For the most part a bookworm prior to the British Invasion of 1964, by the end of that year he was smitten by the Beatles and had acquired and mastered the drum kit made possible by the determination of his mother, Dorothy. He assembled some schoolmates who could play and his first band was incarnated as 'Phenomenal Phluke'; a name that still makes him smile ear to ear.

Faegre acquired quite a neighborhood notoriety for playing a fifteen-minute version of the Surfaris 'Wipeout,' the forerunner to 'Ina Gadda Da Vida,' and until 1968 his accomplishment as a drummer of local repute was sufficiently established. But by the Summer of '68, as the Beatles' Hey Jude was bulleting up the charts, a neighbors' piano and an acoustic guitar purchased with Blue Chip Stamps with strings nearly one half inch off the fret board would thoroughly occupy his waking hours. Remembering the strings that cut through his fingertips, he nonetheless persevered from the love of the sound of the chords, especially G major, and began to develop his skills by emulating the best of that era such as CSNY, Byrds and Buffalo Springfield.

Prior to the discovery that going to college was 'getting in the way of his education,' he attended Mt. San Antonio and Rio Hondo junior colleges. Whereas curricula at both institutions were authored by establishmentarians of the socialist stripe, and teaching music was never his intention, his career choices of International Relations and Music became impossible to attain. He made a constructive nuisance of himself by first challenging, and subsequently embarrassing faculty and administration alike, and was shown the exit.

Career:

In 1982 and ‘83, and after touring with musical ensembles in various roles, Faegre managed two congressional campaigns in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. The former resulting in the now famous "Shut Up!" exchange from then President Reagan to Santa Cruz Republican Gary Richard Arnold and seen by as many as 900 million people around the globe.

In 1984, Faegre began to devote more attention to his musical compositions and spending more time recording his work. After moving to Europe in June, 1986, Faegre married Theresa Bridget Sweeney in Dublin, Ireland, returning to the U.S. in January 1987.

Following his return and anxious to again offer knowledge for the benefit of others, he pursued a career in financial service beginning with what is known now as CitiGroup, Wedbush Morgan and Crowell Weedon.

A member of the Libertarian Party since 1976, Faegre was asked to consider public office in five consecutive election cycles beginning in 1998 with bids for the State Assembly and State Senate in California and back-to-back bids for the United States Congress in the district then held by Hilda Solis who went on to serve as Secretary of Labor in the Obama Administration.

Faegre relocated his family to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe in 2008, establishing Milky Way Incorporated and purchased the Coyote Grill, a popular restaurant in Zephyr Cove.

In early 2012 Faegre formally established On Top Of a Cloud, LLC [On Top Of a Cloud is a broadcast partner, talent agency, music publisher, record label and recording facility located in Lake Tahoe] and acquired a 20% equity stake in Lake Tahoe’s independently owned and operated, K-Tahoe: Local Talk and Classic Rock, AM 590 and 96.1 FM.

KTHO (590 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format. Licensed to South Lake Tahoe, California, USA, it serves the Lake Tahoe Basin-Carson City-Carson Valley-Reno area, and simulcasts on South Lake Tahoe-based FM translator K241BK (96.1 FM).The station is currently owned by International Aerospace Solutions, Inc., a company owned by long-time Southern California broadcaster Darrell Wampler [The Insane Darrell Wayne] and features "Local Talk and Classic Rock" with network news from ABC Radio.]

KTHO Broadcast Partner, Composer, Arranger, Multi-Instrumentalist, Producer, Publisher and Statesman, Leland is also a radio talk show host appearing with Brendan Trainor on "Talking Truth To Power," Wednesdays on KCKQ, 1180 AM, Reno; a Lotus Broadcast Station from 11:00-12:00 Noon.

With radio, television and film credits including An Ril Deal [a traditional Irish dancing television show on the Irish television channel TG 4 that has been described as "Ireland's answer to 'Strictly Come Dancing" on BBC 1], Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, "Inside the Moon Bear Rescue Centre, China,” by The Animals Asia Foundation, Cisr-I Enbubi'Den Tüp Geçit'E, a documentary for Turkish Television produced by Birbuçuk Film Reklam LTD. ŞTİ of Istanbul, Turkey and others, his composition, arrangement, and production skills have been described as "so vast that supervisors will view each piece as independent islands full of relative possibilities."

He has one daughter, ASCAP Singer/Songwriter and former Member of the Ice Skating Association of Ireland; Deirdre Leah, renowned for her "Handstand Heard 'Round the World."