Bob Blatchley and Al Fox met at SUNY Oswego, where both musicians were playing at the campus coffee houses and taverns as solo acts. As fate would have it, they discovered they were in the same dorm, living just a few doors down from one another. There they would play acoustic guitars together on many occasions. They shared a love of melodic rock acts and great songwriters such as The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Bob left school and started a band back at home on Long Island. A year later upon his graduation, Al joined the band. They began playing cover tunes, but quickly decided to exclusively play songs from their growing catalogue of originals. Bob and Al both wrote songs and traded lead vocal, guitar and keyboard duties. This was the start of “The Leaders”. The band had success on Long Island and Boston, opening for many major acts and receiving some radio and television airplay.
The band called it quits for awhile but after several years re-grouped. In the past few years, they determined that their songs were better represented with an “acoustic” backdrop, so Bob and Al began performing as an acoustic duo. Bob’s Uncle Charlie, who has played music with Bob all his life, joined Bob and Al and the trio was dubbed “Acoustic Leaders”.
The band now plays in many venues in New York and has gained a very loyal following. The band is just finishing up their latest CD. People who have heard it are saying it is their best yet. Old and new fans can keep track of the band through this website AcousticLeaders.com to see when and where the guys will be playing next. Also check back to the website to see when their latest CD will be for sale. Thank you and we welcome you to the Acoustic Leaders family.