Biography

Why You Should Care: Hailing from the mountains of East Tennessee, Alex Leach has already been in the music business for more than two decades and has appeared on CMT's "Big Ticket," the BBC, and Peter Jennings' "ABC World News Tonight." He began his professional career as a musician at the age of 19, and was recruited a few years later by Ralph Stanley II, the son of iconic bluegrass pioneer, Ralph Stanley, with whom he had the opportunity to play banjo on the Grand Ole Opry in 2014. In the following years, he toured widely with “Two,” earning critical accolades for his playing, his compelling lead and harmony vocals, and for his additions to the bluegrass canon with songs like “Mountain Heartache.” Although he has helped carry on the legacy of bluegrass founding fathers, singer/songwriter/guitarist Leach and the eponymous band he fronts are joining contemporaries like Billy Strings in redefining what modern roots music and bluegrass are through originality and a purposeful evolution away from long held stereotypes. Music from their Jim Lauderdale-produced album I’m The Happiest When I’m Moving, was featured on Spotify’s Grass Roots playlist.
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With a unique blend of masterful traditional sounds and edgy original songs by their namesake, the Alex Leach Band are blazing a new path in bluegrass — and “Little Secret,” their latest single for Mountain Home Music Company, illustrates the combination to perfection.

From Leach’s powerful opening guitar strum to the twin yodel with which he and harmony singer Miranda Leach end the song, “Little Secret” offers a pitch-perfect take on the classic “angry bluegrass” sound, as Band member JT Coleman’s bass and guest Roscoe Morgan’s mandolin lay down an irresistible beat behind label mate Carley Arrowood’s searing fiddle and fierce, driving banjo from the Larry Stephenson Band’s Derek Vaden. Still, though the lyric faithfully reflects the music’s dark mood, its indistinct yet vivid collage of hints and threats give the song an air of mystery that is unmistakably modern.

“With a brand new album of original music coming this summer, I couldn’t be more excited to share it with everyone,” enthuses Leach, “and ‘Little Secret’ is one of the high energy songs that will be included. It talks about a corrupt boss man who’s always taking advantage of everyone, and one of his workers is about to get back at him for all of his wrongdoings. Although the lyrics are pretty serious, this song has become one of our favorites to have fun with on stage. I hope you enjoy this one, and remember, it’s just a little taste of what’s to come on our new album this summer!”

About The Alex Leach Band
Hailing from the mountains of East Tennessee, Alex Leach is no stranger to the world of music. Just 30 years old, he has already been in the business for more than two decades, earning two “DJ of the Year” awards from the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America by the time he was 15, and appearing on CMT's "Big Ticket," the BBC, and Peter Jennings' "ABC World News Tonight."

Yet even as he was building his reputation as one of the premiere radio voices in bluegrass, Alex was honing his skills as a guitarist and banjo player. He began his professional career as a musician at the age of 19, and was recruited a few years later by Ralph Stanley II, the son of iconic bluegrass pioneer, Ralph Stanley, with whom he had the opportunity to play banjo on the Grand Ole Opry in 2014. In the years that followed, he toured widely with “Two,” earning critical accolades for his playing, his compelling lead and harmony vocals, and for his additions to the bluegrass canon with songs like “Mountain Heartache.”

In late 2019, Leach took another giant step in his career when he and his wife, singer Miranda Jo, launched the Alex Leach Band, a quintet that includes JT Coleman (bass), Joshua Gooding (mandolin, vocals) and Jason Johnson (banjo). They released their album, I’m The Happiest When I’m Moving, in 2021. ​With influences ranging from The Stanley Brothers to The Beach Boys, and Curtis Mayfield to Porter Wagoner, Alex Leach's music is both traditional and original, nostalgic and forward-looking — the sound of a new generation of bluegrass artists.