Tony Leone

Tony Leone
Tony Leone (second from right) with Ollabelle
Background information
Birth name	Anthony Leone
Born	(1969-07-18) July 18, 1969 (age 48) New Britain, Connecticut, United States
Genres	Folk rock, folk, rock, americana, country
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	drums, mandolin
Years active	1994–present
Associated acts	Ollabelle, Levon Helm, Phil Lesh and Friends, Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Website	[1]

Anthony "Tony" Leone (born July 18, 1969) is an American musician. He is probably best known for his membership in the bands Ollabelle and the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. He has also worked with a variety of musicians including Levon Helm of The Band and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead.

Leone was born on July 18, 1969 in New Britain, Connecticut. He grew up in and near Hartford, Connecticut and began performing in bands at the age of 11, initially covering artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. During his adolescence he developed an interest in jazz through musicians such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter. He studied music at the University of Hartford under jazz saxophonist Jackie McLean. It was during this time that Leone decided to pursue drums as his primary musical instrument. He began taking drum lessons from Arthur Taylor which furthered his abilities.

Following the completion of his studies, Leone spent a year living in New York City where he played small jazz clubs for a living. He was given the offer to travel to Berlin Germany to play drums with a theater review. He moved back to Hartford in 1994 and performed in bands led by trombonist Steve Davis. He moved back to New York City in 1998 and performed for the next four years with a variety of musicians.

In 2002 he co-founded American roots band Ollabelle with Amy Helm, daughter of Levon Helm. Shortly after forming Ollabelle, Leone began performing sporadically with the Levon Helm Band. He would play drums at some concerts when Helm went to the front of the stage to play mandolin.