Greg Leisz

Gregory Brian Leisz (pronounced "Lease") (born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar.

Leisz grew up in the garage band culture of mid-1960s Southern California. He frequented the Ashgrove, the Troubador, and clubs on the Sunset Strip where he heard the rich milieu of musical acts of the time. He began playing guitar and soon added dobro and lap steel to his repertoire. He was inspired to pick up the pedal steel after hearing Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Buddy Emmons, and other steel players.

In 1975, he toured with John Stewart (formerly of The Kingston Trio).

He was a member of Funky Kings who released their eponymous debut album on Clive Davis’ Arista label in 1976. After the band broke up, he became a much sought-after artist both in the studio and on the road.

In 1987, he began working with Dave Alvin (formerly of The Blasters). Their collaboration led to Leisz producing several of Alvin's albums including King of California, Black Jack David, Ashgrove, and West of the West.

In 1989, Leisz played on k.d. lang’s Grammy-winning Absolute Torch and Twang, and joined her on the resulting tour. For the following 18 years he was a mainstay of her touring and recording bands, including 1992's Ingenue.

Leisz has also worked extensively with Matthew Sweet starting in the early 1990s, when he worked on the album Girlfriend and joined Sweet on the subsequent tour.

Another close collaborator is Bill Frisell, with whom he tours regularly and is featured on the albums Good Dog, Happy Man, Blues Dream, The Intercontinentals, Disfarmer, and All We Are Saying.

In January 2008, he joined the group Works Progress Administration – a band composed of Leisz, Sean Watkins (guitar), his sister Sara Watkins (fiddle), Glen Phillips (guitar, vocals), Benmont Tench (piano), Luke Bulla (fiddle), Pete Thomas (drums), and Davey Faragher (bass). The group released their debut album, WPA, on September 15, 2009.

In 2010, Leisz was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist by the Americana Music Association.

He received a Grammy Award for his contributions to Ray LaMontagne's 2010 release, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. In 2010 and 2011, Leisz toured with LaMontagne as a member of his backing band, The Pariah Dogs.

Leisz toured in 2013 as a member of Eric Clapton's band.

Leisz toured in 2015 as a member of Jackson Browne's band.

He is credited on Amos Lee's Last Days at the Lodge as Greg "Liesz".

Leisz's playing has appeared throughout the years on recordings by Avenged Sevenfold, Tiger Army, Black Crowes, Bill Frisell, Dave Alvin, John Stewart, Tracy Chapman, The Smashing Pumpkins, Grant Lee Buffalo, Acetone, Ray Lamontagne, Paula Cole, Matthew Sweet, The Jayhawks, Beck, Meshell Ndegeocello, Bruce Cockburn, Eric Clapton, Glenn Frey, Wilco, Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, Jackson Browne, Mary Gauthier, Peter Case, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, Whiskeytown, Eagles, Bad Religion, k.d. lang, Sheryl Crow, Cass McCombs, John Fogerty, Daft Punk, Natalie D-Napoleon, Bruce Springsteen, Susanna Hoffs, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, Joe Cocker, Amos Lee, Aaron Neville, Bon Iver, Chuck Prophet, Percy Sledge (1994, 2004), Sara Watkins, Nebraska Falls, John Mayer, The Bangles, Bo Menart, and Allen Toussaint.

Leisz playing guitar with Jackson Browne (left) in Greenville, SC, on October 8, 2015

With Ryan Adams

• Demolition (Lost Highway, 2002)
• Love Is Hell (Lost Highway, 2004)

With Amy Allison

• Sad Girl (Diesel Only, 2001)

With Anjani

• Blue Alert (Columbia, 2006)

With Fiona Apple

• Tidal (Clean Slate, 1996)

With Steve Azar

• Heartbreak Town (River North, 1996)

With The Bangles

• Doll Revolution (E1 Music, 2003)

With The Beach Boys

• Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 (River North, 1996)

With Bonnie "Prince" Billy

• Beware (Drag City, 2009)

With Mary Black

• Shine (Dara, 1997)

With Chris Botti

• Slowing Down the World (GRP, 1999)

With Michelle Branch

• Everything Comes and Goes (Reprise, 2010)

With Jon Brion

• Meaningless (Straight to Cut Out, 2001)

With Jonatha Brooke

• The Works (Bad Dog, 2008)

With Jackson Browne

• The Naked Ride Home (Elektra, 2002)
• Standing in the Breach (Inside, 2014)
• With T Bone Burnett
• Tooth of Crime (Nonesuch, 2008)

With Peter Case

• Torn Again (Vanguard, 1995)
• Full Service No Waiting (Vanguard, 1998)
• Flying Saucer Blues (Vanguard, 2000)
• Who's Gonna Go Your Crooked Mile? (Vanguard, 2004)

With Tracy Chapman

• Let It Rain (Elektra, 2002)

Leisz playing lap steel in Eric Clapton's band, Charlotte, NC, April 2, 2013

With Eric Clapton

• Old Sock (Surfdog, 2013)
• The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale (Bushbranch/Surfdog, 2014)

With Tangier

• Since You Been Gone (ATCO, 1990)

With Joe Cocker

• Organic (550 Music, 1996)
• Hymn for My Soul (EMI, 2007)

With Holly Cole

• This Fire (Imago, 1996)
• Dark Dear Heart (Alert, 1997)
• Courage (Decca, 2007)
• Night (Universal Music, 2012)

With Shawn Colvin

• Fat City (Columbia, 1992)
• These Four Walls (Warner Tamerlane, 2006)

With the Court Yard Hounds

• Court Yard Hounds (Columbia, 2010)

With A.J. Croce

• Adrian James Croce (Seedling, 2004)

With Sheryl Crow

• The Globe Sessions (A&M, 1998)
• Wildflower (A&M, 2005)

With Rodney Crowell

• Sex & Gasoline (Work Song, 2008)

With Daft Punk

• Random Access Memories (Daft Life, 2013)

With Grey DeLisle

• The Graceful Ghost (Sugar Hill, 2004)

With Jakob Dylan

• Women + Country (Columbia, 2010)

With the Eagles

• Long Road Out of Eden (Lost Highway, 2007)

With Ramblin' Jack Elliott

• A Stranger Here (ANTI, 2009)

With Melissa Etheridge

• Breakdown (Island, 1999)

With John Fogerty

• The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again (Fortunate Son, 2009)

With Glenn Frey

• After Hours (Universal Music, 2012)

With Bill Frisell

• Good Dog, Happy Man (Nonesuch, 1999)
• Blues Dream (Nonesuch, 2001)
• The Intercontinentals (Nonesuch, 2003)
• Disfarmer (Nonesuch, 2009)
• All We Are Saying (Savoy Jazz, 2011)
• Guitar in the Space Age! (OKeh, 2014)

With Lisa Germano

• Magic Neighbor (Young God, 2009)

With Haim

• Days Are Gone (Polydor, 2013)

With Ben Harper

• Diamonds On the Inside (Virgin, 2003)

With Emmylou Harris

• Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (Asylum Nashville, 1999) with Linda Ronstadt
• All I Intended to Be (Nonesuch, 2008)

With Beth Hart

• Leave the Light On (Warner Bros., 2003)

With Ted Hawkins

• The Next Hundred Years (Geffen, 1994)

With Joe Henry

• Civilians (ANTI, 2007)

With Missy Higgins

• The Sound of White (Eleven, 2004)
• On a Clear Night (Eleven, 2007)

With Highway 101

• Paint the Town (Warner Bros., 1989)

With Susanna Hoffs

• Susanna Hoffs (London, 1996)

With James Iha

• Let It Come Down (Virgin, 1998)

With the Indigo Girls

• Despite Our Differences (Hollywood, 2006)

With Bon Iver

• Bon Iver, Bon Iver (Jagjauwar, 2011)

With the Jayhawks

• Tomorrow the Green Grass (American, 1995)

With Dave Koz

• Off the Beaten Path (Capitol, 1996)

With Jorma Kaukonen

• Stars in My Crown (Red House, 2007)

With Miranda Lambert

• Revolution (Columbia, 2009)
• Four the Record (RCA, 2011)

With Ray LaMontagne

• God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise (RCA, 2010)

With k.d. lang

• Absolute Torch and Twang (Sire, 1989)
• Ingénue (Warner Bros., 1992)
• Drag (Warner Bros., 1997)
• Invincible Summer (Warner Bros., 2000)
• Live by Request (Warner Bros., 2001)
• Watershed (Nonesuch, 2008)

With Hugh Laurie

• Didn't It Rain (Warner Bros., 2013)

With Amos Lee

• Supply and Demand (Blue Note, 2006)
• Mission Bell (Blue Note, 2011)

With John Mayer

• Heavier Things (Aware, 2003)
• Born and Raised (Columbia, 2012)

With Brian McKnight

• Back at One (Motown, 1999)

With Shannon McNally

• Jukebox Sparrows (Capitol, 2002)

With Natalie Merchant

• Motherland (Elektra, 2001)

With Keb' Mo'

• The Door (Epic, 2000)

With Joni Mitchell

• Turbulent Indigo (Reprise, 1994)
• Taming the Tiger (Reprise, 1997)
• Shine (Hear Music, 2007)

With The Murmurs

• Pristine Smut (MCA, 1997)
• Blender (MCA, 1998)

With Meshell Ndegeocello

• Bitter (Maverick, 1999)

With Willie Nelson

• The Great Divide (Lost Highway, 2002)

With Randy Newman

• Bad Love (Dreamworks, 1999)
• Harps and Angels (Nonesuch, 2008)

With Nick 13

• Nick 13 (Sugar Hill, 2011)

With Stevie Nicks

• In Your Dreams (Reprise, 2011)

With Mark Olson

• My Own Jo Ellen (Hightone, 2000)
• The Salvation Blues (Hacktone, 2007)

With Peter Ostroushko

• Coming Down from Red Lodge (Red House, 2003)

With Madeleine Peyroux

• Half the Perfect World (Rounder, 2006)

With Sam Phillips

• Omnipop (It's Only a Flesh Wound Lambchop)'(Virgin, 1996)
• Cameras in the Sky (2011)

With Rebecca Pidgeon

• Behind the Velvet Curtain: Songs from the Motion Picture Redbelt (Great American Music, 2008)

With Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

• Raising Sand (Rounder, 2007)

With Lisa Marie Presley

• Storm & Grace (Universal Republic, 2012)

With Bonnie Raitt

• Slipstream (Redwing, 2012)

With Carrie Rodriguez

• Love and Circumstance (Ninth Street Opus, 2010)

With Adam Sandler

• What's Your Name? (Warner Bros., 1997)

With Timothy B. Schmit

• Expando (Lost Highway, 2009)

With Kevin Sharp

• Measure of a Man (Asylum, 1996)

With Chris Shiflett

• Chris Shiflett & the Dead Peasants (RCA, 2010)

With Bruce Springsteen

• Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Live in Dublin (Columbia, 2007)
• Wrecking Ball (Columbia, 2012)

With Rod Stewart

• Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time (J, 2007)

With Randy Stonehill

• Return to Paradise (Myrrh, 1989)

With Peter Stuart

• Propeller (Vanguard, 2002)

With Matthew Sweet

• Girlfriend (Zoo, 1991)
• 100% Fun (Zoo, 1999)
• In Reverse (Volcano, 1999)
• Kimi Ga Suki (RCAM, 2003)
• Living Things (RCAM, 2004)
• Under the Covers, Vol. 1 (Shout! Factory, 2006) with Suzanna Hoffs
• Sunshine Lies (Shout! Factory, 2008)
• Under the Covers, Vol. 2 (Shout! Factory, 2009) with Suzanna Hoffs

With Teddy Thompson

• Upfront & Down Low (Verve Forecast, 2007)

With Pam Tillis

• Sweetheart's Dance (Arista, 1994)

With Toad the Wet Sprocket

• New Constellation (Abe's Records, 2013)

With Various Artists

• Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1–4 (Columbia, 2011)
• Sons of Anarchy: Songs of Anarchy Vol. 2 (Columbia, 2012)
• We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash (Legacy, 2012)

With Joe Walsh

• Analog Man (Fantasy, 2012)

With Loudon Wainwright III

• Here Come the Choppers (Sovereign, 2005)
• Strange Weirdos (Concord, 2007)
• Recovery (Yep Roc, 2008)

With Was (Not Was)

• Boo! (Rykodisc, 2008)

With Sara Watkins

• Sara Watkins (Nonesuch, 2009)

With Gillian Welch

• Soul Journey (Acony, 2003)

With Paul Westerberg

• Suicaine Gratifaction (Capitol, 1999)

With Lucinda Williams

• Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Mercury, 1998)
• Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone (Highway 20, 2014)
• The Ghosts of Highway 20 (Highway 20, 2016)

With Brian Wilson

• Gettin' In Over My Head (Brimel, 2004)

With Lee Ann Womack

• Something Worth Leaving Behind (MCA Nashville, 2002)

With Lizz Wright

• Dreaming Wide Awake (Verve, 2005)

With Dwight Yoakam

• Hillbilly Deluxe (Reprise, 1987)

With Allen Toussaint

• American Tunes (Nonesuch, 2016)