Andrew Leahey

Andrew Leahey (Col ’05) began his music career as an undergraduate journalism student at the University. During his first year, Mr. Leahey and his friends formed a band, Hobson’s Choice, in their living room in Dunglison. “Our goal,” Leahey recalls, “was to learn three hours of cover songs, so we could play frat parties. I spent the next three years playing around Charlottesville, from Corner bars to sorority functions to the time we played on the UVA Lawn and got paid in tubs of ice cream.” While at the University, Mr. Leahey was deeply involved with First Year Players and University Singers, and he was on the staff of the Declaration literary publication. A year before signing his record deal with Thirty Tigers, he became ill and underwent emergency brain surgery to remove a tumor from his hearing nerve. This extremely rare diagnosis nearly ruined his career, but he used his music and his upcoming tour as motivation to get better and move forward. After almost a year’s recovery, Mr. Leahey dedicated his newest album, Skyline in Central Time (released August 5, 2016), to the operation and healing process. Songs like “When the Hinges Give” show the sense of urgency Mr. Leahey felt after his diagnosis, when he feared he would never get the chance to create his first big album. His recent tours with his band, called Andrew Leahey & the Homestead, have included shows with Emmylou Harris, the Wild Feathers, Blackberry Smoke, Alan Jackson, and the Wood Brothers, and while Mr. Leahey’s publicist calls this a “tragedy to triumph” story, he prefers to call it a “thank God I can still hear this guitar I’m playing” story.

Andrew Leahey (Col ’05) married Emily Morgan Kraft, a graduate of the University of Arizona, on June 27, 2009. The couple resides in Ann Arbor, Mich., where Mr. Leahey works as a music critic and Ms. Kraft serves as the regional recruitment director for Teach For America.