Horse' who used to play the fiddle with 'The Dublin City ramblers')who approached Stephen and asken him to join up with him to play in a band called 'Dublins Legacy' who were playing in Johnny Foxs Pub on a regular basis. With no experience Stephen decided to chance his arm and go for it and be the lead singer not knowing what to expect and ended up playing their every Thursday,Friday & Saturday for about 2-3 years. Amongst the band was Brian McCormac from the very well known band 'Barleycorn' and A great entertainer and banjo player 'Donal white' who helped to teach him how to work with an audience. Playing for about a year with 'Dublins Legacy' Stephen gave up his day job as a bricklayer and decided to go full time doing what he loved doing best 'singing'. As he went full time he dedicated his work to music and wrote many songs and played with many different musicians then by chance was informed by a great musician 'Shay Eustace' that 'The Dublin City ramblers' were looking for a new lead singer. When auditioned he sang the famous song simply called 'Grace' and was imediately HIRED for many gigs and became the young voice of the band and for approx. 3 years touring Ireland, Britain and America and then began doing a lot of work with them in Lanzarote in a pub called 'The Rare Auld Times' where they were presented with a gold album from Dolphin records for sales or their cd's. One of the members decided to leave and Stephen stayed with Freddy O Connor (one of the best keyboard players that ever came out of Ireland) and they formed another band with a very known Ballad Singer Paddy Sweedey who was also the a lead singer for the Dublin City Ramblers for 16 years. So all 3 of them being former musicians and singers for the Dublin City Ramblers.... Called themselves ..The Ramblers.. which was considered very appropriate. The lads continue to play in Lanzarote and word travelled very quickly to the homeland and the lads have been recognised as a proffesional band at a very high standard packing ..The Rare Auld Times.. every night they play. With a Cd Launch on the way its not to be missed. With all the help of .. The Sunday World .. it will more than likely be published when the dates are decided....