About
THE "ABOUT US" BLURB
Left Of Center is truly a musical dream come true for this duo.
This Father/Daughter duo, made of up of Nikki Gray and Lloyd Haight came about after their classic rock band "Courtyard" disbanded.
The two recognized that they had an opportunity to redirect their creativity and musical talents and that is when "Left Of Center" was born.
No strangers to the stage, LOC offers up over 80+ years in combined experience playing and singing in front of live audiences and recording.
The refocusing of their musical brand was a challenge, but well worth it.
They started with a selection of songs they used to perform with the rock band, reworked them to find a uniquely special, signature acoustic style and sound that they are known for today.
Left Of Center has a unique set list, comprised of rock songs from the 50's up til today, with their main focus being classic rock from the 70's & 80's.
Often their set list is commented on by audience members and how much they loved the song choices.
"We often joke that the songs we choose to take on are not ones you would usually hear coming out of one acoustic guitar and a vocalist.
To us, it's not about egos, or money... it's about the music.
The integrity of the song is always our top priority.
Sometimes, we will work on a song for 6 months before taking it to the stage and if we are not happy with it, it will never see the light of day."
The duo enjoys the venues that the rebranding has offered to them.
Their music now lends itself to fit smaller venues, such as places like White Point Beach Resort, Digby Pines, The Villages of Mountain Gap, Winemakers Tavern and some smaller festivals and outdoor concert series events put on by many communities.
It has become a more intimate show, where the audience becomes part of the magic, toes tapping, heads bobbing and singing along.
But don't be fooled... the music is a full band sound, ready to take on any stage.
Over the last couple years, Left Of Center has also taken on a new exciting journey, joining forces with one of their musical friends, Vance Macleod.
Although the pandemic had created many challenges and halted the release date of this, audiences will finally be able to join them as they bring a special event show to stages called "Off The Chain" ~ A Fleetwood Mac Songbook Experience.
A 2.5hr show, that has completely brought the Fleetwood Mac songbook to life in a truly special way.
Reminiscent of the old "MTV:Unplugged" shows from the nineties, the show presents an intimate setting, where the trio indulges your senses with an acoustically driven dive into the songs you know and love.
A NAME TO THE FACES
Lloyd Haight
Born in Digby, Nova Scotia, Lloyd has been involved in the music business for most of his life, having started at the age of 8 playing banjo in his first band. His keen interest in all things music and his natural talent led him to teach himself to play guitar, bass, mandolin and harmonica as well as various other instruments.
Having focused mainly on the electric lead guitar for several years, Lloyd has developed a guitar style uniquely his own. which he now uses to bring a different style to his acoustic playing.
His musical influences include such diverse artists as John Fogerty, BB King, Roy Clarke, Stevie Ray Vaughn and David Gilmour.
After several years in the bar scene playing for many well known Valley bands, Lloyd put his talent on the line and co-founded Courtyard as an avenue to explore writing and recording original music.
His vocals are featured prominently on a number of Courtyard songs as well.
Now, in Left Of Center, he shares the lead vocals, harmonies and brings the music to life with his guitar.
Nikki Gray
Born in Galt, Ontario, she moved to the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia as a baby.
When she was 10 years old, her father introduced her to karaoke, where she started her singing career with Patsy Cline’s hit “Walking After Midnight”.
Singing quickly became her favorite thing to do, and was accepted to a very prestigious choir during high school, performing in musicals, and travelling abroad to compete and finishing her years with the lead role as Katisha in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Operatic Comedy “the Mikado”.
Although choir and karaoke aided in developing her musical style, the live music scene was where she found her niche.
In 1998, Nikki was a founding member of Country Generations. It was a 10 piece Nashville Style Showband, which seen very strong success at home, and touring around the Maritimes, Ontario, and the United States.
She recorded 5 CD’s in Nashville with the band, and had a #1 Hit in Australia for 18 weeks, which lead to an Australian Tour in 2004. She even had the privilege of singing on stage at The Sydney Opera House while there.
In 2007, Country Generations parted ways, and Nikki found the new avenue she was looking for.
She joined the boys of Courtyard in 2008, wanting to take her music career in a different direction, and Rock ‘n’ Roll was just the way to go at the time.
The band had a successful run, being known as one of the Valley's best Classic Rock Bands.
She is now lending her vocal talent to the acoustic duo "Left of Center" along side her stepfather, aka "Pops" and former band mate Lloyd Haight.
Vance Macleod
Born in Cape Breton, Vance started playing guitar early teens. He is a self taught musician, with amazing ability, talent and heart, he has crafted a style truly his own with so much feel and instinct for the music. He had a 4 piece band in high school years, playing talent shows and local festivals around Sydney, NS.
In the early 80’s, he moved to the Annapolis Valley and spent some time on and off in different cover bands.
In 1990, Vance formed the classic rock band “The Calm” and played around the Valley bar scene for approx. 10 years.
The Calm folded in the early 2000’s and he started his musical path as a solo act, playing solo gigs at various Valley establishments and festivals for approximately the last 18 years.
Ironically, Vance and Lloyd both lent their musical talents to the creation of an album of a mutual musician friend many years ago, but had never played together. They both played in bands with many of the same musicians throughout the years, but still never together.
Vance teamed up with Lloyd and Nikki of Left Of Center in 2019 to start work on the “Off The Chain: A Fleetwood Mac Songbook Experience” project, which is currently ongoing.