Austintown native Gary Leone now lives in Fort Myers, Florida, where he recently retired from Edison State College as a percussion instructor after 42 years. His mother, Anne Leone, 98, still lives in the Youngstown area. Submitted photo

Austintown native Gary Leone of Fort Myers, Florida, grew up in a household where being a musician was highly encouraged.

His father, Philip Leone, was a trumpet player in the World War II Army Band who was inspired by the quintessential 1940s Big Band sounds of Benny Goodman and Larry James. However, it was the iconic 1964 Beatles appearance on the “Ed Sullivan Show” that had a huge impact on young Leone, which led to his lifetime of playing drums.

“I discovered the drumming style of Gene Krupa from my father. My father was also a barber back then. The Beatles ruined his business; young men were starting to grow out their hair. During this time in the early to mid-1960s, The Beatles were a big transition for rock ‘n’ roll, and many young kids were forming garage bands across the country. As soon as I saw The Beatles on TV, I knew I wanted to play music. I learned how to play the drums before I knew how to drive,” Leone said.

Leone started playing professionally in 1968 at the age of 13. He was in the Musicians Union playing in fraternity houses when he was 15. During this time, he also played in his first band, Wheels of Sound. The Youngstown music scene in the 1960s was vibrant with numerous acts such as The Pied Pipers, The Executioners , Glass Harp, The Human Beinz and Iron Knowledge

“Back then, wedding and dance bands were popular. I made a lot of money playing music. Wheels of Sound played covers just like a lot of garage rock bands back then. With Wheels of Sound, we were too young to play in clubs. We played at a lot of weddings, graduation parties, basically stuff to just get by as a band,” Leone said.

Leone is originally from Austintown and graduated from Austintown Fitch in 1974, where he was a member of the marching band. Leone’s mother, Anne, who just turned 98 on Aug. 10, is originally from New Castle, Pa. For Leone, playing in the marching band at Austintown Fitch taught him to appreciate all instruments and the process of practicing.

“I was voted ‘most musically inclined’ when I graduated from high school. Then I attended Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, which is still a popular music college. At the time, I auditioned for many different colleges such as Oberlin College and Youngstown State University. I ended up at Heidelberg University because I was offered a scholarship. It was a liberal arts college and a conservatory, which meant that you spent most of your time in the music building. When I went to college, I chose to be a percussion major and then I had to choose a minor, which was piano. My bachelor’s was in music education. With a bachelor’s in music education, you are required to study all the instruments,” Leone said.

Leone graduated from Heidelberg College in 1978. At the time, he said he wanted to go to Las Vegas, which he said was a music mecca back then. Then in 1979, Leone came back to Youngstown State University (Dana School of Music) where he was offered a graduate assistantship in classical music.

“As soon as I finished my master’s degree at YSU, I got hired at Edison State College in Fort Myers as a percussion instructor. I was a percussion instructor there for 42 years, and I just retired this year,” Leone said.

From 1970 to 1981, Leone played in numerous bands in Youngstown and Northeast Ohio, including The New Dimensions, Gold Rush, Brimstone and Carmen Mico.

“When I was in Gold Rush, we played at venues such as Gino’s on Midlothian, The Fireplace and The Orange Room in Austintown. A lot of my music teachers back then were Italian, and they were no-nonsense. If you didn’t practice, they would just throw you out of the lesson. My family is still in the Youngstown area. I go up to see my mother a lot because of her age. She is living on her own and is aging well from wine, olive oil and garlic,” Leone said.

Leone moved to Fort Myers in 1981, where he started teaching at Edison State College. He got out of graduate school and took a sabbatical and went on the road playing music. He said that he did this twice — once when he played on the Norwegian Cruise Line Musicians Band (from 1986 to 1988) and then again with the Canton-based band, Brimstone.

“Back in those days, there were show bands, we played six nights a week. We would play a dance set and then the next set we would play show sets, where we would perform medleys by certain groups, solos and impersonations. It was a great time; we would play two weeks in one city and then move onto another one. Back in those days when they would have show bands, they would have cover charges or drink minimums (three-drink minimums) whether you drank or not. We played in 40 states all over the country,” Leone said.

Leone said Fort Myers was a much larger music scene. While living there, Leone played in the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, which he said brought a lot of big star musicians including Lou Rawls, James Taylor and Kansas. Leone then got called by the Norwegian Cruise Line to be a percussionist in the Norwegian Cruise Line Musicians Band.

“The Norwegian Cruise Line had a giant ship called The Norway, and they were hiring a lot of B-list acts such as Rita Moreno and Jim Nabors. Back then, the musicians on the cruise ship had a freer lifestyle whereas as today musicians on cruise ships have other duties and restrictions,” Leone said.

Anne Leon, Gary’s mother, has many memories of her son practicing with his bands at the Leone house. She even has memories of seeing her son play drums in the Norwegian Cruise Line Musicians Band.

“When Gary played on the Norwegian Cruise ship, it was like I died and went to heaven. It was that great of an experience. I loved that cruise ship. I am not really musical myself. My mother, Mary Alfreda, who came from Caserta (in the Campania Region of Italy) to New Castle, Pa., loved the fact that Gary played music. Gary did well in Fort Myers, and as his mother I followed him around everywhere. They went all over,” Anne Leone said.

After his time on the cruise line, Leone returned to Fort Myers in 1988, where he played in different clubs and hotels. He said he freelanced with other bands at the time in Naples, Florida.

“They had huge hotels and condominiums. Then I joined the Broadway Palm Theater Group in 2000, where I still play as a part of this theater group as a principal percussionist. I play five shows a week. I play shows as well as matinees, and I make my own schedule. Fort Myers has a lot of retirees living in the area, and this theater holds 450 people and performs nine shows a week. We have performed everything from ‘Rent,’ ‘Singing in The Rain,’ to ‘Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.’ We are currently performing ‘Mary Poppins,’ and we had just performed ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,'” Leone said.

For Leone, teaching music has been a rewarding experience. He has taught a lot of students, and he believes that the experience has taught his students discipline and organization. Leone said some of his students went on to be professional musicians and some did not, but they have fun playing music.

Leone has been happily married to his wife, Lynn Leone, for 35 years and has one daughter, Allison.

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