User:Steve Leighton Smith/sandbox

Steve Leighton Smith (born March 17, 1949) is an American artist/musician/builder/craftsman. Steve Leighton Smith normally goes by Steve Leighton,leaving Smith for legal purposes only. His adult life includes working as a licensed general contractor as well as a performing musician. His clients as a craftsman/artist/builder include working with the art department at NASA Education and a large clientèle of local home owners and real estate agencies. His music career spans over 50 years (to 2013) of performing, producing and promoting live shows as well as studio work with his original compositions. He is best known musically for his singing and songwriting. He also plays a variety of musical instruments including guitar, bass, flute, harmonica, keyboards and drums as well as several ethnic instruments. Steve's first band was in high school where he played drums. His earlier years in music included trumpet and piano lessons. After high school Steve began playing harmonica,flute and guitar however his singing generally took priority when he joined bands so his career as a rock musician led him to the position of front man in many bands. He currently continues to perform on stage as a lead singer/front man however he now incorporates his guitar, flute and harmonica skills into his performances.

Early Life

Steve Leighton was born into a military family in San Antonio, Texas. His father Alva Smith was a public relations officer in The United States Air Force while his mother, Theresa Jo Smith was a stay at home mother of three with his brother Scott Warren Smith and his sister Sharon Carol Smith. His family traveled extensively relocating every two years due to his father's job with The Air Force. His travels included much of Europe and many of the United States. Steve's family finally settled into a home in Northridge, California in the early 60's where he graduated high school. He began college at Piece Jr. College and continued his education in California at Santa Rosa Jr. College and then on to Humboldt County, California where he attended College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University.

World Travels

Being the son of a military man that relocated nearly every summer, Steve had the tendency to continue this trait as an adult. His travels included:

• Hitch hiking up and down the California coast in the 60's
• Traveling through the mid-west by van with his best friend, their dogs and guitars in the early 70's which included attending the first Rainbow Family Gathering in Colorado
• Exploring Mexico by train, bus and hitch hiking in the mid 70's
• Driving from Miami to San Francisco in the late 70's while avoiding every major highway or interstate
• Taking all back roads to Canada in the mid 80's
• His passport filled up quickly in the early 90's when he traveled extensively throughout Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Java, Bali and The Outback of Austrailia.
• Several vacations to Cabo San Lucas in the early 90's
• Travel to Costa Rica and adventuring the country side in a jeep in the late 90's
• His move to upstate New York in 1999 required moving 3 vehicles so several cross country road trips happened then.
• While in New York he got a temp job as an electrician in The Bahamas in 2000.
• A cruise on a 6 star cruise ship took him around the Atlantic Ocean islands including The Bahamas and Bermuda in 2001.
• A two week stay in Puerto Rico in 2001.

Music Career

Steve's music career has spanned over 50 years with several drops and peaks. His earliest performances were in high school where he played drums for a local rock band. The very first song Steve wrote was in 1970 when he had traveled to Virginia to visit his dying father. The song, Soldier is being performed currently after years of minor changes to the arrangement. As his interest in music grew, he began to play guitar, flute and harmonica yet his singing voice was always a priority. His next rock bands were during his college years in the 70's with Night Owl where he was the lead singer/flute player. Several local rock bands followed including Rough and Ready, Frenz and High Roller. Steve moved to The San Francisco Bay Area in 1980 where he continued his music career yet in more intense manner because of moving from a rural country environment to a large metropolitan area. This move in 1980 was the beginning of Steve dropping Smith as the name he went by. This is because at the time a local rock band called Journey had a famous drummer named Steve Smith. To avoid confusion and to take on a more colorful stage name, Steve began to go by Steve Leighton at this time. Steve became once again the lead singer for several local rock bands including Mariah, Soldier, XL, Tremor and Opus Wake. XL and Opus Wake helped launch Steve into much more song writing and higher caliber performances that he had previously experienced. Steve had the pleasure of playing larger local venues as well as sharing the stage and making friends with people like Elvin Bishop, Lydia Pence from Cold Blood, Eric Martin from Mr. Big , The Tubes, Ambrosia and several other local music heros. During the mid 90's Steve retreated from the spot light yet remained active in the creation of original music with his best friend Bobby Day, the keyboard player from Opus Wake.

Woodstock concert production

Steve moved to upstate New York in 1999 where he became involved with the owners of The Original Woodstock Site in Bethel, New York. 1999 was scheduled to be the 30 year reunion concert of the original 1969 Woodstock concert. Steve was one of the assistant producers of the three day concerts in 1999, 2000 and 2001 before returning to The Bay Area, California in 2002. There he worked with Brittney Spears, Stevie Nicks, Pete Townsend, David Crosby, Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Winter, Survivor, Melanie, Levon Helm, Richie Havens, Rebba MacIntire and more. He purchased the entire sound system from The Playboy club in New Jersey to aid in the production of the second stages for these concerts.