Leslie & the LY's was a pop music band from

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

that began as an

open mike An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...

trio in 2004. Leslie & the LY's is made up of front-woman

Leslie Hall Leslie Merritt Hall (born November 15, 1981) is an American satire, satirical rapping, rap artist and front-woman for the band Leslie and the LY's. She also operates a "gem sweater museum". She is best known for the YouTube hits like "How We Go O ...

, also known as Mother Gem, who composes all of the music herself generally using the

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program

GarageBand GarageBand is a line of digital audio workstations developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices that allows users to create music or podcasts. GarageBand is developed by Apple for macOS, and was once part of the iLife software s ...

. Other past and present members include, DJ Dr. Laura on the turn-tables, and Klassy K on the

keytar The keytar is a lightweight synthesizer that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement onstage, compared to conventional keyboard ...

and dance, OBESE E on turn-tables, Sassy Cassie, & K To the Double L on

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

. Hall has since established The Mobile Museum of Gem Sweaters, which doubles both as the band's official tour vehicle and gift shop/museum, which sometimes appears at her shows. She has been featured in ''Vice'' magazine, on television with VH1 and G4, and has had music videos featured on

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and

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's main page. In 2006, Leslie was filmed as part of space150's viral campaign for ''We Are the Web'', a site that advocates

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. Fans of the band are known as Junior Gems. The group has been inactive since Hall started to focus more on her other musical project, Neon & Nude.

Tours

Leslie & The LY's toured the US in 2010 in support of Hall's album,

Back2Back Palz Back 2 Back Palz is the third studio album by Leslie Hall, released on January 12, 2010 by Hefty Hideaway. The group toured the US in 2010 to promote the album, with Christopher the Conquered serving as the opening act. The album includes the sin ...

; the tour began in Chicago, Illinois on February 12, 2010 with supporting act Christopher the Conquered. They have also toured for Hall's 2013 album, Songs in the Key of Gold.

Discography

Albums

* '' Gold Pants'' (2005)

Singles

* "Gem Sweater" (2005) * " Gold Pants" - Split 45 (2005){{Cite web, url=https://www.discogs.com/Leslie-And-The-Lys-Arecee-Goldpants/release/1152193, title=Leslie And The Ly's* & Arecee - Goldpants, website=Discogs, language=en, access-date=2017-07-01

TV appearances

*Leslie Hall, DJ Dr. Laura, and the Junior Gems on Nick Jr's "Yo Gabba Gabba" doing a Dancey Dance: The Razzle Dazzle *Leslie Hall solo on "Yo Gabba Gabba" performing "All My Friends are Different" *Featured as the number 20 Greatest Internet Superstar on VH1 *Featured on G4/TechTV's "Unscrewed with Martin Sargent"

References

External links

Official site

Leslie Hall's Homepage
American pop music groups Musical groups from Iowa Musical groups established in 2004 Outsider musicians