Leon Bellamy, a bass player since grade school and lifetime musician, has had many musical influences mold his style and bolster his ambition, from teachers to family members to grade-school field trips. Not interested in school though, Leon taught himself bass at a young age. His early success with music provided him a much needed creative outlet. "At 10 years old, I found a guitar in an alley. It had three strings and it was rusty. I cleaned it up, went to the library and got a book on how to play, and bought some $5 GHS Boomer strings and I've been playing ever since. It's what kept me out of the [Chicago] streets as a teenager."

Leon performed in and around Chicago after high school, eventually bringing his daughter to North Carolina to raise her in a quieter environment. Now he's forming a band, ready to record and promote again. "R+B musicians don't have bands right now," he explains. "We're going to bring a real band back into R+B." Other band members include a crossover artist who has played in a metal band and a female drummer. Their next step is promotion.

Traditional forms of artist promotion, though effective in the past, are not viable today, especially in Raleigh. In the past, posters plastered to the sides of buildings with artist photos and future performance dates were effective at getting the word out to the masses. "But that's considered litter now. Cities don't want that in the streets." Instead, Leon will be making his presence known by performing prolifically in and around Raleigh. His Myspace presence has gotten him noticed. Within days of posting his demo songs to Myspace he has had hundreds of views and downloads. He was discovered by a promotional label out of California via the internet and is ready to take his career as far as possible.

"Quincy Jones said that the reason some people become one-hit wonders is that they're not ready. Always be ready with material, with music, able to go anywhere and do anything."

Leon Bellamy can be reached at outfit@live.com. Look for a list of performances in and around the Triangle at myspace.com/leonlb.