Fresh Beats: Meet Hudson Valley Spinmaster Dave Leonard

Many Hudson Valley natives have literally grown up with the voice of this local spinner in their ears – Dave Leonard. Dave has been an essential part of the Hudson Valley’s music world for over 30 years as DJ and former program director at WDST/Radio Woodstock and a famously busy club and party DJ via his company, JTD Productions. If you’ve listened to him on air at WKZE, WDST or his syndicated show, Radio Unleashed, or witnessed his popular Pisces Parties at Bearsville Theater, you have a sense of Dave’s love of presenting music across all genres.  

Read on to find out more about his unique approach to DJing in the club and over the airwaves.

INSIDE+OUT: When did you first become interested in music, and how did you start your DJ career?

David Leonard: It was in high school on Long Island while listening to classic rock and finding this excellent radio station, WLIR, that changed my life. I started DJing on the radio during my freshman year in college. Shortly thereafter, I was asked to DJ parties and weddings, and from then on, I kept doing both.

Describe what makes you unique in the DJ space, your favorite music to spin, and your favorite kind of place or event to work.

It has helped that I’ve been on the radio, turning people on to a diverse range of new music and building trust in showing how great music has no boundaries. That has crossed over into my approach to club and party gigs. I’m extremely eclectic and can attract and retain people of all ages for a six-hour dance party. I especially love spinning at Colony Woodstock and Bearsville Theater. I also love the Senate Garage, my Pisces Parties and spinning at weddings. I love it when I can bring together a diverse group of people of all ages on the dance floor.

What have been some of your favorite experiences DJing in the Hudson Valley?

First and foremost, my long-running Pisces Parties!

What is your go-to song to spin when you need to pump up a crowd that’s not feeling it?

“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse, “I Wish” by Stevie Wonder and Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair” never fail to get a crowd moving.

What are your three favorite desert island discs?

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd and The Waterboys’ Fisherman’s Blues.

Give us a mini-biography – where you were born, where you live now, what you may do outside of DJing.

I was born in Alexandria, Virginia, on an army base and now live in West Hurley.  I went to Denison University and started DJing at the college station in my freshman year, then was Program Director for the next three years. That’s when I started DJing at parties and charity events. I moved to the Hudson Valley in the summer of 1989 and started two jobs simultaneously – selling ads for Taconic Press, a local chain of newspapers, and DJing nights and weekends on Radio Woodstock, WDST. Shortly thereafter, I started JTD Productions (named after my yellow lab, Jeffrey) to DJ at weddings, corporate events and parties.  

I left for a few years to start WKZE in Sharon, Connecticut. In 1996, I returned to Woodstock as Program Director of WDST and started building Radio Woodstock at Utopia Studios. I also started syndicating Radio Unleashed, and for the next 25 years, it was aired in 30 markets on NPR stations across the country. Today, I’m focused on running JTD Productions, working on a new podcast, Hudson Valley Unleashed and spending time in my yard with my dog Juno.

30th Annual Pisces Party with DJ Dave Leonard and Friends at Bearsville Theater  | March 8th at 8pm till late! Get tickets HERE.

Follow/Connect with Dave Leonard via Website | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube 

Consider hiring Dave at your next party or wedding HERE.

Contributing writer Sal Cataldi is a musician, writer and former publicist living in Hudson Valley NY.

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