If you believe in accidents, you can say that Neal Hagberg and Leandra Peak ended up as Minnesota's most popular singer-songwriter duo mostly by accident. It happened like this: The pair met in college in Minnesota in 1981 and eventually married in 1989. Neal Hagberg was on his way to medical school and Leandra Peak to a career in international business when the road veered. Leandra — private by nature — was dragged kicking and screaming into the spotlight. As a little girl, all she ever wanted was to be on Johnny Carson. Not for her voice, not for her writing or stage presence, but because she thought Johnny would simply find her funny. Neal thought a career in professional sports sounded good. Being a small college wishbone quarterback did not exactly prepare him for the NFL. It didn’t prepare him for the folk world either, but he figured at least in music he wouldn’t get landed on by 300 lb. noseguards. So, he wrote some songs, some people liked them, and he quit his med school plans to go on the road. He somehow convinced Leandra to go along. Since then they have found themselves singing to sold out thousand seat venues in some towns and four people and a sick dog (true story) in others.

Neal and Leandra have been hailed by critics from all corners. Dirty Linen magazine calls them: “One of today’s top folk entities — duos, trio, solos, groups, whatever…” Another music critic proclaims that the husband-wife act is “one of the most sensuous mix of voices I’ve heard.” Even folk legend Tom Paxton sings their praises by saying, “Do yourself a favor and listen to them now — and you will be able to say you ‘heard them when.’”

Neal and Leandra’s early musical influences couldn’t have been more different. Neal grew up listening to Swedish hymns and the Mamas and the Papas while Leandra was raised on Perry Como and barbershop quartet music. They are no doubt the only folk act in the business to have recorded a loving tribute to Perry entitled “A Dreamer’s Holiday.” Leandra says of this album: “I wish I could capture every dubious glance, every incredulous laugh, or even every blank stare that we have gotten when we’ve announced our intention to make a Perry Como tribute CD, and then keep them in some sort of ‘scrapbook of the misled.’ ” Hagberg and Peak feel that the public who may only remember that Perry Como was famous for wearing cardigan sweaters is not aware that Como in fact had fourteen #1 hit records and 27 gold records. Neal chimes in and says, “I will be honest. This Perry Como tribute was never on any wish list of projects I felt compelled to finish in my lifetime. I went along with Leandra as a spectator at first. A willing, but bemused, spectator… . At every turn, as we were researching this project and picking songs, I fell in love with the music and the man who made it.”

Their songs are simple and direct, layered with textures of everyday life and love. Their stage rapport is engaging and often filled with hilarious anecdotes about their life together with their daughter, Madeline. Every new release by Neal & Leandra is met with high expectations for their trademark vocal harmonies and their direct and eloquent songwriting. This couple certainly invites their fans to come closer to their music and to pause, relax, and listen. One such fan set up a website in which you can stare at a photo of a friend’s fireplace and listen to Neal and Leandra sing their story songs. It’s that kind of “come on over and listen to a few tunes” aura that these impeccable musicians have cultivated for so many years and it explains their devoted fan base. As one fan said of her first Neal and Leandra concert: “It was love at first hearing.” This is Neal and Leandra’s only show in the greater Boston area and it’s been four years since their last visit. Some friendly advice: come out and support this show so they’ll be sure to come back to our neck of the woods again.

 

 

As songwriters, Neal & Leandra have clearly mastered the art of saying more with less.  The Washington Post
Listening to Leandra Peak’s distinctively husky and lustrous voice might be as heavenly as listening to angels.  The Minneapolis Star Tribune