Musicians share musical love with Cass County

Singer/songwriter and musical engineer Greg Leymaster, AKA Sonny G. could be described as a master of most everything he puts his mind to.

Indeed, this is how local artist and steel drum player Shinar describes Leymaster.

A successful engineer, advanced computer programmer, architect and master sailor; Leymaster is not only a singer/songwriter, but plays a variety of instruments for an eclectic mix of dance music that can’t be hemmed in just any one genre.

The Sonny G & Company bandleader said he likes most music, with some exceptions.

Sonny G. plays groovy tunes; rock, country, blues, and although heavy metal is not exactly his bag, Leymaster says he is impressed by the complexity of their sound.

Leymaster was a music major at Aurora Senior High School in Nebraska, where he began playing the clarinet and moved to the saxophone.

Coming from a musical family--his grandmother was the music teacher for the first state college in Nebraska when she was just 14 years old-- Sonny decided he really wanted to learn the guitar.

So learn the guitar he did.

“I built my first guitar when I was 17 out of an old piano in my grandparent’s garage,” Leymaster said. “By the time I was 19 I got in a band and began playing bass professionally.”

Leymaster went on to receive a master’s degree in computer programming, bachelor’s in mechanical engineering, associate’s in architecture and an associate’s in aircraft mechanics.

He first worked for Parker Hannovan Corporation as an engineer for the F16, F14, designing rings for the space shuttle out of the Raycore division before being transferred to San Diego to work on the Huey Helicopter, for which he made the cycling valve and the central control roters.

Later, he worked for another company where he engineered dental parts as well as a flexible stainless steal tube as fine as a human hair used to clean out clogged veins for open heart surgery and more.

“At one point I was installing radar and radio electronics for the government,” Leymaster said. “It required a Triple A Clearance to do it and I was the equivalent to a staff sergeant, though I was not in the military.”

Because of his knowledge of security codes at the time, he was given a 24 hour armed guard.

“Twenty-four-seven,” Leymaster said. “When you’re asleep, that guard is at the food of your bed. If you have to go to the bathroom, he clears it first.”

His phone conversations were even monitored. Leymaster did this for two and a half years.

“You never get used to it,” Leymaster said. “That’s why I quit. No privacy, no friends, but the pay was good. They sent me to Germany, Baltimore, California--just wherever they needed me.”

“I was never off base so in Frankfort (Germany) I couldn’t tell you at all what it was like or even Hawaii--I was never off base.”

For many years, Leymaster wrote software, including writing his own computer manufacturing system in the early days of computers.

“My specialty at that point was mobile access, which was kind of a dream at that point, but was being developed,” Leymaster said. At that time they worked on getting the large mainframe computers to communicate over distances.

“I made the laptop’s Just In Time programming,” Leymaster said. “It took me three years and 850 pages for one math algorithm that would run in 1.01 seconds.”

Leymaster spent eight years teaching himself to sail and then three years sailing Columbus’ route in reverse. He stayed true to Columbus and used a sail boat--no motor of course.

In those three years, Leymaster said he met a lot of kind people, saw many interesting sights--and narrowly escaped pirates and a hurricane with 25 ft waves and 75 mph winds.

“The Coast Guard came in and ran the pirates off with an Apache Helicopter,” Leymaster said. “They were coming out of the East end of Puerto Rico Isle of Descacio, about 30 miles between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.”