Dominick Leslie is a mandolin player from Colorado. In 2004, at 14, he became the youngest player ever to win the mandolin contest at RockyGrass. He studied at Berklee College of Music, played with Missy Raines and the New Hip and the Deadly Gentlemen, and since 2017 has played in the instrumental quartet Hawktail. Since 2021 he has also played in Molly Tuttle’s Grammy-winning band, Golden Highway.
Why Leslie matters
Leslie is known for his rhythm. His rhythmic sense has made him one of the busiest mandolin players in acoustic music. He moves between hard-driving bluegrass with Golden Highway and the chamber-music textures of Hawktail. For a young picker, he shows that the mandolin’s rhythmic role can be as creative as its lead role.
Life and career
Leslie grew up in Colorado. He started on ukulele around age four and moved to guitar when he was big enough to hold one, then took up the mandolin. In 2004 he won the RockyGrass mandolin contest at 14, the youngest winner in its history. He released his first solo album, Signs of Courage, in 2005. In 2007 he placed second at the National Mandolin Championship at Winfield, Kansas.
In 2008 he enrolled at Berklee College of Music and spent two years there. While a student he toured with bassist Missy Raines and the New Hip, and he played in the progressive string band the Deadly Gentlemen. He also played in guitarist Grant Gordy’s quartet with violinist Alex Hargreaves.
In 2017 the trio of fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, and guitarist Jordan Tice added Leslie and renamed itself Hawktail. Their second album, Formations, came out on Padiddle Records. In 2021 Molly Tuttle formed Golden Highway with Leslie, banjo player Kyle Tuttle, fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, and bassist Shelby Means. Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album in 2023 and 2024.
Playing style
Leslie’s playing centers on groove. His chop and his rhythmic patterns lock in with the bass and guitar, and he often plays syncopated parts that push a tune forward. His solos are melodic and rhythmic at once, built from short motifs that he develops and moves around the beat.
In Hawktail his mandolin works like a second rhythm section, weaving patterns under Haas’s fiddle. In Golden Highway he plays hard-driving bluegrass breaks and backs Tuttle’s singing with tight, punchy fills.
Influences and legacy
Leslie came up in Colorado’s festival scene and finished his schooling in Boston’s acoustic music world. He has played beside Missy Raines, Grant Gordy, Alex Hargreaves, Brittany Haas, Paul Kowert, Jordan Tice, Molly Tuttle, and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes.
He was at Berklee in the same years as Jacob Jolliff.
Essential recordings
Signs of Courage (2005) Formations, with Hawktail (Padiddle)
Awards and honors
RockyGrass mandolin contest, first place, youngest winner (2004) National Mandolin Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, Winfield, Kansas, second place (2007) Grammy Award, Best Bluegrass Album, with Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway (2023, 2024)
Watch and listen
Leslie plays Free in Gaspesie for David Benedict’s Mandolin Mondays. Listen for the groove in his right hand.
What to learn from Leslie
Work on your rhythm the way Leslie does. Put on a recording of a fiddle tune and, instead of chopping on two and four, invent a syncopated pattern: chop on some offbeats, let a chord ring on others, and repeat the pattern every two bars. Keep it steady for the whole tune. A mandolin player with a creative, steady rhythm part makes the whole band sound better.
Sources
Hawktail, Bluegrass Unlimited Hawktail, LPR Hawktail, Celebrity Series of Boston Dominick Leslie, The Bluegrass Situation The String: Hawktail, WMOT Molly Tuttle, Wikipedia Grant Gordy, Peghead Nation Walnut Valley Festival winners archive, alphabetical (PDF)
Related players
See the mandolin players hub and the mandolin guide. Leslie plays beside Molly Tuttle and Brittany Haas. Jacob Jolliff and Tristan Scroggins are other leading mandolin players of his generation.