Larry Reese was born in 1951 in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. He grew up in Greeley Colorado then immigrated to Canada in 1960.

His family moved to Dacca East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1966. On a trip to Calcutta he had the opportunity to meet and learn about sitar from Ravi Shankar. On returning to Canada in 1968 Larry played guitar and recorded with several bands (Manna and Spiney Norman's Whooppee Band) and toured North America with the Canadian Rock Opera Company in 'Jesus Christ Superstar'.