William G. Leverty II (born January 30, 1967) is an American guitarist. He is best known as a founding and current member of the

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

FireHouse __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...

. Leverty is responsible for writing many of the band's hit songs. Throughout the 2000s, Leverty has also pursued a solo career, releasing five albums: ''

Wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a characteristically German predilection for wandering ...

, Southern Exposure,

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

, Drive,'' and ''Divided We Fall.''

Biography

Born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, Leverty's parents gave him a guitar when he was 4 years old, although he didn't take playing guitar seriously until he was 14. Around this same time, Leverty began to study music theory in high school. In 1984, Leverty's band, White Heat, held auditions for drummers and it was here that Leverty met fellow Richmond native and his longtime bandmate and collaborator, Michael Foster. In 1988, Leverty and Foster's White Heat combined forces with C.J. Snare and

Perry Richardson Perry Richardson (born July 7, 1958) is an American bass guitarist who played in FireHouse until 2000 and is currently the bassist of Stryper. Biography Perry Richardson graduated Conway High School in Conway, South Carolina and went on t ...

. Before signing to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

in 1989, White Heat changed their name to

. Firehouse went on to sell over 7 million albums worldwide, as well as win the 1991 American Music Award for "Favorite New Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist." In 1993, Leverty won an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

songwriter award for Firehouse's highest charting single, "Love of a Lifetime." Leverty married his wife Kris in 1996; together they have a child named Dabney. In 2004, after 15 years with Firehouse, Leverty released his first solo album, ''Wanderlust''. On October 9, 2007, Leverty released his first instrumental and second solo album, ''Southern Exposure'', followed by a third album, ''Deep South,'' in 2009. His fourth solo album, ''Drive'', was released in February of 2013. Leverty released his fifth album, ''Divided We Fall'', in 2020. In 2013, Leverty formed supergroup, Flood The Engine. FTE is composed of Leverty, Jimmy Kunes (

Cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

), Keith Horne (

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature int ...

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Reco ...

), and Andre Labelle (

Vinnie Vincent Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band Kiss from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 make ...

). Flood The Engine released their self-titled album, ''Flood The Engine,'' in 2013.

Gear

Throughout the 90's, Leverty held an endorsement deal with Yamaha Guitar Development. He played the Yahama Pacifica model for 16 years. On July 4, 2006, GREM USA announced that Leverty signed an exclusive endorsement with the guitar manufacturer. GREM guitars produced "The Bill Leverty Free Radical" model. In 2012, Leverty began working with

C.R. Alsip Guitars C.R. Alsip Guitars, is a small American guitar manufacturing company founded in Arkansas City, KS on Feb. 2012. The company operated in Kansas from 2012 to 2014. The company is now based in the Atlanta, GA area. C.R. Alsip LLC was named after Conn ...

and became the guitar manufacturer's first endorsee. Leverty worked hand in hand with C.R. Alsip's master luthier & owner, Jake Willoughby, in the prototyping stages. Soon thereafter, Leverty's C.R. Alsip guitar known as "Lucky 13" was born. Leverty's second Alsip, "Goldie," was pictured on his fourth solo album, ''Drive''.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Wanderlust'' (2004) * ''Southern Exposure'' (2007) * ''Deep South'' (2009) * ''Drive'' (2013) * ''Divided We Fall'' (2020)

with Firehouse

*''

'' (1990) *''

Hold Your Fire ''Hold Your Fire'' is the twelfth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 8, 1987. It was recorded at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire, Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey, Air Studios in Montserrat and McClear Place in Toronto. ...

'' (1992) *'' 3'' (1995) *''

Good Acoustics ''Good Acoustics'' is the fourth studio album by the hard rock band FireHouse. It was released in 1996 on Epic Records. The album featured acoustic versions of several of the band's biggest hits. However, it also featured four new songs (one o ...

'' (1996) *'' Category 5'' (1998) *'' O₂'' (2000) *''

Prime Time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

'' (2003) *'' Full Circle'' (2011)

with Flood The Engine

* ''Flood The Engine'' (2013)

References

External links

The Official Bill Leverty SiteFirehouse Official SiteBill Leverty interviewed on Metal Rules! Radio episode 10.Bill Leverty iPhone AppBill Leverty Android App
Download the official App and carry all of Bill's latest songs, videos, news, pics and more with you everywhere! You'll be the first to know about tour dates, promotions, releases, and other exclusive content. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leverty, Bill 1967 births Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists FireHouse (band) members Musicians from Richmond, Virginia Guitarists from Virginia 20th-century American guitarists