Bryan+lee

Bryan Lee could be called one of the last of the old-school blues guitarists. Born in 1943, Lee grew up to the sounds of the same seminal blues guitar idols (Albert King, Elmore James, etc.) that influenced scores of British and American blues and rock players. Based in New Orleans, Lee fortifies his approach to electric blues with aspects of Louisiana musical culture, both pop and blues. KATRINA is a tribute to that hard-hit metropolis, consisting of well-crafted originals (the emotion-laden title song) and choice covers (the oldie "Barefootin,'" the anthemic "Nobody's Business"). To put the icing on the cake, KATRINA is produced by contemporary blues ace Duke Robillard (no slouch himself on the guitar), who also contributes some fine acoustic six-string sounds.

According to Bryan Lee’s own words, all the arrangements of the songs included in the album came to his mind while he was sleeping. The night before a show at Spitsbergen church in Norway, our man dreamed how those songs should sound, which he thought was an inspiration Lord gave him during the dream. The next day he played them as he had dreamed and it was a so spectacular success, that Bryan and his band recorded them while they were staying in Norway. Seven years later, producer Steve Hamilton mixed them in his studio and published the album we have now on hands. Bryan Lee lost his sight at the age of eight and when he was fifteen he moved to Chicago where he spent twenty years developing a successful career as a singer and guitar player, performing with the great bluesmen of that time.

Play One For Me, the label debut from New Orleans based blues guitarist/singer Bryan Lee, features Bryan’s powerfully soulful vocals and stinging guitar backed by the label’s studio house band of Kevin Anker (keyboards), Steve Gomes (bass), and Robb Stupka (drums), augmented by special guests Kim Wilson (harmonica) and Johnny Moeller (rhythm guitar) of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. The 10 tracks featured are a solid mix of five Bryan Lee originals and covers of such songs as Bobby Womack’s “When Love Begins (Friendship Ends),” Howlin’ Wolf’s “Evil Is Going On” (featuring Wilson), Freddie King’s “It’s Too Bad (Things Are Going So Tough),” Dennis Geyer’s “Straight to Your Heart,” and a beautiful rendition of the George Jackson classic, “Aretha (Sing One for Me).”

“Whether he’s wailing a Freddy King inspired blues ballad, stomping out low down and dirty blues, or getting down with a super funky New Orleans groove, Bryan Lee is gonna grab your soul and squeeze it till you scream in blues ecstasy." Born on March 16, 1943 in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, Bryan Lee lost his eye sight and was legally blind by the age of eight. Bryan Lee had an avid interest in early Rock and Roll and Blues Music which was fostered through the 1950’s late night listening sessions from the Nashville Music radio stations such as WLAC. This is where Lee was first introduced to the sounds of Elmore James, T-Bone Walker and many other influential bluesmen. The man now known as “Braille Blues Daddy” started out playing for Midwest crowds at the early age of 15.

New Orleans bluesman Bryan Lee, a longtime fixture on Bourbon Street, indulges in a pyrotechnic guitar summit on Live At The Old Absinthe House Bar…Friday Night. Backed by his good rockin', hard shufflin' band, the blind guitarist cranks on his exuberant theme song "Braille Blues Daddy," Albert King's "Crosscut Saw" and Elmore James' "The Sky Is Crying." Harmonica legend James Cotton joins him on rousing renditions of "Ain't Doin' Too Bad" and "Five Long Years," then Lee goes toe-to-toe with guest guitarists Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Frank Marino. Originally released on CD in 1997.

Like so many other musicians in New Orleans, guitarist, singer and songwriter Bryan Lee came to the Crescent City from somewhere else. But he's been carefully honing and refining his craft in Crescent City bars for so many years now, he's considered a New Orleans institution. He's played at 25 of the prestigious New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festivals, and marked his 25th year at the spring time festival in 2009. Blind since the age of eight, like many blind people, Lee has a heightened sense of hearing. He's a master at ensemble playing and knows how to read an audience.

This is multi-platinum Canadian music icon Lee Aaron's first official live album: Power, Soul, and Rock N Roll - Live in Germany!The CD-DVD set features a career-spanning set that highlights the vocal power, hit song-craft and dynamic stage presence that has defined Lee Aaron as one of the world's great rock n roll performers. Recorded live over 2 nights on the Fire and Gasoline German tour, 'Power, Soul, and Rock N Roll' captures both the intimate setting of a packed music hall in Nuremberg, as well as her killer open-air performance in 2017 for 20,000 fans at the famed Bang Your Head festival, Balingen…

Lee Aaron is on a roll. The award winning, songwriter, producer and Canadian vocalist blazed back onto the rock scene in 2016 (after a ten year hiatus to raise her family) with a wealth of original material and more firecracker energy than artists half her age. She's since produced 6 new releases, including a 'live' CD/DVD, with ELEVATE being the latest and possibly coolest addition to this renewed chapter in her illustrious career. ELEVATE was written during the Covid lockdown, but rather than allowing that isolation to push the band into a negative place, Lee booked a studio lockout for the fall of 2021. "I'd witnessed so many friends and colleagues become depressed and lose their focus. We couldn't properly tour our last album (Radio On! 2021) and the downtime seemed like it would never end, so we decided to book studio time before the songs were even written.