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He got his first electric guitar with a small amp when he was 15 although, at that time, he had no ambitions to be a performer. He drove his family mad to the repetitive strains of ‘Banks Of The Ohio’, but he then abandoned Country music for a while listening and playing the teenage music of his day. At school, he did everything he could to get out of music lessons and took no interest whatsoever. He just wanted to have some fun with the guitar. He had a couple of lessons at home but then he was self taught from books. He played guitar with friends at school but it wasn’t until he left school and got a job that he joined his first band.  He met some people who, like him, were passionate about playing. They formed a classic rock band; Country music wasn’t even on the horizon at this time. They did some rehearsals but no gigs and didn’t even have a name. His first serious band, was another classic rock outfit called Junkyard Dog. They did a lot of gigs travelling around East Anglia.
After many years, Gary had really got the taste for music and knew this was what he wanted to do rather than a ‘normal’ job. He thought about forming a professional band but couldn’t find suitable musicians so he took the plunge gave up his day job and stepped firmly onto the professional cabaret circuit as a solo singer c1996.  He sung a mixture of material including rock, pop, 60s and even some Country but he chose not to play guitar while doing cabaret. Although he didn’t play, he still enjoyed playing and started writing songs. He would often go to folk clubs where he could play and sing some of his own material on open mic nights.  He also did a few pub gigs playing Neil Young songs with an acoustic guitar. Neil Young was a huge influence on him and he would try and emulate the way Neil Young played.
One day, while watching the TV programme ‘Stars in Their Eyes’ with his wife; he suddenly quipped “I could do that” and she responded that he should put his money where his mouth is.  He wrote to the TV company and thinks that he was probably invited to do the show because he was going to impersonate singer/songwriter Neil Young, an artist they had never featured before.  He appeared in series 7 episode 9 on 27th April 1996. He didn’t get through to the live final; the winner on his night impersonated Oleta Adams.
After doing the show, he got the taste for playing guitar again as well as singing. He did a few more Neil Young gigs. He knew he wanted to perform his own songs but was aware that cabaret and rock venues weren’t interested in that.  After much encouragement from his wife, Gary was persuaded to take the proverbial bull by the horns and return to his love of Country music. He had always listened to and loved Country, so the natural thing was to try it.  He continued to work in cabaret until he had got all the necessary equipment and a large selection of Country tracks and he launched his new career as Country singer Gary Leonard c2000.   The first gig that launched him was a spot at the Stradsett Festival at Kings Lynn where they had a spot for up and coming new singers.
It’s in the idyllic setting of his Norfolk home that Gary found the inspiration for the majority of his own compositions. He enjoyed writing and producing his own work in a studio built in a brick outhouse in his garden. By 2006, he had written sufficient songs to record his first CD album ‘This Is My Country’ One particular song ‘I Will Give You Love’, really stood out for him. The album was released on his own label ‘Ladies Yard Productions’.  At that time it was really important to write original songs and that was one of the main reasons for him moving to the Country circuit. The Country circuit was very tolerant at that time and as long as people liked your songs you could always sing half a dozen in an evening. Many people bought the album having heard the songs.
Gary relies heavily on his wife Sarah who comes to most of his gigs and markets his albums and deals with the gig diary and resulting administration (an area Gary is only too happy to leave to her, as, with lots of musicians, he readily confesses that paperwork isn’t his strongest point). When he and Sarah first got together she couldn’t stand Country music and still doesn’t really like it!
In 2006, he launched the Gary Leonard duo with multi-instrumentalist John Drange; the duo didn’t work out and they only ended up doing one gig! He has spent most of his Country career working as a solo artist although he always enjoyed singing with other artists and bands, especially at festivals.  In 2021 he formed a trio called Honky Tonk Dogs aimed specifically at a line dance audience. He was keen to form a line dance band as most of the existing bands don’t do line dance material preferring more traditional Country. The trio comprised Gary on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Jeff Gantry on bass and James Bottone on drums. Both Jeff and James could sing backing vocals so there were good three part harmonies.
The trio was well received but short lived as Jeff soon left so they planned to carry on as a duo to fulfil the dates in the diary. James was unable to make some of the gigs so Jim Martin stood in and the two of them have been playing together ever since as the Gary Leonard Duo. James Bottone was keen to do more trio gigs and with Jim still on board they have now formed Hillbilly Shoes. Jim plays pedal steel, electric guitar and fiddle and, as he and James can sing backing vocals, they once again have good three part harmonies.
These days, Gary is no longer a prolific songwriter but he does, from time to time, include one or two original songs.  During lockdown he was streaming and met another streaming US musician, Bob Simons from Massachusetts online. Bob is an excellent lyricist and they collaborated on a song called Counting Stars which has now had a dance choreographed for it.
Since writing the songs for his first album in 2006, Gary hasn’t written another album of original songs. He has however recorded a number of other albums. They are: They Think It’s All Over and Across The Divide both recorded in conjunction with NAM. His first line dance album is called Most Wanted, followed by Most Loved which is slow dance songs. In 2023 he released Dance 23 another line dance album.
After 20 years touring, sometimes doing 8 – 9 gigs a week Gary has decided to stop touring. He has no plans to retire but he wants to cut down on travelling and will only be doing the gigs he wants to do working for people he knows and respects.  He has always been and still is a very energetic performer and said to me recently “I have to get up on stage, I have to push it, even if I am having an off day – it has to be like that” His mouth to foot coordination has to work well as he can be talking and controlling the backing tracks with a foot pedal at the same time to keep a high energy performance.
Gary likes to do some songs that other people don’t do and is perhaps a bit more rocky than others. He has never been one to follow the crowd so long as everything is a good Country song. “I’m not here as a juke box, I’m here to provide entertainment” he told me. He flatly refuses to play pop songs at any of his gigs. He is happy to do listening venues where his programme might be very different. Although he considers himself to be a line dance act as he grew up with traditional country and knows a lot of that as well.