For the most part a bookworm prior to the British Invasion of 1964, by the end of that year he was smitten by the Beatles and had acquired and mastered the drum kit made possible by the determination of his mother, Dorothy. He assembled some schoolmates who could play and his first band was incarnated as 'Phenomenal Phluke;' a name that still makes him smile ear to ear.
Faegre acquired quite a neighborhood notoriety for playing a fifteen-minute version of the Surfaris 'Wipeout,' the forerunner to 'Ina Gadda Da Vida,' and until 1968 his accomplishment as a drummer of local repute was sufficiently established. But by the Summer of '68, as the Beatles 'Hey Jude' was bulleting up the charts, a neighbors' piano and an acoustic guitar purchased with blue chip stamps having strings nearly one half inch off the fret board would thoroughly occupy his waking hours. Remembering the strings that cut through his fingertips, he nonetheless persevered from the love of the sound of the chords--especially G major, and began to develop his skills by emulating the best of that era such as CSNY, Byrds and Buffalo Springfield.
Following his acquisition of guitar and piano skills, his reputation for playing became more widely known and respected as he developed and assembled as many various musicians as he could find for fun and profit. Performing for dances and weddings was fun he recalls, but his most passionate interest became his compositional quest that developed in earnest as he left high school.
Education:
Prior to the discovery that going to college was getting in the way of his education, he attended Mt. San Antonio and Rio Hondo junior colleges. Whereas curricula at both institutions were authored by establishmentarians of the socialist stripe, and teaching music was never his intention, his career choices of International Relations and Music became impossible to attain. He made a constructive nuisance of himself by first challenging, and subsequently embarrassing faculty and administration alike, and was shown the exit.
Career:
Forced to pursue an independent career path, he benefited enormously from that choice, pursuing music and political science alternately as opportunities availed themselves.
In 1982 and 83, and after touring with musical ensembles in various roles, Faegre managed two congressional campaigns in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. The former resulting in the now famous "Shut Up!" exchange from then President Reagan to Santa Cruz Republican Gary Richard Arnold and seen by as many as 900 million people around the globe.
In 1984, Faegre began to devote more attention to his musical compositions and spending more time recording his work. After moving to Europe in June, 1986, Faegre married Theresa Bridget Sweeney in Dublin, Ireland, returning to the U.S. in January 1987.
Following his return and anxious to again offer knowledge for the benefit of others, he pursued a career in financial service beginning with what is known now as CitiGroup, Wedbush Morgan and Crowell Weedon.
A member of the Libertarian Party since 1976, Faegre was
asked to consider public office in five consecutive election cycles beginning in
1998 with bids for the State Assembly and State Senate in California and
back-to-back bids for the United States Congress in the district then held by
Hilda Solis who went on to serve as Secretary of Labor in the Obama
Administration.
Faegre relocated his family to the Nevada side of Lake
Tahoe in 2008, establishing Milky Way Incorporated and purchased The
Coyote Grill, a
popular restaurant in Zephyr Cove.
In early 2012 Faegre formally established On Top Of a Cloud, LLC [On Top Of a Cloud is a broadcast partner, talent agency, music publisher, record label and recording facility subsidiary of Milky Way Incorporated located in Lake Tahoe.] and acquired a 20% equity stake in Lake Tahoe’s independently owned and operated, K-Tahoe: Local Talk and Classic Rock, AM 590 and 96.1 FM.
From Wikipedia: [KTHO (590 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format. Licensed to South Lake Tahoe, California, USA, it serves the Lake Tahoe Basin-Carson City-Carson Valley-Reno area, and simulcasts on South Lake Tahoe-based FM translator K241BK (96.1 FM).The station is currently owned by International Aerospace Solutions, Inc., a company owned by long-time Southern California broadcaster Darrell Wampler, and features "Local Talk and Classic Rock" with network news from ABC Radio.]
With radio, television and film credits including An Ril Deal [a traditional
Irish dancing television show on the Irish television channel TG 4 that has been
described as "Ireland's answer to 'Strictly Come Dancing" on BBC 1],
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts,
"Inside the Moon Bear
Rescue Centre, China,” by The Animals
Asia Foundation,
Cisr-I Enbubi'Den Tüp Geçit'E, a documentary for Turkish
Television produced by Birbuçuk Film Reklam LTD. ŞTİ of Istanbul, Turkey and
others, his composition, arrangement, and production skills have been described
as "so vast that supervisors will view each piece as independent islands full of
relative possibilities."Part
of the
Landscape TV
Family and heard by over 2 million listeners through the internet and a hugely
popular satellite station on British Sky Channel 0155;
a
BeatPick
registered artist, he is published by
Bonanza Music,
Platinum Music,
Pump
Audio,
AudioSparx,
Down to
Hear Productions,
Indigi Music,
MultiverseSound
and under contract with
Pinnacles Records in partnership with
Pinnacles
Entertainment Network
in a multi-CD
arrangement. Faegre offers political insight, campaign information and
his musical compositions from
http://www.ontopofacloud.com,
The Intelligent Internet Portal.
KTHO Broadcast Partner, Composer, Arranger, Multi-Instrumentalist, Producer,
Publisher and Statesman Leland Thomas Faegre, is also a radio talk show host
appearing with Jennifer Terhune Green and Brendan Trainor on "Talking Truth To
Power," Wednesdays on KCKQ, 1180 AM, Reno; a Lotus Broadcast Station from
11:00-12:00 Noon.
Home | Campaign 2006 | Libertarian Links
Copyright ©2006 OnTopOfaCloud
All Rights Reserved