SALT LAKE CITY — Known for their impeccably accurate recreations of musical hits by Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire, and many other iconic artists, the Russian band "Leonid & Friends" is scarcely just a cover or tribute band.
FOX 13 News recently spoke with Leonid Vorobyev, the founder of the band, along with his son Roman Vorobyev, the band's manager, and Ksenia Buzina, their lead female vocalist.
Leonid described how it all began on his 60th birthday when he recorded his first Chicago song as a personal gift.
“And I put it on YouTube without any expectation. What it was, just a gift for my birthday and maybe for my peers in Siberia, where I was born and grew up, and that’s all. Then boom, unexpectedly, maybe a few weeks later, it was already on Chicago’s official website, and we got a lot of great comments and waves of acknowledgments,” said Leonid.
The positive response led to countless requests for more, and the band obliged.
FOX 13 News asked about the challenge of getting independent musicians to play their parts exactly as recorded by the original artists.
“It starts with even having a musician that can pull it off," Roman explained. "Because go ahead and pull off Terry Kath’s solo from ‘25 or 6 to 4’ or go ahead and, you know, pull off all those brass parts and solos on trumpet or trombone. It took about a month to learn a Terry Kath solo by our guitar player. It takes a lot of discipline.”
Ksenia Buzina shared her journey and connection to the band.
“It's interesting. Yeah, first of all, I was born in Siberia like Leonid, so this is our native place, and in the same town in Siberia, actually, as Leonid," she said. "I heard about Leonid a lot, that this is our very talented professional musician. And when I studied Chinese, actually, at the university, and then after my graduation, I decided to pursue my musical dreams and career, and I moved to Moscow, and then I came to the studio, and I met Leonid in person. Actually, we started to work on different projects in Russia, in China, and he helped me a lot. And so he helped me at the beginning of my career in Moscow. He became like a godfather.”
Roman also shared the band’s excitement for the upcoming show in Salt Lake City.
“We love Salt Lake City. You guys absolutely rock there. We love the city, the scenery. There’s just something about it, and so we can’t wait for all our friends to be there. It’s going to be an epic show, guys. We’ll prepare the best set list for you," he said.
The Leonid and Friends fall tour wraps up next month with several concerts in Southern California. They’ll return to tour the U.S. starting again in March next year. A few tickets are still available for Monday night’s show at Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah. Visit artstickets.utah.edu to book online.
