Today we’d like to introduce you to Leo Eilts.
Hi Leo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My brother Roger and I were born and raised in Central Kansas. Our parents divorced when I was a teenager, and our mother, who held down a full-time job, was our music teacher in grammar school, the church organist, and played in polka bands on weekends. Mom recently passed away at the age of 96.
Ours was a typical rural upbringing in the 60s Agrigrarian middle America, except we were obsessed with Western music. Although we didn’t have much money, we somehow accumulated nearly every album recorded by the Sons of the Pioneers, which we stacked six-high on the record player before going to bed at night. The following evening, we would flip the entire stack and listen to them again. In this way, we developed a nearly comprehensive knowledge of the band’s music and an ear for harmony singing. Mom encouraged us to sing, especially harmony, a gift that has lasted a lifetime. Today, both my brother and I serve on the board of the International Western Music Association.
Being older by four years, Roger and I were separated during the time between when I left home after High School graduation at the age of 17 and when he joined me in Kansas City nine years later. During the summer, he would live and work with me in Wichita, where I operated a fleet of six ice cream trucks. In the fall, he would return to Lindsborg, Kansas, where he attended Bethany College, and I would winter in Jacksonville, Florida, to escape the Kansas winters. In the fall of 1976, after shutting down the ice cream trucks for the season, I stopped to attend the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, instead of heading straight to Florida. It changed my life. As fate would have it, I made another stop to visit a friend in Kansas City and met a beautiful woman in a disco. I have lived in Kansas City since then. I went to work for my friend, a manufacturer’s representative in the apparel industry, when there was still a domestic apparel industry.
During the following winter, my relationship with my new girlfriend and her daughter deepened. I also started playing with a guy who lived in my apartment complex. The next September (1977), I returned to Winfield and had another great experience at the Walnut Valley Festival. My Brother graduated from college in the spring of 1978, and after spending a miserable winter in Tulsa, I managed to get him a job in KC, and he has lived here since then. He joined with me and my partner, and we became The Total Strangers. We added a drummer, and that band became quite successful. That fall, 1978, I invited the band and several other friends to join me in Winfield. The Festival promoter, Bob Redford, heard us playing in the campground and offered us a slot. We appeared at the Festival as the Total Strangers until that band dissolved, and we regrouped as Spontaneous Combustion. The four founding members of that band played for 21 consecutive seasons before disbanding in 2006. That year, we reorganized as a straight-ahead Cowboy band called 3 Trails West, the band that Roger and I own today. He and I are both retired from businesses we own and spend much time working together. We have also started a weekly internet radio program (sort of like a podcast) called the Americana Road Show. So far, we have produced over 140 weekly episodes without missing a week.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The most challenging part was holding down full-time jobs while we kept the bands going. Along the way, both my brother and I started our own companies. Breaking into a jazz and blues market when you’re a bluegrass/Cowboy band is a struggle, but we’ve maintained a steady performance schedule for over 40 years. Our bands have been uncommonly long-lived. The Total Strangers lasted for nearly ten years with the original members, Spontaneous Combustion went for 21 years with the original members, and 3 Trails West is in its 13th season. I have been performing professionally in the Kansas City area for nearly 47 years. I have also branched out to perform with a few other ensembles. Our lead singer, Jim Winters, has a band called the Back Road Aristocrats, and I’ve been playing bass and singing traditional country music with him for several years. I also work several times a year with Eddie Delahunt, originally from Dublin, playing classic Irish tunes. About 3 years ago, I was recruited to play bass and sing with Jill Westra in a pop/rock band. I also do some session work in the studio, so I stay busy.
I am in my 70s and have metal in one leg from a motorhome accident. I have had knee replacement surgery in the other leg and two rotator cuff surgeries on my right shoulder. I am in pretty good shape for an old guy. Back in the 80s, I used to run marathons and triathlons. Today I spend a lot of time riding my Ebike, which helps me stay fit. But as I get older, I need to be more enthusiastic about transporting an upright bass (heavy bass) and all of the sound equipment accompanying being in a band. I intend to keep it up indefinitely but may have to cut back on the lifting. All in all, it’s been a relatively smooth ride. The trick is to take advantage of the opportunities when they arise.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I had several jobs in my lifetime. The last time I drew a paycheck was in 1983. I have been self-employed since then. I have previously worked in radio, both on-air and in sales. I owned a mobile DJ service, organized and operated a non-union broadcast advertising talent pool, managed a fleet of ice cream trucks, drove a wrecker, and managed a gas station. For a while, I wrote manuscripts for self-help programs. In the mid-90s, I started shooting video depositions for lawyers. That company eventually became a full-service litigation support company. I ultimately sold that company and retired after being injured in a vehicle accident. I have always been quick to recognize opportunities as they arose and acquire the knowledge I needed to capitalize on them. I do not have a college degree as I had to drop out of school when I was drafted during the Viet Nam war (I ended up not serving, but it was a major turning point.).
Although I mostly enjoyed the various occupations I have pursued, they were only a way to pay the bills as I indulged in the pursuit of making music. I taught myself to play guitar, ukulele, some banjo, and, most importantly, the bass. Today I own over a dozen basses of various types. My ability to play the bass and sing baritone harmonies has opened countless doors and provided many opportunities to play music and get paid for it. Although it was never enough to live on, it has always been a dependable avocation, and I have made the most of it.
My brother, Roger, is my closest friend and most dependable partner in all things. Like me, he is a self-taught guitarist (although on a higher level than me) and also plays several other instruments. He has a degree in the performing arts of vocal music. Roger sings the tenor to my baritone, and we have acquired a reputation as backup musicians. We finally decided that we needed a name for our backup band, and we figured that since Elivs’ backup band was called “The Jordanaires,” we’d be “The Derrieres,” a name that has stuck. The full name of our radio program is “The Americana Road Show with the Derrieres.” The joke is that we can harmonize with a pig, with apologies to the pig.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
As a child, I was chubby and not athletic. I was born while my family was still living on a farm Southwest of Rush Center, Kansas, but by the time I was of school age, we had moved into town. I doubt Rush Center ever had more than 3-400 residents. Less now. I didn’t realize it then, but I now understand we were pretty poor. Nobody had much money in Rush Center. Dad farmed a rocky piece of ground and drove trucks. Mom worked as a music teacher and played in a polka band on the weekends. I never felt deprived. We always had food and clothes. But as kids, the money we made from our paper route and later from mowing yards never went into our pockets. It all went into a ceramic sugar bowl to help pay the bills. After my folks divorced, Mom took a job waiting tables in a local diner. A customer who was aware of her abilities eventually offered her a job working at the County Courthouse, and from there, she was recruited to work for the Unified School District, a job she held until her retirement.
After my folks divorced, a family relative interested Roger and me in horses. My sister’s boyfriend was also an accomplished horseman, and between them, we eventually acquired horses of our own. Between non-stop listening to the Sons of the Pioneers and having horses to ride, we were suddenly in a much happier place. We started delivering our paper route on horseback. Somewhere along the line, we acquired a goat, another goat, and then goat twins, which we named Sugar and Spike. Spike was fearless and hated dogs, so we started taking him on the paper route and would sic him on the dogs, which sometimes harassed our horses.
My first two years of high school were difficult. I was one of the youngest in my class, still pudgy, awkward, and a less-than-average student. I had gone to work on a farm, and the summer between my Sophomore and Junior years, I shot up and slimmed down. I became a real jock. I had a car and spent much time “dragging Main” and listening to Rock and Roll music from the radio station KOMA in Oklahoma City. I also continued to work on the farm, ride horses, and spend much time with Roger, of whom I felt very protective.
In the meantime, Mom had begun to date and eventually married the farmer I had been working for. That was a good thing for her but bad for me. My relationship with my new stepfather began to deteriorate. By graduation day in the spring of 1968, it was generally accepted that I would be moving on. The hardest part of moving away from home, apart from the fact I was only 17 and had no money, was leaving Roger behind. Growing up was done. And that’s when my real life started.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.3trailswest.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leo.eilts
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi7BayqRSMqdgTXMG9RW6vA
