Live Performance – Sessions – Lessons – Composition
Welcome to my new website! Here you can find some of my past work and stay updated on my progress. Contact me if you are in need of bass for a live show, tracking for a studio session, lessons, or assistance with arranging and composition. Thanks and God bless!
– Leland
Based in Nashville, TN, Leland Nelson offers versatility, technical facility, and musicality in every situation presented to him. His repertoire of instruments includes upright bass, 4, 5, and 7 string bass guitars, fretless bass guitar, vocals, and acoustic guitar. As a teenager, he performed at both the Detroit International Jazz Festival and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and he gained recording experience in LA, among other accomplishments. His success continued during undergrad with recording and gigging in Strasbourg, France with drummer Didier Hoffman, former bandmate of jazz guitar heavy Bireli Lagrène. From 2018 to 2020, Leland worked in the New York City music scene, freelancing his way around the myriad venues in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island. There he served as a sideman for several acts such as Kristina Koller, Owen Chen, Rodney Ruckus, Mike Shuler (a.k.a. Storytellers), and Caroline Lazar. In addition, his time as the bass player for jazz/indie pop artist Jake Benjamin led to recording and co-writing credits on Jake’s upcoming album with Sound on Sound Studios. Leland also collaborated with guitarist/producer Steve Bilodeau (a.k.a. Billa Joints) alongside drummer/fellow producer Gabe Warshaw (a.k.a. Tompkins). The two featured Leland on bass for their single “Trudy” in December 2019, and a future EP release from the producer duo will also feature Nelson’s prowess on the low end. During the summer of 2020, Leland offered up his upright bass skills on Turning by the Colin Dorion Trio, an excellent showcase of originals and arrangements from drummer Colin Dorion.
Although his days as a Nashville musician have only just begun, Leland has already established ties with many other talented professionals in the area. You can find him accompanying some of the best singer songwriters in the independent country scene, most notably names such as Kayley Hill, Will Jones, Kensie Coppin, and Emma Zinck.
Feb 6, 2021 – Nashville Palace with Kayley Hill, 6 – 9 p.m., Nashville, TN
Feb 7, 2021 – Scoreboard with Kayley Hill, 8 – 11 p.m., Nashville, TN
Feb 8, 2021 – Whiskey Jam with Kayley Hill, 8 – 8:30 p.m., Nashville, TN
Feb 19, 2021 – Fat Kat Slim’s with Jennifer Lauren, 7 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
Feb 20, 2021 – Sambuca with Emma Zinck, 7 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
Feb 21, 2021 – Scoreboard with Kayley Hill and Will Jones, 6 – 9 p.m., Nashville, TN
March 4, 2021 – The Local with Annalisa Rose at Girls Gone Local, 10:30 p.m., Nashville, TN
March 6, 2021 – Down The Line with Fatima Washington, 7 p.m., Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne, IN
March 9, 2021 – Redline Bar and Grill with Kensie Coppin and Emma Zinck, 7 – 9:30 p.m., Nashville, TN
March 12, 2021 – Scoreboard with Kayley Hill and Will Jones, 9 p.m. – 1 a.m., Nashville, TN
March 26, 2021 – Scoreboard with Kayley Hill and Will Jones, 9 p.m. – 1 a.m., Nashville, TN
March 27, 2021 – Nashville Palace with Kayley Hill, 3 – 6 p.m./ The Local with Kensie Coppin, 6 – 8 p.m., Nashville, TN
March 30, 2021 – Redline Bar and Grill with Kensie Coppin and Kayley Hill, 7 – 9 p.m., Nashville, TN
April 2, 2021 – Scoreboard with Kayley Hill and Will Jones, 8 – 11 p.m., Nashville, TN
April 3, 2021 – Nashville Palace with Kayley Hill, 3 – 6 p.m., Nashville, TN
April 4, 2021 – TN Brew Works with Mark Christian Brazilian Trio, 1 – 3 p.m., Nashville, TN
April 9, 2021 – Nashville Palace with Kayley Hill, 4 -7 p.m., Nashville, TN
April 10, 2021 – The Local with Kensie Coppin, 6 – 8 p.m., Nashville, TN
April 11, 2021 – FGL House with Emma Zinck, 6 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
April 24, 2021 – Nashville Palace with Kayley Hill, 3 – 6 p.m., Nashville, TN
April 30, 2021 – Capitol Theater with Christen Ball, 6 – 8 p.m., Lebanon, TN
May 1, 2021 – Nashville Palace with Kayley Hill (Bishop), 3 – 6 p.m., Nashville, TN
May 8, 2021 – Nashville Palace with Kayley Bishop, 3 – 6 p.m., Nashville, TN
May 13, 2021 – Whiskey Jam with Kayley Bishop, 8 – 9 p.m., Nashville, TN
May 15, 2021 – Scoreboard with Kayley Bishop, 12 – 3 p.m., Nashville, TN
May 21, 2021 – Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa with Kylie Frey, 8 p.m., Catoosa, OK
May 22, 2021 – Whitewater Ampitheater with Kylie Frey, 8 p.m., New Braunfels, TX
June 1, 2021 – Bootleggers with Chancie Neal, 6-10 p.m., Nashville, TN
June 8, 2021 – Bootleggers with Chancie Neal, 6-10 p.m., Nashville, TN
June 9, 2021 – Bus Call at Tin Roof Demonbreun with Kayley Bishop, 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
June 11, 2021 – Scoreboard with Will Jones, 8:30 – 11:30 p.m., Nashville, TN
June 12, 2021 – Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa with Emma Zinck and Lexie Hayden, 6 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
June 15, 2021 – Bootleggers Inn with Chancie Neal, 6-10 p.m., Nashville, TN
June 17, 2021 – Sambuca with Emma Zinck, 7 – 11 p.m., Nashville, TN
June 21, 2021 – Whiskey Jam with Emma Zinck, TBD, Nashville, TN
June 22, 2021 – Bootleggers Inn with Chancie Neal, 6-10 p.m., Nashville, TN
June 25, 2021 – Luckenbach Texas with Kylie Frey, 8 p.m., Fredericksburg, TX
June 26, 2021 – The Compound with Kylie Frey, 8 p.m., Round Top, TX
June 28, 2021 – 2nd Fiddle with Jack Ankenbruck, 10 p.m. – 2 a.m., Nashville, TN
June 29, 2021 – Bootleggers Inn with Chancie Neal, 6 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
July 2, 2021 – Schoepf’s Old Time Bar-B-Que with Kylie Frey, 8 p.m., Belton, TX
July 3, 2021`- Austin City Limits with Kylie Frey, 8 p.m., Austin, TX
July 4, 2021 – Kerrville’s 4th on the River Stage with Kylie Frey, 6 p.m., Kerrville, TX
July 6, 2021 – Bootleggers Inn with Chancie Neal, 6 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
July 7, 2021` – Country Concert – “Camper Party” with Kylie Frey, 6 p.m., Fort Loramie, OH
July 12, 2021 – 2nd Fiddle with Jack Ankenbruck, 10 p.m. – 2 a.m., Nashville, TN
July 13, 2021 – Bootleggers Inn with Chancie Neal, 6 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
July 15, 2021 – Stocks n Bonds with Kylie Frey, 8 p.m., Omaha, NE
July 17, 2021 – Joe’s Honky Tonk with Kylie Frey, 10 p.m., Kearney, NE
July 20, 2021 – Bootleggers Inn with Chancie Neal, 6 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
July 21, 2021 – Nashville Palace with Chancie Neal, 8 – 11 p.m., Nashville, TN
July 22, 2021 – Anzie Blue with Hunter Smith, 5:30 p.m., Nashville, TN
July 24, 2021 – Sambuca with Emma Zinck, 7 – 11 p.m., Nashville, TN
July 27, 2021 – Bootleggers Inn with Chancie Neal, 6 -10 p.m., Nashville, TN
July 29, 2021 – Cafe Monte Cristo with Mark Christian, 7 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
July 30, 2021 – Johnny Cash’s, 2 – 6 p.m. and Redneck Riviera, 10 p.m. – 2 a.m.
August 5, 2021 – Whiskey Jam with Will Jones, 8:30 p.m., Nashville, TN
August 6, 2021 – Kokefest with Kylie Frey, 5 p.m., Austin, TX
August 7, 2021 – Will Jones Band, 7 – 9 p.m., Covington, VA
August 9, 2021 – 2nd Fiddle with Jack Ankenbruck, 10 p.m. – 2 a.m., Nashville, TN
August 10, 2021 – Bootleggers Inn with Chancie Neal, 6 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
August 11, 2021 – Williamson County Fair with Kayley Bishop and Will Jones, 7-10 p.m., Franklin, TN
August 13 and 14, 2021 – Jane’s Hideaway with Greenwood Rye, 7:30 – 11:30 p.m., Nashville, TN
August 18, 2021 – Dogwood Inn with Kayley Bishop, 7 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
August 20, 2021 – Salt Creek Brewery with Kayley Bishop, 6:30 p.m., Nashville, TN
August 22, 2021 – Nashville Palace with Kayley Bishop, 2 – 5 p.m., Nashville, TN
August 24, 2021 – Bootleggers Inn with Chancie Neal, 6 – 10 p.m., Nashville, TN
August 27, 2021 – North Texas State Fair and Rodeo with Kylie Frey, 6 p.m., Denton, TX
August 29, 2021 – Beer Jam with Kylie Frey, 1 p.m., Houston, TX
September 24, 2021 – Scoreboard with Kayley Bishop, 8 – 11 p.m., Nashville, TN
First blog post in about two years! I hope to keep these more up-to-date from this point on, even though the traffic around this page is pretty thin. At any rate, I decided to move south to Nashville just over two months ago. This was a decision that I originally intended for much later in …
Tomorrow I celebrate my 23rd birthday or my Jordan year as the cool kids say. I was fortunate enough to have this week off, so a trip home to Fort Wayne seemed fitting. It’s safe to say that the New York hustle has latched on to my heart and mind, as I will be heading back …
After three and a half weeks since my arrival into Brooklyn, I have truly begun to sharpen my focus on music and expel as much energy as can be mustered. It’s certainly plain to see how the “hustle” permeates every aspect of the NYC lifestyle to the point of wholesale exhaustion, but this is still …
Check out highlights of some projects that I’ve been blessed to partake in!
Here is some footage from my recent work with Colin Dorion and Garrett Spoelhof, one of four videos to emerge from his newest record “Turning”. This was a last-minute addition to the project, but it turned out to be a blast. You can download the record via Bandcamp or stream on Spotify!
The second of the four clips from Colin Dorion’s “Turning” project. This is one’s of Colin’s originals that serves as an homage to the Bill Evans Trio. I’m no Scott LaFaro, but I truly enjoyed contributing some upright bass to this tune.
Clip #3 from the “Turning” project with Colin and Garrett. With this next tune channeling the sounds of Robert Glasper, Roy Hargrove, Butcher Brown and others of the same ilk, it’s safe to say that Colin offers expansive range as a composer. For Garrett and I, this project was very engaging due to the challenges of playing with conviction across these many “subgenres” of jazz. Nevertheless, I’m proud of what we created!
Last but not least, the fourth clip from “Turning”, featuring our take on a great Coltrane standard. The unison hits on the head were a nod to some of the modern-day jazz heavies such as Gilad Hekselman and Ari Hoenig. I always love hearing the transition from those hits to swing during Garrett’s piano solo. Can’t wait to work with those two cats again!
This next clip is a bluegrass tune that I co-wrote with my good friend Josée Weigand when we first connected in NYC. Keep your eye out for more collaborative work with her, now that I have taken up residence in Nashville! I hope to stretch my legs more as a composer by combining the jazz and Americana traditions, as there is more harmony between them than what one might expect.
The next clip is a product of my cabin fever days during the early months of quarantine in NYC. My buddy Gabe Warshaw began posting drum breaks on Instagram and offered them up publicly for other musicians to arrange on top of them. This is one that I was particularly pleased with, the obvious Thundercat influence notwithstanding. Hope ya dig!