Without being TOO LOUD, Van Leer is the heaviest band you haven't yet heard. Van Leer is an original music band and a dramatic cover band with a CD, "Thumbs Up!"

The current makeup of the band is as follows. Please click on each name for photo and bio.

Be sure to check out Lee's Blog for the latest news about Lee and Van Leer-the-band. DO please visit Lee's Blog often for updates.

GTA Schedule
Sat, Apr 21, 2012 Band starts at 10:30 p.m.	Brigadoon Restaurant and Bar Very Special Guest w/ The Hinges... 1109 Victoria Park Avenue Scarborough	...Lee Van Leer will sing and play GUITAR -- an instrument u haven't seen him play in public in a LONG TIME!
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 7 p.m. 'til 2a.m.	White Swan Restaurant & Lounge "Spring Fling" feat. MANY great bands, 836B Danforth Avenue Toronto	...including thr rarely-seen Van Leer -- don't miss this!!
Tue, May 01, 2012 8: p.m. to midnight.	White Swan Restaurant & Lounge Mayday! Mayday! TUESDAY evgs., joyously ONGOING! 836B Danforth Avenue Toronto	Final hr. will be "semi-acoustic" (NO amplified bass.)
Sun, May 06, 2012 NOtime,	White Swan Restaurant & Lounge Event postponed. Pls call White Swan for Sunday Event details. 836B Danforth Avenue Toronto
Mon, May 21, 2012 early-ish bcuz it's a weeknight.	White Swan Restaurant & Lounge MONDAYS: Arrive by EIGHT p.m. to get good seats! 836B Danforth Avenue Toronto	Classic R&B as it ought2B! Pls see details in "Lee's Blog" elsewhere on this website, thank you.

An excerpt from The Silver Pages fanzine, Aug-Sept 2011 by Paige Kukul.

Soul Instigators

From the north shore of Lake Ontario comes this issue's feature band Soul Instigators. Formed in 2009 as "L.B." (for Live Band") as house band/jam hosts for a club on Danforth Ave. (Hwy. 5) in Toronto, ON, the band remained at this steady weekly gig 'til early June 2011.

With only one personnel change during that time (bassist-guitarist Wayne Munzy joined in 2010), the band became "The Danforth Project" at that time, finally settling on "Soul Instigators" in June 2011.

The members are Bleed; - front vocals & guitar (Scarborough, ON), his son Scott Sharp, drums, Lee Van Leer - organ and vocals (Colborne, ON), and Wayne Munzy - bass, guitar and backup vocals (Toronto, ON).

Their repertoire consists of a diverse variety of covers from 1959 to present-day plus a varied selection of originals mostly written by Bleed;.

The band has a full sound owing to finely-crafted arrangements, the use of 15" speakers exclusively in the backline plus the fact that the organ plays through a Leslie cabinet, something that so many of today's bands are unwilling to "lug around".

We here at the Silver Pages fanzine feel that Soul Instigators will definitely be a band to watch in the 2010s and beyond.

An excerpt from the March 2012 edition of the Silver Pages fanzine by Paige Kukul.

Lee Van Leer receives unique award

Lee Van Leer, organist-vocalist of "Van Leer", "Soul Instigators" and "The Hinges" will receive a new and most unique award: The Paradise Garage Award for Obtaining The Most Hammond Organ-like Tone From A Small and/or Unlikely Keyboard Instrument.

The Award will be presented to Lee this Saturday, May 5 by Mark Todd of The Silver Pages fanzine at a private event. Instrument used: Yamaha PS-55. Amplification used: Peavey solid-state head through a Peavey Black Widow 1-15" cabinet.

Congratulations, Lee, and keep rocking their socks off at The White Swan, The Brigadoon and The Ice House. Long may you reign!

What we play

(Do The) Mashed Potatoes
634-5789
Act Naturally
All Along the Watchtower
Automobile
Baby What You Want Me to Do?
Big Boss Man
Blueberry Hill
Born to be Wild
C.O.D.
Can't Get Enough of Your Love
Checkin' Up On My Baby
Cissy Strut
Crossroads
Don't Fight It
Drown in My Own Tears
Empty Arms
Face To The Wall
Fire (Hendrix)
Flat Foot Sam
Flip, Flop and Fly
Folsom Prison Blues
Foxy Lady
Freeway Jam
Georgia on My Mind
Get Up Off o' That Thing
Gimme Some Lovin'
Goin' Down
Goin' to New York
Got My Mojo Workin'
Gotta Serve Somebody
Hideaway
Hip-Hug-Her
Honky Tonk Woman
Human

I Can't Stop Loving You
I Don't Know (Ozzie)
I Had My Fun
I Saw Her Standing There
I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water
I'm Tore Down
I'm a Fool to Care
I'se the B'y
Ice Cream Man
If You Love Me Like You Say
In the Midnight Hour
It's All Over Now
Just a Little Bit
Key to the Highway
Knock on Wood
La Bamba
Let The Good Times Roll
Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go
Love Hurts
Low Rider
Lucille
Mary Ann (Ray Charles)
Mercury Blues
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
Move It On Over
Mustang Sally
My Girl
Nadine
Oh Well, Oh Well
Old Man River
One Way Out
People Get Ready
Politician
Pride and Joy
Proud Mary

Purple Haze
Red House
Roadhouse Blues
Rock and Roll (Led Zep)
Rock and Roll (Lou Reed)
Rockin' Pneumonia
Rocky Mountain Way
Rollin' and Tumblin
Shake and Fingerpop (Jr. Walker)
She Caught the Katy
Sitting On Top Of The World
Sleepy Time Time
Slow Down
Something You Got
Sticks and Stones
Swanee (A. Jolson)
Swanee River Rock
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
That Hypnotizin' Boogie
That's What I Want To Know
The Breeze
The Hoochie Kootchie Man
The Sun is Shining
The Time
Thirty Days
Ticket to Ride
Tonight I'll be Staying Here with You
Waiting for the Bus
Watermelon Man
What'd I Say
Whiskey Train
Will It Go 'Round in Circles
Wooly Bully
You Got Me Hummin'
You Win Again

Plus originals from our CD "Thumbs Up!"

The above List is songs performed by Van Leer.

We are listed on the Big Smoke Music web site.
To book Van Leer, please email Bookings@VanLeer.ca

Created and Maintained by D'Arcy Cain <darcy@Vex.Net>

Last Update: 27 February 2012
If you have any comments, Send mail to me.