WEHM All Access - Great South Bay Music Festival - Leslie Mendelson

 In this episode of WEHM All Access, Harry talks with singer‑songwriter Leslie Mendelson as she returns to Long Island to join Andy Falco and an all‑star lineup for the Bob Weir Celebration at the Great South Bay Music Festival. Leslie reflects on growing up in Setauket, discovering music through her parents’ record collection, and eventually finding her voice as a songwriter in New York’s folk circles. She shares what it was like collaborating with Bob Weir — the calm, the openness, the space he created in the music — and how surreal it felt to sing songs she grew up loving alongside the person who wrote them. Leslie also talks about her partnership with Steve McEwan, working with legendary producer Peter Asher, and recording at Jackson Browne’s Groove Masters studio. With deep ties to the Dead community and a heartfelt connection to Bob’s music, Leslie arrives ready to help bring a spirited tribute to the Jambalaya Stage. 

@LeslieMendelson

@GreatSouthBayMusicFestival 

Make sure to follow @wehmradio and @harrywehmradio on Instagram and Facebook and check out wehm.com for more!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

It is EHM All Access eagerly awaiting the Great South Bay Music Festival 2026 edition. And coming up on Sunday at 420, it's a special Bob Weir celebration with some great guests. And joining me is Leslie Mendelssohn. Leslie, how are you? I'm good. Hi. Thank you for coming on. We appreciate it. And uh you're a part of a fun celebration happening this weekend out at Shorefront Park in Patchog. Uh first, Andy Falco is kind of leading the way for this. How do you know Andy? And of course, you've got such a rich history with Bob as well. Bob Weird.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Yeah. Well, Andy I've known because we grew I grew up on Long Island as well, and we were in bands, you know, crossing paths in our early 20s, and we've always been friends, and we uh yeah, we still work together. So this was like a perfect opportunity to collaborate and you know, um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Looking forward to it. There's a whole bunch of guests uh going off at 420 on Sunday, of course. Perfect timing for for Bob Weir. And you've collaborated with Bob in the past, uh your duets um Boo Bayou. What is uh what is what did Bob bring out in you creatively that others um I'm not saying didn't, but how did he kind of work with you?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Well, there's an amazing calmness uh about Bob and uh like a sense of fun as well. And he just had just a great way about him, but you know, growing up listening to Grateful Dead songs and um being able to actually get to sing them years later with Bob was incredible. I'm like, I know all these harmonies, and I'm like, I you know, I looked over when I was like the first time I sang Cassidy with him, and I'm like, yeah, that's that's the way it sounds. Like it was pretty surreal.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

What was it like performing with Bob? How did you know that dynamic between knowing the dead's legacy, but also kind of woving your own identity into that performance?

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Well, that's it. Um, you know, just knowing these songs so well and getting a chance to sing it with, you know, the the person who actually wrote it. And um, and there's just such a freedom and beauty in the way that he and and the Grateful Dead, you know, Jerry Garcia that they wrote that's unlike anybody uh else in, you know, they were such an anomaly. And um it's it's you could see that they've left such a trail because, you know, there's just a huge scene of uh people tr trying not to uh do what they did, but just to emulate that space that they created.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

I would imagine too, is it um it's such an honor to to do the music and perform the music of of the dead and and Bob? Uh is it yeah, in a way you you want to make sure you honor the past uh with it. What's that like? Um, especially now that that Bob sadly has passed away, what's that like for you to get on stage and and perform these songs? Is it different now?

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Is it different? I I wouldn't say it's different, but I just think that they're just like uh jazz and just like uh different genres, you know, and and times that we've had throughout history, it's like the great American songbook that will last years beyond us, I think, because it's such a there's so much to draw from and there's so many songs. And just like The Grateful Dead, they have roots and and and stuff that they pulled from. So it's just like this lineage of uh music and time that will keep going. And I, you know, and I'm just here to celebrate it.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Where did you grow up um here? I I know you've obviously been in Brooklyn and and all over um this area, but where did you where did you first grow up?

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Uh used to uh Salsa Talk it. Oh wow, went to Ward Melville.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Oh wow, that's right down the road. Yeah, it's literally right down the road. What's it like to kind of perform here on Long Island? Because you grew up here and obviously in Brooklyn for a while. But uh, what's it like to perform in in front of a Long Island crowd?

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Oh, they're the best. You know, you know, like because I still do it a lot. Um I I've been performing, you know, even though I moved to Brooklyn, I feel like at least a year, like once or twice a year, I'm I'm either at the Stephen Talk House or um the People's Pub. I've done shows with Andy. We've done stuff at um the Bay Shore Theater. I think that's the Bolton Center, yeah. The Bolton Center, yeah. And um I feel like there's more, but you know, like there's just certain places that every time I I play, uh there's just people that I've grown up with playing for you know for so long that it's always it's always great.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Well, it's it sounds like you've just really worked with some amazing people over the the past few decades. What's that like? Is it kind of surreal to look back? Because you've gotten to work with uh so many great people that you kind of grew up listening to.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Like a comeback super cocky. I was like, you know who I've worked with, right? Don't you know who I've worked with? Um I think you know, I mean, there's it's an honor of you know being able to work with Jackson Brown and being weird, you know, just yeah, you know, but they're just they're just dudes. No, I'm just kidding. Uh no, there it's it's there's so much I have I have so much respect for these people, and it's it's incredible that I've been able to work with them. Yeah, and it's made me super cocky. So that's you know, it's what it is.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

I'm kidding, of course.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Stand back.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Well, no, you've worked, and you've had a chance to work with you know, growing up on Long Island and getting out there, it's uh it's such a it's so cool that you've done it. You know, there's so many, it's really tough being a musician on Long Island, and you've broken through and you've done a lot of different things over the years.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

That's nice because I never think I have but you have, no. I mean it's still working, you know, like Don Tra, you know, like there's always another level, you know, and uh it's just just keep working. I think that's it, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:58

How did how long did it take for you to to kind of develop your own voice or just like the comfort level to really because you have such an amazing uh quality to your voice? Um thanks in warm and into how long did it take for you to feel comfortable?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

That's interesting. I think as a kid, I was like unwieldy, unwieldy, is that the word? Um I just think that like I would just sing, and then I remember taking vocal lessons, and I remember this one woman, she was a teacher, and I sang this jazz standard, and I was quite cocky, thinking I I was good. And she was just like, you know how you just sang that? She's like, never sing it like that again. I was like, oh. She's like, I want to hear the song, not your voice. And that always stuck with me, you know, like how important the melody is. And when I learn a song, I really try to stick to the melody as much as I can. And and I feel like that's helped guide me as a singer.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

When you were younger, I read that your father was a trumpet player. Um still is.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

He'd be really upset if you said was.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Your father is a trumpet player and a music teacher. Um what was that like in your in your household growing up? Was there always something on and different types, I'd imagine, of music too?

SPEAKER_01 7:13

We had a really good stereo system growing up. My dad had great had a great record collection. And um, my mom worked for like a speaker company, I think before I was born. So they had like uh I think it was J JBL or JBL.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

The best of both worlds, yes, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

So like I remember they they had this great, like huge speakers and a great turntable. And so I you know, my dad kind of like was in a bit of the jazz world, like, you know, so I remember like hearing certain records that really just sounded amazing. And then we had a piano growing up, and I would just sit at the piano, and I kind of like just felt my way around and you know, just uh playing by ear. But there was times where my dad would just sit next to me and we'd just play and kind of improvise. I remember those being really special moments that I when I, you know, I still they're very vivid. And I was probably like three or four, maybe five years old, maybe a little old, you know, around there. It wasn't that old, but it definitely had an impact on me.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

What moment, how old were you do you remember when you kind of knew that music was going to be your life, that you you could do this?

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Um, I think it took me a while, actually, because I remember like I I mean I always had music in my life, but I never I don't know if I thought I could make it, you know, like a living. And then sometime in my 20s, I think I was driving around teaching piano lessons, and I'm just like, F this. I'm like, I can't, I kind of like I'm just so like sitting in traffic one day. I think I was just like, I got this gotta be something else. And I think it was just like a boiling point of me just like just wanting to figure out how like it's not like about not hustling, but just changing the hustle.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

And working, working differently. Uh is that when you moved to York City or yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

That's kind of when, and I realized that I needed some more training too. And I I went and took some classes at the Brooklyn Queens Conservatory, and you know, like just trying to like get myself better. Well, I knew I needed to be better. I I wasn't, I didn't feel like I yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Well, well, that's it's interesting. What was that transition like moving from Long Island to where you're I'd imagine comfortable, but going to a scene where there's probably more talent to a lot more people. Um, what was that transition like to kind of find your footing?

SPEAKER_01 9:28

I well, let's see. I when I first moved to the city, I got tipped off to a songwriter circle run by Jack Hardy, um, who was he was one of the he he was very instrumental in the folk scene in the 70s and 80s and 90s, and lots of famous folk artists came through there. And every Monday night he'd have a circle where like a group that everybody would come with a new song that they wrote that week or something they'd been working on, and people would bring wine, he'd make pasta in his like little apartment in the West Village. And I remember thinking, well, you know, I think Suzanne Vega would come and sit in, and you know, uh just great people. And I was thinking, well, I'm not I know I'm not the best, but I'm not the worst. And I suppose that you know what I mean? Like, so it's just like, all right, you know, and I have a lot to learn. And those those kicked my butt. I had to really, you know, come up with a song and and but I was that's when it's you know, I just felt like, but I I there was hope because I wasn't the worst.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

No, sometimes I think that's important that you know that, that you know that there's something to build on.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Um, and being around different people uh and imagine helps your confidence and helps you grow as a as a writer and uh and and of course, and I'm curious. Uh speaking about songwriting, and I know you've written a lot with your guitarist, Steve, what does that partnership look like for you? How how does that work together when you're kind of crafting a song?

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Oh yeah. Steve McEwen, um, British Steve, we call him. And uh let's see, we we've been working together for a while. Um we all have an idea, then you know, or he'll have an idea, and then we just kind of dive in and you know, we'll kind of just sing nonsense. Sometimes, you know, Steve will have a great idea with lyrics already there, and I can just help shape it, you know. It's it comes in all different shapes and sizes, but um, yeah, I've been lucky to have such a a great writer to work with and bounce off of so many great originals, but too, but also covers of songs.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

And uh and I'm curious, you've done so many different artists like Bob Dylan or Carol King or Roy Orbison. What what draws you to a cover? What kind of makes you want to kind of decide you want to make it your own? What what kind of attracts you to certain songs?

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Well, A if I can sing it.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Let me get there.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

It's always first box the check at about it.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Sometimes I'll be like, I love that song, and I try to sing it, it's like, oh, I sound terrible. Or it's just it's not for me. Like, you know, um, so it it I have to find a way like to to get my head around a song. Like I I've been doing the song for a long time. I um Don't Get Me Wrong by the Pretenders. And um it's it's I found a way to do this very minimalistic version for a very produced song. Like it's a it's got that big 80s production to it, and I kind of stripped it down and do these this little arrangement where I have like a couple of just strings I play it on, like two or three in a very minimal, and then it kind of builds, but like I knew I I loved the song, I could sing it, and I felt like I made my own arrangement with it. Yeah, like you want to be able to do something a little unique with it, or just us on and also just sometimes I sing the song. Like I like the other night, I did a show up in the Berkshires, and I got a request at the end of the night for the Bee Gees to love somebody. Yeah, and I'm literally just sitting at the piano singing the song, but then everybody sings along and it's really nice. But it's sometimes you don't have to do anything if it's a good song, you know, and you just feel like it comes from your heart. I think that's really it. You just to be able to deliver it.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

What was it like uh during the pandemic? The last six years certainly have been interesting. Uh what did you work on the most or or even just kind of get away? What what kind of inspired you during that time? And um to get back to um your most recent record after the party uh came out. Where did where did that all come from? I'd imagine it was inspired by that time.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Well, it's interesting because my record came out, my 2020 record came out, if you can't say anything nice, in April of 2020. So that was like, Yeah, that's gotta be hard for an artist. It was hard, and it was also because you know, let's face it, it's a very competitive market out there. The fact that the pandemic came and like leveled the whole thing was interesting to me. Because it felt different. Because, you know, we do the same old thing every day, and this was something different. It was like outside the box, and I actually kind of found a way to get through it. Um, you know, doing a lot of those Zoom concerts and and Facebook or Instagram live, and just I remember having really, you know, in the early days, nobody really saw each other that much, and then all of a sudden you'd go on to Instagram live and you'd see all these hearts and people like, hey, and I'm just like, I was so moved by it because I think we all needed some connection, and uh so those were actually those were great. I I really enjoyed that. I mean, it was it was also a pain in the butt, but you know, like because you're like, ugh, you know, you just want to like get on with it already. But yeah, I think I made the most of it. And then so that record came out, and then finally at some point I was like, I need to start writing again. And and I think I didn't want to sing about the pandemic at all. I think there were things that came out of it. Like I remember like um Signs of Life. That was one of the first songs I'd written because I was thinking, where is everybody? You know, I do that like Pink Floyd, is there anybody out there? You know, and and just like uh so there was inspiration that came from it, but I didn't really want to sing about that. So it was more, I think after the party was just a celebration of music that I that I've loved throughout my lifetime, whether, you know, there's some country, there's some more like experimental stuff on it, and uh yeah, that it feels a little more joyful than say if you can't say anything nice, which was kind of um it came out in 2020, so I think that was a big record of like I'm like just releasing my frustrations of those times.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

That that makes a lot of sense. Uh after the party uh worked with a couple different producers for it, yeah, uncle Peter Asher. What was that like to have a lot of different voices um with you? How was how did you kind of manage those different voices and different places?

SPEAKER_01 16:04

So we had two different producers along with Steve McEwen who kind of um helped with the production, but it was, you know, I had been working with Tyler Chester, uh he he's a great producer out of LA, worked with Madison Cunningham, and I had this up that just came up. I had a great opportunity to work with him. We we did three songs and it they sounded really cool, and then I got another opportunity to work with Peter Asher. And I remember talking to Jackson Brown about it because I had started working with Tyler, and he's just like, you know, um, hey, if you have an opportunity to work with Peter, you should. And so we did a few songs with him, and then I kind of assessed everything at the end, and I'm like, they all it all goes together, so it became one record. And Steve was there to like, and I was there, you know, to be able to bridge the gap.

unknown 16:49

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

And then you did it, I believe, at Jackson Brown Studio.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Yes, we did at Groove Masters in Santa Monica.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

What was uh what was different about that as far as other studios compared to it? Was there something that really special that stood out during that process?

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Well, it's really nice to be able to work in a good studio, and that happens to be a great studio. Plus, when Peter asked me who I wanted to work with, I um I was just like, let's, yeah, I I knew he'd worked with this collection of musicians for forever. And I was just like, what are the chances that we can get some of those guys? And he's just like, we can get, you know, we can try for anyone. So my dream was to work with, I wanted to work with Leland Sklar, and we got him, Jim Keltner, we got him, Wadi Wachtel, and you know, Jim Jorgensen. We had a lot of John Jorgensen, and we had a lot of like just great musicians on this album, and it was thanks to him because he could pretty much, because he's Peter Asher, can do whoever he wants. And and um, yeah, it was just a you know, there's a reason they've been on a lot of hit records, other than just being great musicians, they just all had really great attitudes and dispositions in the studio.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

Well, Leslie Mendelssohn coming up uh this weekend, the Bob Weir celebration. And uh before we go, I'm curious if you could tell us more about the moment um about Blue Bayou, how that happened uh with the story Dead and Company uh rehearsing and Bob was there. What was that like for you? And I know you were singing Roy Orbison, if I'm not mistaken.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Yeah, so around the time that time, I had um been invited to do We are here, which was Bob Weir's uh web series, and that it was kind of uh he would invite singer-songwriters to his studio in TRI uh in Marin at TRI. And um around that time when I did it, it was just it was pretty great. And we were doing some gigs together at that time, so we were working together, and um, I had a little studio in in that in at TRI. And I remember just working one day and I was singing Blue Bayou, and they were, like you said, working, they were starting to put Dead and Company together. And Bob walked past my room and he's like, What are you working on? I was just like, Oh, you know, I was trying to like, you know, working on a stripped-down version of this song, you know, like a lot of um delay and and kind of uh just a very kind of echoey vibe of the song. And and then I started, he's like, Well, you know, that's one of my favorite songs. And I'm like, get out of town. And so we he started we started singing it, and then um when the studio was free, we went in and recorded it together, just did a live version, and then I put it on my record, uh 2017, Love and Murder, and uh it was one of the songs on that record.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Uh, how do you because we've talked a lot about Bob Weir's music, uh, but I'm I'm curious because you you did get a chance to know him. How do you want people to remember him? Not just uh the music, but based on your own time spent with him as a person, what kind of stood out to you?

SPEAKER_01 19:53

That he was so open. And you know, um that first time when I worked with him, I I I was with Steve Kimok as well, and the way that they played guitar together was absolutely brilliant. But I remember there's just a lot of space in the music and not being afraid to leave space, and Bob created this place where he could just play certain uh notes that would open up more space. He did it for Jerry, and um, but it kind of went with his personality too. He wasn't afraid to make mistakes or take chances, but he was also very calm and cool and and um yeah, he was just lovely.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Is there a certain song you're looking forward to uh performing this Sunday?

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Um yeah, but I don't know. Should I give it well? I guess it's not a you probably know the set list already. Cassidy is one of my favorite songs, and I've sung it with Bob, and I'll and anytime I get a chance to sing it with somebody who can, you know, sing harmony. It's such a cool song, and I just love it. So yeah, I'm always I always look forward to singing that song.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

We can't wait. Bob We're a celebration coming up on Sunday. Leslie Mendelson, thank you so much for your time. It's nice to get to know you.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Thank you. You too.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

I really appreciate it. And uh thanks for coming on. We'll see you on Sunday on the main stage, Great South Bay MusicFestival.com for tickets, and it should be a lot of fun out there with a great collaboration on stage. And uh I'm sure that it's uh just nice to see uh Andy and uh so many different musicians getting together for this. Uh for I know Rob from Darkstar Orchestra, uh Eric uh Krasno Band or Pat Felco, his brother will be there.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Eric Finland, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

So it's gonna be a nice uh nice afternoon out at Shorefront Park. Leslie, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

All right, take care.