STEVE LEATHERWOOD

Steve Leatherwood was born February 1, 1948, in Waynesville, N.C. He grew up listening to music, notably bluegrass, gospel, and “hillbilly” music, because his father, James Thomas Leatherwood, was a musician who played the mandolin, fiddle, and guitar.

Steve recalled that musicians “gathered up” in Steve’s wife’s Uncle Cecil’s carport on Sundays to play, visit, and eat Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Steve’s wife, Dottie, also comes from a musical family from around Hendersonville. Steve says he and Dottie have been together since they were 12 years old and married at 17.

Steve attended Western Carolina and Appalachian and, after graduate studies, went to Morganton’s Western Carolina Center to work in psychology and counseling. His counseling career brought him to Shelby in 1974 to work at the Mental Health Center as a psychologist. He has also worked for school systems but is now in private practice.

Steve plays the mandolin, guitar, fiddle and bass and was the owner of Leatherwood Trading Company, a former uptown Shelby comic book store which was home to the Old Time Court Square Opry, a popular music venue which featured over 600 bands and performers playing bluegrass, gospel and instrumental music over 12 years. Well known local acts included Acoustic Syndicate, Flint Hill, and Darin Aldridge. Steve said people who liked bluegrass came from all over to the Opry on Saturday nights, and he added the Opry was different because no food or alcohol was served so people concentrated on the music.

He observed, “Most of the bands said it's just amazing to have people focused on you, listening to your music and looking at you in the face, and you know they’re tuned in to you, and they’re not tuned into their steak or their burger, or something like that.” Steve talked about many area musicians he’s known and played with over the years, both living and deceased. He recorded many of the Opry performers and created a radio show called “Live at Leatherwood’s” which aired on local radio stations and also in Gastonia.

At the time of this interview, he identified Woods Store in Polkville as the current place to hear impromptu bluegrass music on Thursday nights.