Leeland

Leeland Mooring wrote his first song at 11, felt a "calling" to music at 14 and started influencing the industry at 15. A start date of the band named after Mooring is hard to pin down; its founding members describe the beginning as practicing after youth group and discovering that perhaps they were a band. The accidental band is now five Texans strong, with frontman Leeland being joined by his single-syllable bandmates Mike, Matt, Jake and Jack (Leeland's brother). Already proven at 18 as an accomplished songwriter, Leeland wrote an impressive seven songs on Michael W. Smith's album Stand (FYI, Jack is married to Smitty's daughter Whitney). Still, his best tunes landed on the first two LPs from Leeland-the-band, ushering them straight into touring with industry kings Casting Crowns. Melodically cutting edge, Leeland bring a fluid rock passion to CCM.