About Me
Byl Leonard's life in music began with accordion lessons from Mr. Anderson at Metronome Music Store on Hotel Street in Downtown Honolulu at the age of 7. Three months later he was asked to join The Metronome Accordion Band. He was by far its youngest member. As a reward, his parents replaced his 12 bass accordion with a 120 bass Scandalli Accordion, hand made in Italy. For young Byl, Music became his Life, and Life was Good! When he was 13, his older brother, Dom, gave him his 1st acoustic guitar. A new world opened. He learned to play guitar, and writing music became his new passion. Five years later, he was touring California and the Western States with a band call CISUM, music spelled backwards. For Byl, playing in concert was a dream come true. Eventually, the band members went their separate ways, and after his return to Hawaii, Byl and his high school sweetheart, Bernadette Farm, married. They have two wonderful sons, Abraham & Michael. Byl continued to write music, and performed with Kapono Beamer at the old Territorial Tavern. His song "Living In The Islands" was on the first HOMEGROWN GROWN album, and was performed by Byl and Kapono Beamer at the Waikiki Shell. With the BYL LEONARD BAND, Byl, his brother Dom on bass, and Jumpin' Joe Littlefield on drums, performed at Don Ho's Island Grill, Nick's Fishmarket, Murphy's Bar & Grill, Los Gracia's Cantina, and Jaron's. Byl has 3 CDs out, TRAVELING TO THE NORTH, recorded by Kapono Beamer, LIVING IN THE ISLANDS, recorded by Jon Basebase, and LIKE A DREAM, recorded by James Leonard at JML Productions in Kihei on Maui. Presently, Byl is with a band called ONETOTHE4THPOWER, with Gregg Soleta on drums, Lane Langford on guitar and Randy Yamabe on bass. Their 2nd CD is due to be released in early May 2008. Whether it be in concert, on a watertower on Tantalus, on the beaches of Bali, or in his garage in beautiful Waimanalo, Byl continues to write and play music for anyone who wants to hear. MAHALO!Some call it Acoustic Island Rock or A.I.R. Take a breath of ONETOTHE4THPOWER.
