Leah (musician)

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Leah McHenry
Also known as Leah McHenry
Born November 4, 1984 (age 37)[1]
Origin Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres Celtic metal, symphonic metal, symphonic black metal, world music, folk
rock
Occupation(s) Musician, music and music marketing teacher, candle maker,
entrepreneur
Instruments Voice, keyboard, piano
Years active 2011-present
Labels Ex Cathedra, Inner Wound
Associated acts Dragonlord, Ashur, Project Aegis, Delain, Testament, Vengeance,
Eluveitie
Website leahmusic.net
Leah McHenry, mononymously known as Leah (pronounced /liːɑː/ LEE-a) (born November
4, 1984), is a Canadian heavy metal musician from Vancouver, British Columbia, who
records both as a solo artist and, since 2018, as a member of Dragonlord. Sometimes
called the "Enya of heavy metal", she performs a mixture of symphonic and Celtic
metal with folk and world music. As a solo artist, she has released four full-
length albums, Of Earth & Angels in 2012, Kings & Queens in 2015, The Quest in
2018, and Ancient Winter in 2019; two EPs, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence in
2012 and Otherworld in 2013; and twenty singles, both as part of album releases and
as stand-alone recordings. She is a frequent artistic collaborator with Eric
Peterson of Testament and Dragonlord, Timo Somers from Delain and Vengeance, Sander
Zoer from Delain, Barend Courbois from Blind Guardian and Vengeance, and Troy
Donockley of Nightwish. McHenry and Peterson released a collaborative single,
"Winter Sun", in 2015. She joined Dragonlord for its 2018 studio album Dominion.
She also has participated in the charity group Project Aegis.

Contents
1 Biography
2 Musical style and influences
3 Lyrical themes and ideology
4 Discography
4.1 Studio albums
4.2 Extended plays
4.3 Singles
5 References
6 External links
Biography
McHenry is from the Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada, and has English,
Irish, and Scottish ancestry.[2][3][4] Around age 10 or 11, she started singing in
her home.[3][5] According to McHenry, she mimicked the singing of others — Jim
Morrison, Mariah Carey, Tori Amos, it did not matter — until she developed her own
style.[5] She eventually taught herself piano and joined the band Ashur, which
toured locally and released an EP.[3] She also taught herself a limited amount of
guitar.[5] She released her first solo album, Of Earth & Angels, in December 2012,
and performed her first live show that same month.[3][6] She also released a three-
track Christmas EP that December.[3] In 2013, she released the EP Otherworld.[7]
Eric Peterson contributed to the single "Dreamland" from the EP.[2][7] In January
2015, she released her second studio album, Kings & Queens. Contributing to the
album were Timo Somers of Delain and Vengeance, Sander Zoer of Delain, and Barend
Courbois of Blind Guardian and Vengeance.[8][9][10] In December of the same year,
she and Peterson collaborated on the single "Winter Sun", enlisting the help of the
rest of the Dragonlord band line-up and some touring members of Testament to round-
out the recording.[11] In 2017, she released "The Dragonborn Comes", a cover
version of Jeremy Soule's "Skyrim Theme (Dragonborn)" from the The Elder Scrolls V:
Skyrim – Dragonborn video game expansion.[6] Her third studio album, The Quest, was
released on October 5, 2018.[12] The recording featured previous collaborators
Somers, Courbois, and Zoer, along with Troy Donockley of Nightwish and Chen Balbus
of Orphaned Land.[13] On November 15, 2019, she released Ancient Winter, a
Christmas album and her fourth album overall. The album featured more
instrumentation from McHenry herself and included contributions from Donockley,
Anna Murphy of Cellar Darling and Eluveitie, Shar-Ran Yinon of Eluveitie and Epica,
and Rupert Gillett.[14][15] She also participated in two charity singles by Project
Aegis, a charity project organized by Matt Smith of Theocracy: The first, "Angel in
the Ashes", was released in 2016, and featured contributions from McHenry, Smith,
Rob Rock, Daísa Munhoz of Vandroya and Soulspell, and Vasilis Georgiou and Gus Drax
of Sunburst and Black Fate.[16] The second, "And the Rest is a Mystery" was
released in 2020, and featured McHenry, Smith, Daniel Heiman of Lost Horizon,
Harmony, and Heed, Neal Morse of Spock's Beard and Transatlantic, and Ernie Topran
and Val Allen Wood of Theocracy.[17]

In addition to singing, McHenry plays the piano, keyboards, and some guitar, and
teaches herself Celtic harp.[3][18] McHenry is married and has five children whom
she homeschools.[3][19] She fits her music career around her family commitments,
which is partly why she has not yet gone on a concert tour.[3][20] In addition to
her recording career, she also founded a music instruction and marketing company,
Savvy Musician Academy, in 2015,[21][22] and is the CEO and product developer of
fantasy and folklore inspired candles at Mythologie Candles.[4][23]

Musical style and influences

Sometimes referred to as "the metal Enya",[6] McHenry has, in addition to Enya,
been compared to Loreena McKennitt, Hayley Westenra, Liv Kristine and Kristine's
band Leaves' Eyes, Sharon Den Adel, Moya Brennan (a sister of Enya), Tori Amos, and
Blackmore's Night.[2][10][20][24][25][26] Her genre is described as symphonic and
Celtic metal mixed with folk and world music,[2][6][20][27][28][29] as well as folk
metal,[2][28][27] world music, gothic metal,[2][28][27] gothic rock,[2] symphonic
gothic metal,[30] power metal,[9][28] and symphonic power metal,[30] with
progressive metal,[20] New Age,[9] and Middle Eastern influences.[9][10][30] On
Ancient Winter, she shifted away from symphonic metal further into folk rock and
world music, including medieval music.[14][29][31] During her childhood, she
listened to gospel and choir music as well as blues and rock music, such as Jimi
Hendrix and The Doors.[3] In her teens she discovered metal music, starting with
Dream Theater and then bands such as Symphony X and Nightwish.[3] She considers her
discovery of Celtic music and then European symphonic metal to be when she
musically found where she belonged.[32] She credits her focus on Celtic music and
music of the Middle East evoking the Roman and Persian eras to listening to Loreena
McKennitt and Enya, as well as her Celtic ancestry, specifically Irish and
Scottish.[10][33][32][34] Other influences on McHenry include Jesse Cook, Enya,
early Lacuna Coil, early Within Temptation, "old school" After Forever, Devin
Townsend, Nightwish, and Clannad.[10][20][26][34]

Lyrical themes and ideology

McHenry's lyrics and thematic imagery mostly involve fantasy, folklore, and
mythology with a medieval European and Insular Celtic focus.[20] Many of her songs
include water and ocean themes, and she sometimes sings in other languages such as
Irish Gaelic and Latin.[3][33][29] McHenry is a Christian, but does not consider
her music a ministry or associate with the Christian music market, and does not
explicitly write Christian themes in her music.[35]

Discography
See also: Dragonlord (band) § Discography
Studio albums
Of Earth & Angels - 2012
Kings & Queens - 2015
The Quest - 2018
Ancient Winter - 2019
Extended plays
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence - 2012
Otherworld - 2013
Singles
"Veni Veni Emmanuel (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)" - 2011[36]
"Remember (radio edge mix)" - 2012[37]
"Silent Night" - 2012[38]
"Matters of the Heart" - 2012[39]
"We Will Go Home" (cover, from King Arthur) - 2013[40]
"Here's a Health to the Company" - 2013[41]
"Dreamland" (featuring Eric Peterson) - 2013[42]
"Enter the Highlands" - 2014[43]
"This Present Darkness" - 2015[44]
"Unbreakable" (Stratovarius cover) - 2015[45]
"While Your Lips Are Still Red" (Nightwish cover) - 2015[46]
"Red (Remembrance for the Brave)" (Ten cover) - 2015[47]
"Winter Sun" (with Eric Peterson) - 2015[11]
"The Dragonborn Comes" (Jeremy Soule cover, from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim –
Dragonborn) - 2017[6]
"Elixir of Life" - 2017[48]
"Edge of Your Sword" - 2018[49]
"Lion Arises" - 2018[50]
"Redemption" - 2019[51]
"Light of the World" - 2019[52]
"Sanctuary" - 2020[53]

References
McHenry, Leah (November 4, 2018). "Today I turn 34. We live in a society that
tries to do everything in its power to escape age. I want to embrace it. I look
forward to grey..." Instagram. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021.
Retrieved June 27, 2021.
Newman, Craig (November 21, 2013). "Leah's new Otherworld EP featuring Eric
Peterson of Testament". All Access Magazine. Archived from the original on June 16,
2016. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
Stryker, Robin (February 2013). "LEAH Interview". Sonic Cathedral. Retrieved June
5, 2021.
McHenry, Leah. "Hi! I'm Leah, the creator of Mythologie Candles". Mythologie
Candles. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
"Leah McHenry". Metal Divas. June 22, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
Monger, James Christopher. "Leah". AllMusic. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
Prof, Pacific. "Leah - Otherworld EP". Sonic Cathedral. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
"LEAH New Album "Kings & Queens" Announced". MelodicRock.com. November 11, 2014.
Archived from the original on April 21, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
Susan (January 13, 2015). "Leah - Kings & Queens review - Metal Storm". Metal
Storm. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
Newman, Craig (December 18, 2014). "Celtic Metal Queen Leah talks about Kings &
Queens and her music influences". All Access Magazine. Archived from the original
on January 21, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
DiVita, Joe (December 23, 2015). "Eric Peterson + Leah, 'Winter Sun' - Exclusive
Song Premiere". Loudwire. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
Waltz, Jonathan (September 28, 2018). "Leah - The Quest". Powermetal.de (in
German). Retrieved June 15, 2021.
Mis, Joe (October 14, 2018). "Leah | The Quest". HardrockHaven.net. Retrieved June
7, 2021.
 Swank, Jonathan "Doc" (December 11, 2019). "LEAH - Ancient Winter". Heaven's Metal
Magazine. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
McHenry, Leah. "Ancient Winter, by LEAH". Retrieved June 7, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
Peters, Markus. "Project Aegis - Angels in the Ashes". Crossfire-Metal.de (in
German). Retrieved June 10, 2021.
Van Pelt, Doug (February 7, 2020). "Project Aegis Releases Single Featuring Neal
Morse, Theocracy, Daniel Heiman, Leah". Heaven's Metal Magazine. Retrieved June 10,
2021.
W., Bear (June 18, 2020). "Interview with Leah - "It's definitely the atmosphere,
mainly found in the particular synthesizers and folk instruments such as the harp,
fiddle, and whistles or flutes."". Tuonela Magazine. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
McHenry, Leah (August 5, 2016). "Hi, I'm Leah McHenry. Homeschool Mom of 5, Full-
time Musician, and Liberty Lover". Steemit. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
Mis, Joe (February 22, 2015). "Leah McHenry". HardrockHaven.net. Retrieved June 6,
2021.
Sandvall, Anders (March 27, 2019). "Canadian singer, musician, songwriter LEAH".
Metal-Rules.com. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
Bacon, Matt; Dewar, Curtis (December 18, 2019). "Dumb and Dumbest Episode #263:
Female-Fronted is Not A Genre". Ghost Cult Magazine. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
"Fantasy Candle Brand Releases Holiday Collection Inspired By The Chronicles of
Narnia". BXP Magazine. December 10, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
Pacific Prof. "Leah - Otherworld EP". Sonic Cathedral. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
Zukowski, Zenae (December 4, 2019). "A conversation with Leah on 'Ancient
Winter'". Metal Insider. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
Kusano, Rodney (November 1, 2019). "Exclusive Premiere of LEAH's New Video for
"Light of the World"". Outburn. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
Roks, Sjak (March 2018). "Leah - The Quest". Lords of Metal. No. 188. Retrieved
June 10, 2021.
Pezy, William (January 2015). "Leah - Kings & Queens". Lords of Metal. No. 154.
Retrieved June 10, 2021.
Jano (October 10, 2019). "Leah - 'Ancient Winter' (2019)". Folk-metal.nl.
Retrieved June 8, 2021.
Swank, Jonathan "Doc" (October 8, 2018). "LEAH - The Quest". Heaven's Metal
Magazine. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
Jeff (November 11, 2019). "Album Review: Leah - Ancient Winter". Folk N Rock.
Retrieved June 7, 2021.
Electronic Brain (June 17, 2013). "Interview with Leah". Rocktopia. No. 57.
Retrieved June 8, 2021.
MCR (December 31, 2014). "Interview with Leah McHenry from LEAH – Rock / Metal
singer and Songwriter from Canada". Monkey Castle Franken (in German). Retrieved
June 6, 2021. (English version)
Schoolcraft, Lindsay. "LEAH - Of Earth & Angels". Sonic Cathedral. Retrieved June
8, 2021.
Leah (October 31, 2016). "Many people ask me about..." Facebook. Retrieved June 6,
2021.
"Veni Veni Emmanuel (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel), by LEAH". Retrieved June 8, 2021 –
via Bandcamp.
"Remember (radio edge mix), by LEAH". Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
"Silent Night, by LEAH". Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
"Matters of the Heart, by LEAH". Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
"We Will Go Home (single), by LEAH". Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
"Here's A Health to the Company, by LEAH". Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
"Dreamland (Single) Feat. Eric Peterson, by LEAH". Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via
Bandcamp.
"Enter the Highlands - Single by Leah". Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via Apple Music.
"This Present Darkness - Single by Leah". Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via Apple
Music.
"Unbreakable (Stratovarius cover), by LEAH". Retrieved June 9, 2021 – via
Bandcamp.
 "While Your Lips Are Still Red (Nightwish Cover), by LEAH". Retrieved June 9, 2021
– via Bandcamp.
"Red (Remembrance for the Brave) - TEN cover, by LEAH". Retrieved June 9, 2021 –
via Bandcamp.
"Elixir of Life - Single by Leah". Retrieved June 9, 2021 – via Apple Music.
"Edge of Your Sword, by LEAH". Retrieved June 9, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
"Lion Arises, by LEAH". Retrieved June 9, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
"Redemption, by LEAH". Retrieved June 9, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
"Light of the World - Single by Leah". Retrieved June 9, 2021 – via Apple Music.
"Sanctuary, by LEAH". Retrieved June 9, 2021 – via Bandcamp.
External links
Official website
Categories: Canadian heavy metal musiciansSymphonic metal musiciansHeavy metal
keyboardistsGothic metalProgressive metal musiciansCeltic rock musicCanadian folk
musiciansCanadian folk metal musiciansSymphonic black metalCanadian world music
musiciansMedieval folk rockBusinesspeople from VancouverMusicians from
VancouverWriters from VancouverCanadian women songwritersRock songwritersCanadian
music educatorsNew-age musiciansCeltic metal musiciansWorld music singersPower
metalCanadian women pianistsCanadian rock pianistsCanadian rock
keyboardistsCanadian women heavy metal singersCanadian women folk singersCanadian
women rock singers21st-century Canadian composers21st-century Canadian
educators21st-century Canadian women singersCanadian power metal musical groups1984
birthsLiving peopleGothic rock musicians
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