Leon Forrest Caulkins began playing piano at an early age and started formal music lessons at six. When Fats Domino and Little Richard hit the scene in 1958, Leon quickly shifted from piano classics to rock & roll and R&B.

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In the early 60s, Leon formed his own band called The Apollos. They became tight enough to back up national acts that passed through Northern California. As expected, by the mid-60s, they began to cover the Beatles and Byrds,signs of the changing times. Working in the San Francisco, Sacramento, and Bay areas, they rubbed shoulders and hung out with many fledgling psychedelic bands like Janis Joplin, Blue Cheer& early Creedence. This led the group towards psychedelia. The group, now called ‘Miniature Concert,’ found themselves in the Haight-Ashbury band scene and were regular opening acts at the Fillmore and Avalon Ballroom. They often shared venues and were a ‘buddy-band’ with The Gollywogs (later to become Creedence Clearwater Revival) and Timothy B. Schmidt, soon to be of the Eagles.

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Leon managed to survive the ‘Summer of Love’ and, like many hippies of the time, became filled with wanderlust. This took him to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, where he did some logging and worked on a fishing boat. By 1969, he was easily convinced to give up hard labor and join a new band in Oklahoma. In 1970, he joined the band Firewind, and at the legendary Celebration of Life music festival in Louisiana, they were signed to ABC Dunhill Records by Gabriel Mekler, the legendary producer behind acts like Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night. After a few years, in the Hollywood music industry and the so-called ‘star-maker’ machinery, with its demands and expectations, the band left disillusioned and went back to Oklahoma to regroup.

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Meanwhile, Leon had developed an interest in Eastern religion, particularly the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, and took his Kriya Yoga initiation withDennis Weaver and Gary Wright, (DreamWeaver) in 1972. (This was the best possible karma, and these teachings have carried Leon ever since.)

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In 1974, the band returned to Oklahoma, and with a fortune in music production knowledge, built a recording studio and took over an old church called Prairie Lady, which quickly became a famous concert hall for national acts. After only short-lived fame, the Prairie Lady burned to the ground, and the Studio was unbelievably blown away by a tornado! The tragedy devastated the band, and Leon fled to Lincoln City, Oregon in 1976 to help his mother sell a house. This marked a new beginning.

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By 1980, Leon was vigorously involved with the local music scene and built and equipped his own recording studio, Leon-Forrest Productions. Recording numerous artists, to his independent label, HarbingerNorthwestRecords. Through the years, Harbinger added video and TV production expertise. Since the early years in Oregon, Leon has been making music from Seattle to Memphis, either with a band, as a soloist, or as a studio session musician.

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Leon has had an extensive musical career, working with many artists and gaining knowledge from numerous situations, experiences, and scenarios. He has seen the music business from both sides...now.​