Chuck Leavell Featured in the USAToday - The Tree Man is a “Notable Documentary”

Tens of thousands in a sold-out stadium are visually stapled to Mick Jagger belting "Start Me Up." But the band's eyes will frequently dart to the snow-haired presence stationed stage right.

Chuck Leavell is perched behind his bank of keyboards, electric piano and organ, his hand occasionally airborne, his glances with Jagger and Keith Richards subtle.

But those aren't just friendly nods. They're meaningful cues, just as a conductor directs an orchestra.

The maestro of the Rolling Stones, Leavell has served as their keyboardist and musical director since the early ‘80s, coming in as a veteran of the Allman Brothers Band and his own jam-rock outfit Sea Level.

“Let’s say there is a song we haven’t done for a while, and I’ve refreshed my memory through the notes and go through soundcheck and I’m looking around at everyone to make sure they remember the parts,” Leavell says. “But when you think about how Mick is engaging the public (on stage), that’s his gig, and sometimes it’s not unusual for him to have a question like, ‘Do I come in here?’ So he can glance at me and with a nod or hand signal (and) I can help him out.”

Leavell has also shared stages and studios with Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, John Mayer and The Black Crowes and is a lauded environmentalist with the notable 2020 documentary “The Tree Man.” He believes that his innately calm demeanor, expressed even more prominently when he returns home to his tree farm in Macon, Georgia, benefits his responsibilities as a behind-the-scenes guardian for the mightiest rock band still performing. CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE