Since
June of 1991, Gene LeSage has been Keyboardist
and High harmony background vocalist for country
music artist, Collin Raye. Performing up to 180
dates a year, Geno has definitely experienced
the strenuous road life of a Musician.
Gene's father, Gene
LeSage III, owned a small recording studio in
Minden, Nevada. At this studio, the young LeSage
learned to play guitar at age 7 and recorded
Ricky Nelson songs, singing both lead vocals and
harmonies. At church, he played drums and bass
as early as 9 years of age.
"From age 10 through
15," laughs Geno, "I was my Dad's only employed
studio musician." During high school Geno had a
solo act that performed at a local Mexican
restaurant. Around graduation , he started
playing in bands around the Carson City and
Reno, Nevada areas in several bars and
casinos.
One of the first bands
in which Geno performed was "Nikki Nelson &
Gold Rush." Nikki later became lead singer for
the award-winning country group Highway 101.
Geno recall's, "We were childhood friends. We
met at church, and one night she came to my
Dad's studio and started singing the song 'Teach
Me To Cheat' by The Kendells. I can still see my
Dad snickering while she sang -- the material
was a bit mature for a 7th grader."
While performing in a
group called "The Silver State Band," Geno was
approached by Collin Raye's manager, Steve Cox,
and asked to join Collin's band. Collin would
often attend their shows after he had completed
his own shows for the evening in the Reno area.
"What a tremendous honor and education it has
been to work with Collin," Geno says of his boss
of eight years.
With his earliest
musical influences being Ricky Nelson and Elvis,
Geno sites Ricky Skaggs as his "ultimate
influence on the die-hard traditionalist country
side.
= Gene LeSage
=
Since 1997 Geno has had
writers deals with EMI and Britsar Music
Publishing. Geno got his first cut in 1999 when
Collin Raye and Bobbie Eakes recorded " Loving
this Way," which was a top 40 hit. Since then,
he has had 5 other cuts including "Forgotten,"
"Heart," and "We'll Be Alright," on Collins
current Album "20 Years and Change."
In 2001, Geno wrote and
produced the demo for newly signed DreamWorks
artist Jennie Jordan. Since then, he has
co-produced Collin Raye's new "20 Years and
Change" album (released November 2005) and
another Raye album that was released in Europe.
Lately, Geno has been
playing in the Atlanta area with the band
"Borderline" and has also been taking solo gigs
for restaurants such as "Garrisons," and Johnny
Esposito's "Athletic Club." Geno also performs
at other special events and will be going back
out on the road with Collin Raye through the
summer. Geno has also been in the studio
producing aspiring artists that he thinks
deserve a shot at a recording career. "There's
nothing cooler than helping talented people
achieve their goals."
On another note, Geno
is now a licensed real estate agent in the state
of Georgia, where he lives with his wife Kristen
and their two beautiful children Lily and Levi.
Together, in the real estate community, he and
Kristen are known as the "LeSage Team."
As you can see, Geno
has stayed very busy. |
