This former engineering student gave up on a music career. Now he's one of Halifax’s busiest musicians
CBC
Leith Fleming-Smith was in his second year at Dalhousie University in 2012 leading a frosh tour of first-year students when he made a suggestion to them.
R&B funk band The Mellotones were going to be playing an all-ages show at the campus bar as part of the frosh activities, so the electrical-engineering student recommended they go.
"This is going to be a party," he told them.
Fleming-Smith's passion had always been music, but the then-19-year-old viewed it as a hobby, not something he could do for a living.
But something happened at the show that changed Fleming-Smith's life forever.
Today, he's one of Halifax's busiest musicians, touring with artists such as Matt Mays and Crash Test Dummies as a keyboardist, while also being a sought-after session musician and emergency fill-in for live shows. He also plays a mean keytar.
"It's crazy how certain moments can just change your whole life," said Fleming-Smith.
The Mellotones show at Dalhousie wasn't particularly well attended, with probably as many people watching the show as there were on stage in the eight-piece band. But Fleming-Smith was up front and dancing, caught up in the show.
Sean Weber, who plays alto saxophone and synthesizer in The Mellotones, recognized Fleming-Smith from his former job at a Halifax music store. Fleming-Smith would play on keyboards at the store before he had jazz band rehearsal.
Weber said that while working at the music store he would take note of the people who came in. He said Fleming-Smith's play stood out, despite his youth.
So, Weber spoke with his bandmates.
"I was like, 'Man, we gotta get this guy up. This kid can really play. I've seen him at at the store before and you just got to get him up,'" said Weber.
As Fleming-Smith approached the stage to join the band on Maceo Parker's Shake Everything You've Got, he recognized just what this opportunity could mean.
"That was the one main point in my life that I really felt if I give this everything I've got, something could happen, because I'd already accepted the fact that music would never be my living," he said.
Prospectors staked claims around Nova Scotia in high numbers this year after Premier Tim Houston unveiled his new open-arms approach to natural resource development.
The Holt Liberals have found a way to keep their promise of lower gas prices just days before Christmas.
A man convicted of human smuggling last year has asked a United States court to continue his appeal without a lawyer, in a case where a family from India froze to death near the Manitoba-U.S. border in 2022.
The dream of those who wanted to breathe new life into Saskatoon’s bus barns in Caswell Hill is expected to come tumbling down next year.
Jill Finn is still haunted by the voice.
P.E.I.'s deputy premier Bloyce Thompson is expected to be sworn in as the province's next premier one day after Rob Lantz announced his resignation from the role and his bid for the permanent leadership of the province’s Progressive Conservative Party.
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
The Ontario government has sided with the City of Hamilton in its push to continue a long-delayed James Street N., housing redevelopment, which proposes the creation of several hundred homes in the north end.
There's still no timeline on the official designation of an Ojibway National Urban Park — and a Parks Canada representative is asking the community to adjust its expectations.
As the cost of groceries continues to increase, one Edmonton organization is harnessing the power of bulk buying to ensure its members aren’t going hungry at a critical time every month.
A drug alert has been issued in Thunder Bay, Ont., over a toxic substance first found in Toronto earlier this fall.
Ontario’s municipal affairs minister says the province will move forward with a much-delayed mandatory review of the Greenbelt, but opposition critics say there's still no word on when the study of the ecologically sensitive zone will take place or who will conduct it.
A three-year-old girl is dead and a 31-year-old woman suffered serious injuries after they were hit by a vehicle near a Cambridge, Ont., plaza on Thursday afternoon.