Tag: live

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At the Car Wash

Hip-hop news: Local faves Tunnel Clones have been holed up at DJ Red Eye Jedi‘s Hemphix Audio Labs for months, putting the final touches on World Wide Open, their follow-up to 2005’s Concrete Swamp. But this Friday, April 6th, they’ll be hitting the Hi-Tone Café with Sound Rebel Dem, DJ Leroy, DJ Wrekuh, b-boy Nosey, and a break-dancing crew in tow. “Nosey always has something interesting up his sleeve,” explains Tunnel Clones MC Bosco, who says that World Wide Open is scheduled for a summer release. Doors open at 9 p.m.; the show is 18 and up. For more information, go to www.MySpace.com/TunnelClones.

Memphian J. Simmons, the latest artist to record at Terry “FreakMaster” Turner‘s Sole Studio, will debut his stellar new album, Southern Hospitality, at Pressure World on Saturday, April 7th.

“Music was the only way I could find joy and peace, release tension, and enlighten myself,” explains the 26-year-old rapper, who grew up in foster homes and public housing, relocating from South Memphis to North Memphis to Westwood during his turbulent childhood. “I’m just a roamer. I grew up everywhere,” Simmons says.

“If I don’t write songs,” he adds, “I find myself clogged up with a lot of emotions. I learned how to make music in order to survive — to not get caught up in prison, be dead, or get caught up in other foolishness. With music, I have some control, but I’ve had to ask myself tough questions about what life was really about. I might be 26, but I feel like I’ve been here for a hundred years.”

Simmons formed short-lived alliances with K Roc from Three 6 Mafia and partnered with New Jack Entertainment before hooking up with Turner of “Mac of the Roundtable” and “Gimme What You Got (For a Pork Chop)” fame.

“Before, things just weren’t clicking. I was rapping about stuff that was destructive instead of constructive. When I met up with [Turner], I began writing music that ventured out, songs that people could dance to. He’s a very smart guy, plus he’s got a big heart and the patience of Job.”

The decision to hold his record-release party at a popular Orange Mound car wash was a no-brainer for Simmons. “Pressure World has a lot of history for helping up-and-coming independent artists,” he says. “I remember 8Ball & MJG playing there, all that element. And Big Mike [Rhodes, co-owner of Pressure World] is a real person. He’s very supportive, and he wants me to prosper as an artist, because we have the same message for the city’s youth: Don’t be about so much ignorance.”

Both Simmons and Turner tap the catchy “The Power of Music” as the album’s first single. Hear it live on Saturday night, after a spoken-word set from El Hakim the Poet. Showtime is at 8 p.m. Pressure World is located at 2575 Lamar Avenue. For more information, go to SoleStudio.com.

Powdered wig power: Lord T & Eloise just signed a two-year exclusive booking contract with Jason Pitzer of the Progressive Global Agency, which represents DJ Logic and R.E.M. The ink is hardly dry on the deal, but, says Cameron “Lord T” Mann, “if he puts his money where his mouth is, we’ll be in some interesting new cities this summer.”

Next week, the aristocrunk rappers are headed to Grimey’s Basement in Nashville, where they’ll play a diverse billing with Shake It Like a Caveman and Point Break on Thursday, April 12th. In the meantime, they’re in heavy discussions with Duane Hargrove, general manager of Hot 107.1FM, to see if they can launch a single on the popular urban radio station.

“When we say ‘white-boy rap,’ 90 percent of the population shuts down,” says Mann of the group’s attempts to cross over to an African-American audience. “Duane’s the gatekeeper at Hot 107.1. Everything has to go through him. He doesn’t want to rock the boat, so he called Yo Gotti and said, ‘Tell me what’s the reals on these guys.’ Within a half-hour, I got the call from Gotti, who said, ‘So, you’re talking to Duane.’ Now we’re mixing and mastering a song to test the market.”

Mann is also staying busy as studio manager of Young Avenue Sound: “Free Sol is in pre-production on a project for Justin Timberlake‘s new label,” he reports, “and Nakia Shine and Jack Frost came into the studio for three days, doing something for Universal. The Wailers did guitar and vocal demos with Aston Barrett, the guy who produced and nurtured so much music at Studio One in Jamaica.

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Music Music Features

Around Town

Classic-rock radio station Rock 103 is giving local bands the chance to shine at Memphis In May‘s Beale Street Music Festival. Jeffrey James & the Haul, Arma Secreta, Organ Thief, Dan Montgomery, and nine more Memphis rockers, who can be heard on the FM station’s Sunday-night program The Great Unsigned, are battling it out for three spots at Overton Square‘s annual Crawfish Festival, slated for Saturday, April 14th, when a panel of judges will select one grand prize winner to play Memphis In May.

At press time, six-man jam band Dova Grove was in the lead, with a whopping 30 percent of the vote. But you’ve got until the afternoon of Wednesday, April 4th, to file your electronic ballot, so barring any loose chads, this is still anyone’s game. Go to Rock103.com for details.

It’s definite: After rumors, delays, and plenty of fodder for the gossip pages, Three 6 Mafia‘s Adventures in Hollyhood will debut on MTV Thursday, April 5th. The reality series picks up where the 2006 Academy Awards left off, chronicling what MemphisRap.com describes as DJ Paul, Juicy J, and Project Pat‘s “quest to establish themselves as Hollywood players.”

So far, so good: Three 6 has already appeared on television shows, including Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and an upcoming album, Da Last 2 Walk, is due to hit stores in late May. Yet burning questions remain: Can the rap clique stay true to its Dirty South roots as members pimp themselves on the streets of La-La Land? Will anyone understand their North Memphis drawl delivered via mouthfuls of gold? Does “Sippin’ on Syrup” translate to big success on the mean, big-city streets? Who knows — but expect plenty of face time with Paris Hilton, Flava Flav, and other reality-show vets.

Alvin Youngblood Hart

Meanwhile, former Three 6 cohort — and current rival — Koopsta Knicca is “fresh out of jail” and busy promoting his new album, The Return: Prophet Posse, Part 1, which was released on March 20th. Life has apparently imitated art for the rapper, whose song “Stash Spot” contains the lyrics, “Well I’m fresh up outta jail with no job/So I steal and rob.” While Paul and Juicy were shaking hands with Oscar in February of 2006, Knicca was sitting inside 201 Poplar on aggravated assault and robbery charges. Last week, however, the resilient MC was signing autographs at Spin Street, living proof that any publicity is good.

Get ready to rock in Midtown this weekend: Robby Grant‘s group Vending Machine kicks off the partying early with a free Friday-night acoustic show at Shangri-la Records that starts at 6 p.m. Afterward, head over to The Buccaneer, where Alvin Youngblood Hart and John Paul Keith are holding court, with Mark Stuart and John Argroves providing the rhythm section for both. Saturday night, Vending Machine will be playing at the Buccaneer, along with Jeffrey James & the Haul and a solo performance from Mouse Rocket cellist Jonathan Kircksey.

April marks the return of two Memphians who are making a major splash on the national music scene: Former Accidental Mersh bassist Hank Sullivant, whose group The Whigs will be performing songs from their ATO debut, Give ‘Em All a Big Fat Lip, at Young Avenue Deli on Sunday, April 1st, and Clarence Greenwood, aka Citizen Cope, who hits the Deli on Tuesday, April 3rd.

Memphis’ ’50s-era rockabilly scene is getting plenty of airtime on local PBS affiliate WKNO. The hour-long documentary The Rockabilly Legends: They Called It Rockabilly Long Before They Called It Rock and Roll, narrated by hometowner Wink Martindale, follows the creation of the genre from the cottonfield to the honky-tonk via the careers of Johnny Burnette, Paul Burlison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and, of course, Elvis Presley. It also documents the influence of Sun Studios and regional platforms such as The Grand Ole Opry and The Louisiana Hayride. Catch the program on Channel 10, then pick up the accompanying coffee-table book, published by Hal Leonard, or the four-CD box set.

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Music Music Features

Another Look

My initial reason for attending the South By Southwest Music Festival this year had nothing to do with covering the event. I tend to stay away from these industry-heavy, sycophantic cluster-you-know-whats.

I was invited to speak on a panel called “Comedy on the Music Circuit” Friday afternoon but arrived Thursday night and hit Beerland to catch some of the showcase being held by Memphis punk labels Goner and Shattered. For the two one-man-bands of the evening, the King Louie One Man Band and Yuma Territorial Prison Guards, the sound was turned down so low that it felt like a show in someone’s living room. After saying my hellos to various Memphis people, I made my way down the street to be hit by the wall of volume offered by Jesu, who, it should be noted, were PLAYING IN A TENT. Jesu is a rare case where volume and emotional force override the need to move around on stage to ensure a good live show. When the opening chords of “Friends Are Evil” commenced, it moved the fabric walls of the venue.

Later, back at Beerland, Memphis’ Jay Reatard played to a thick crowd, and this time, the sound was at an appropriate level. Though Reatard didn’t need any help, his performance benefited from the truncated SXSW set times by making more concise his newer selection of frantic pop. Strangely, one of Reatard’s SXSW appearances was a Saturday afternoon acoustic set at the Convention Center trade-show day stage.

My panel appearance was moderated by Commercial Appeal music writer Bob Mehr. It featured comedians David Cross and Zach Galifianakis, among others. I was the token “who the hell is that?” guy, chosen due to some comically incendiary columns that I write for a couple of music magazines and for the fact that, barring any major hiccups, my 2002 comedy CD Just Farr a Laugh will be reissued by Matador Records this summer with a second CD of unreleased material and a massive booklet. Despite my unknown status, I got some good cracks in and some good promotion.

On Saturday, it became even harder to trudge through the insanely thick crowds (in the streets and in the bars). Being St. Paddy’s Day, it was a bizarre combination of drunken redneck idiots in giant green foam hats and a hipster saturation that looked as if someone airlifted Williamsburg’s Bedford Avenue and dumped it into the downtown streets of Austin. I saw some uninspired sets, but an excellent one was by Pink Nasty with the Black (playing Memphis at the Buccaneer on April 12th).

It was recovery mode Sunday afternoon. The 6 Degrees of Memphis showcase scheduled for the afternoon at the Flamingo Cantina sporadically suffered from the fact that most SXSW attendees were either in cars or on planes heading home. To illustrate the difference, imagine shoulder-to-shoulder confusion reduced to a post-attack street scene from The Day After. The crowd was unfortunately sparse during Jump Back Jake’s set of convincing Tony Joe White worship but bulked up during Antenna Shoes’ wonderful performance of dense pop. Antenna Shoes is the result of Memphian/Austinite Tim Regan (pictured, above right) being surrounded by his favorite Memphis musicians, including Paul Taylor on drums, Steve Selvidge (pictured, above left) on guitar, and members of Snowglobe and the Coach and Four. The crowd flagged at times but returned in full force for Snowglobe’s closing set. Despite the good times, I relish returning to the open arms of Memphis.

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Music Music Features

Three’s Company

Jem Cohen, the ascot-sporting bassist for the Ettes, has got it made. He gets to play energetic ’60s beat rock, and, as the only male in the band, he gets to spend a lot of time with two beautiful ladies and travel around in a psychedelic van solving mysteries. Okay, I made up the last part. Nonetheless, the L.A.-based trio with a vintage look and sound seems to be having a blast and getting along as they head into the final weeks of a two-month tour through Canada and the U.S. Drummer Poni Silver quips, “Ask us how well we’re getting along in another three weeks.”

All three members, including guitarist and frontwoman Coco Hames, are from the East Coast but didn’t meet until they were in Los Angeles. They are finding that La-la Land isn’t the easiest place for a retro-rocking, non-trendy group to survive.

“It’s hard because you’re competing against the sons and daughters of famous people who have all of these connections in the music business,” Cohen says. “Though the place is big enough for different styles, the scene is so fragmented.” Hames half-jokingly adds, “We tour all the time because everyone in Los Angeles is so industry.”

In 2004, Hames and Silver decided to form a band. Where the girl group in Dreamgirls drops the “-ettes” from their name, Hames wanted to embrace the feminine aspect of the name and “be the suffix.” After trying out a couple of girlfriends on bass, the two decided on Cohen, sacrificing the gender purity of the group for band chemistry. Cohen says, “One of the reasons we do get along so well is that we love the same music — Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, the Beatles.”

After months of rehearsal and songwriting, the Ettes decided to cut their first proper record. They aimed high and far away. They contacted Liam Watson, who had produced Billy Childish, Holly Golightly, and the White Stripes, and arranged to record at his Toe Rag Studios in London. The Ettes financed the trip themselves.

“We wanted to do it and didn’t think about what would happen next,” Hames remembers. In London, the group got to meet their musical idols, Childish and Golightly.

Soon after, the Ettes were able to convince the Sympathy for the Record Industry label to release their debut, Shake the Dust. Though the label is based in SoCal, many of its acts hail from Detroit or, in the case of Jack Yarber’s multiple projects, Memphis. In fact, Falling James Moreland, Courtney Love’s first husband and noted transvestite punk rocker/critic, recently wrote, “Let’s hope we don’t lose this ever-touring group to Detroit or Memphis. The Ettes fit in better with rootsy revisionists like the Detroit Cobras and the Oblivians than they do with most L.A. bands.” He might have good reason to be fearful. The Ettes are indeed looking for a nice place to relocate. According to Hames, the phrase “shake the dust” is about moving on from the past.

One place the Ettes are considering is Asheville, North Carolina. Hames’ folks live there, and it’s also the home of former Memphian Greg Cartwright and his band the Reigning Sound. The Ettes aren’t ashamed to admit their admiration for Cartwright’s music, both the Oblivians (which Cartwright was a member of along with Yarber and Goner Records’ Eric Friedl) and the Reigning Sound. The Ettes have even recorded a cover of the Reigning Sound’s “We Repel Each Other.” Their streamlined, poppier version lacks the raw power and emotional urgency of the original, but it does have a charm of its own.

Hames’ voice, equal parts Ye-Ye girl sweetness and party-gal rasp, is much better suited to Shake the Dust‘s low-key, melancholy closer, “I Wanna Go Home.” It would also seem to be a perfect match for “My Baby Cried All Night Long,” a Nancy Sinatra cover that the Ettes have been working into their live repertoire. Hames, in a stylish baby-doll dress, could easily be Nancy Sinatra’s understudy. The band’s impeccably mod fashion sense is evident not only in their publicity shots but offstage as well. Hames says, “I dress the part every day. People need to understand that it comes from my history as a debutante.”

To give you an idea of how many shows they have played on the recent tour, the Ettes’ upcoming show will be their second in Memphis this year. Even with the relentless touring schedule, Cohen seems more than content in his role as the Jack Tripper of the garage-rock set.

“We are excited about coming back to play,” Cohen says. “Everyone was very energetic in the audience, and we even attended a late-night dance party after the show.”

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Music Music Features

From Beale to Sundance

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Beale Street Caravan, the locally produced radio program which draws an estimated 2.5 million listeners each week, brought a few hundred Memphians to the New Daisy Theatre on Wednesday, January 17th, to celebrate its 10th anniversary at a three-hour filmed concert.

Jim, Luther, and Cody Dickinson‘s set included two takes of “Nighttime,” Big Star‘s stirring, stripped-down homage to Midtown life, which singer Alex Chilton recorded with Jim Dickinson three-and-a-half decades ago. Afterwards, Stax alumnus William Bell strutted his stuff with The Bo-Keys, singing hits such as “You Don’t Miss Your Water” as guitarist Skip Pitts, clad in jeans and a Hustle & Flow T-shirt, nodded and grooved behind him.

Sporting a velvet blazer and a U of M Tigers cap, rapper Al Kapone appeared next. “I come from the hip-hop side of the map,” he informed the audience before bringing the Bo-Keys back onstage and name-checking B.B. King, WDIA, and songwriting team Porter and Hayes on “What About the Music,” the ideal closer for a perfect night of Memphis music.

Now, Bo-Keys bassist Scott Bomar is headed to Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival, where Black Snake Moan premieres on Wednesday, January 24th. Bomar served as music supervisor for the film, written and directed by Craig Brewer, and at Sundance, he’ll oversee performances by Bobby Rush, Kenny Brown, and Cedric Burnside, who will be playing a post-screening party at the Celsius Lounge.

“Al Kapone performed at Sundance for the Hustle & Flow premiere, and it was one of the wildest parties I’ve ever been to,” Bomar recalls. “Even the Los Angeles premiere wasn’t like that. [West Coast audiences] aren’t exposed to much Memphis music. They’d never seen a rap show like Al’s, and they’ve probably never seen a real blues show. Having Bobby Rush and Kenny and Cedric there is gonna add so much flavor to the party. It’s like taking a piece of the South to Sundance.”

“Forget the budget. The reason I don’t shoot in Los Angeles or Canada or wherever is because I don’t think anyone from central casting is gonna understand grooving to that beat the way we do in the South,” says Brewer. “I can’t help but want to create here.”

Two days ago, the Black Snake Moan soundtrack, released by New West, hit store shelves. Laden with cuts from The Black Keys, Precious Bryant, and Jessie Mae Hemphill, plus recordings made expressly for the film (with star Samuel L. Jackson singing and backed by the likes of Brown and Burnside, Jason Freeman, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Big Jack Johnson) and samples of the score, as performed by Bomar, the Dickinson trio, and Charlie Musselwhite, it’s a must-hear for fans of the Memphis and North Mississippi hill-country region.

This Friday, forgo the happy-hour drinking and head to Shangri-la Records at 1916 Madison. Last November, the record store inaugurated its indoor performance space with a free set by soul star Howard Tate, followed by The Wallendas, Harlan T. Bobo, Robby Grant & Alicja Trout, and Brooklyn UK.

“We’ve talked about it for a long time,” says store owner Jared McStay, who inherited a long tradition of free outdoor concerts by the likes of Beat Happening, Guitar Wolf, and The Smugglers when he took over the business from Sherman Willmott in 1999.

“We do so many shows on the porch,” McStay says, “and we wanted to do ’em without worrying about the weather.”

Citing an unlikely windfall that came when Tower Records shut its doors and Nostalgia World deleted its vinyl stock, he says, “We got a lot of new racks, and at the same time, we expanded inventory to our back room, which made space for a stage.”

McStay’s running a 20 percent-off sale every Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., while the free music (this week, Monsieur Jeffrey Evans and Ross Johnson are playing) starts around 6 p.m. For more information, call 274-1916 or go to www.shangri.com.

Local rappers take note: The Southern Entertainment Awards are scheduled for the Grand Casino in Tunica this weekend. On Friday, January 26th, and Saturday, January 27th, there are several free components leading up to the main event. Don’t miss the panel discussions, organized by Rap Coalition head — and former Memphian — Wendy Day, which will feature wisdom from locals such as MemphisRap.com proprietorM Town Luv, industry consultant Nam Moses, and K-97 DJs Lil Larry and Devin Steele. For more details, check out www.SEAPanels.com.

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Music Music Features

Round-Up

It’s only January, but it’s already shaping up to be a busy, busy year for Memphis music.

On Thursday, January 18th, the Memphis chapter of The Recording Academy kicks off its 2007 Indie Impact workshop series with a bang: an “up close and personal” interview with Big Jon Platt, one of the biggest movers and shakers in the urban-music industry today. A veteran of EMI’s music publishing division, Platt serves as senior vice president of Virgin Records and as senior vice president (creative) of EMI Publishing. He also helms his own Virgin imprint, Montbello Records.

The onetime Colorado club DJ, who inked lucrative publishing deals with Usher and Jay-Z for EMI, will be appearing at The Stax Museum of American Soul Music at 7 p.m. Thursday, offering his words of wisdom to Memphis’ next generation of songwriters. Admission for the event is $20 (NARAS members get in free), but as anyone who’s attended the last few Indie Impact workshops can attest, the information offered is priceless. For more information, call 525-1340.

The 50th anniversary of Stax Records is already picking up steam: Last month, the Recording Academy announced that Booker T & the MGs and the late Estelle Axton, co-founder of the label, are recipients of a 2007 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a 2007 Grammy Trustee Award, respectively. Concord Music Group, which will relaunch Stax this year, just announced that Isaac Hayes has signed with the label. They’ve also staked out a slot for an all-Stax showcase at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, in March.

Roots-music fans have plenty of live concerts to choose from this month, ranging from a pair of Memphis Acoustic Music Association concerts slated for Otherlands Coffee Bar to the opening night of the Coffee House Concert Series, held at the Church of the Holy Communion in East Memphis.

Local fave Keith Sykes will

Keith Sykes

deliver an unplugged set at Otherlands on Saturday, January 20th, while British-born picker Clive Carroll will roll into the popular Cooper Street hangout on Saturday, February 3rd. Both shows start at 8 p.m.; for more info, visit MAMAMusic.org. And on Sunday, January 28th, the Coffee House Concert Series kicks off its third season with a return performance by Lucy Kaplansky. Blair Combest, making his Coffee House debut, opens the show, which begins at 7 p.m. For more info, go to CoffeeHouseConcerts.org.

Meanwhile, onetime Sykes protégé John Kilzer is playing MO’s Memphis Originals, at 3521 Walker, every Tuesday this month. Kilzer, who played forward for the University of Memphis basketball team during the late ’70s, recently contributed a cut, “Further Along,” to Eye of a Tiger: A Tribute to Larry Finch. At MO’s, Kilzer gets the party started by 9 p.m.; admission is just $3. For details, visit www.MemphisOriginals.com.

Preacher’s Kids frontman Tyler Keith is laying down his electric guitar — temporarily, at least — to do a series of one-man acoustic shows in Memphis, which he kicked off at Murphy’s on Wednesday, January 17th. Performing as “Kid Twist,” the Oxford, Mississippi, rocker plays again on Wednesday, January 24th. “It’s not like getting up there and telling stories or like playing in a one-man band,” Keith says. “It’ll hopefully be an acoustic show that rocks.”

The 23rd International Blues Challenge (IBC), presented by The Blues Foundation, is scheduled for the first weekend in February. More than merely “the world’s largest gathering of blues bands,” the IBC also affords 21st-century bluesmen opportunities to attend panel discussions, participate in workshops, and network with managers, booking agents, and talent scouts, before getting down to the musical nitty-gritty for Saturday night’s IBC finals on Beale Street. For ticket information and a complete schedule, visit www.Blues.org.

It’s bookended by the 2007 International Folk Alliance Conference, which will be held at the Cook Convention Center the last weekend in February. Native American activist/performer Buffy Sainte-Marie and U.S. congressman John Hall, better known as the bare-chested former frontman for the group Orleans, will be keynote speakers at the conference. For more information, go to FolkAlliance.org.

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Music Music Features

Sacred Steel, Live

Mississippi Fred McDowell’s definitive rendition of the traditional gospel tune “You Got To Move” is melancholy and meditative, a reminder that at the end of this life, another world awaits.

The Lee Boys’ take on the song, which employs their trademark sacred steel-guitar riffs, a jubilant vocal style, and a steady country swing beat, blasts the roof off McDowell’s ruminations, leaving an up-tempo, pew-rocking song in its wake.

“It gets the crowd dancing,” confirms guitarist Alvin Lee, who will bring the Lee Boys, his family band, to the Gibson Music Showcase for a concert with former Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge and his group the Peacemakers Thursday, January 11th.

“That’s the way we do it in the church,” Lee continues. “It’s like a praise jubilee — you got to move when the Lord gets ready, which means you need to get touched, whatever you have in your life.”

Like pedal steel virtuoso Robert Randolph, who exploded onto the jam-band scene a few years ago, the Lee Boys are currently coordinating a crossover plan that will take them from the House of God (where sacred steel music is an integral part of Sunday services) to nightclubs and music festivals, secular outlets that have been historically frowned upon by church elders.

“There are a lot of politics going on with [House of God] leaders,” says Lee. “Nationally, I don’t play [the churches] any more, but down south [the group hails from Perrine, Florida, which lies 20 miles south of Miami], we still go to our local church. My cousin is the pastor, my sister is the assistant pastor, and my family plays in the church band.”

A decade ago, Lee’s older brother Glenn Lee was recognized as one of the greatest sacred steel players to come out of the House of God church. He also played Hammond B-3 organ and saxophone, and he was tutored by some of the greatest pedal steel players on Nashville’s session scene. In 1997, he was included on musicologist Robert Stone’s field recordings of Florida sacred steel music, released on the Arhoolie Record label.

“My father [church pastor Robert E. Lee] died in February 2000, and that took a toll on the family,” Lee recalls. “In July, Glenn went out of remission from cancer, and by October, he was gone. That really took me by storm, and I decided I’d do a dream of ours and spread our style of music outside the four walls. The Campbell Brothers had come out, Robert [Randolph] had come out, and I said we have to play our sound.”

After recruiting teenage nephew Emanuel Roosevelt Collier, Lee’s mission was launched, and the band began recording and touring. Their second album, Say Yes!, was released on Arhoolie in 2005, and exposure from the Folk Alliance led the Lee Boys to Canada for an extensive tour.

“Last year, we worked close to 70 shows, and we went on the road with Oteil on the Sweet Revival tour. We’re planning to do more than a hundred shows this year,” says Lee, “trying to hit it full-time and spread our style of music all over the place.

“We were born into this style of music, like Indian tribes who pass down their [folk] traditions,” he maintains. “My uncle passed it to my dad, and he passed it to us. Dad was also a huge country fan. He loved to watch Hee Haw, and he’d listen to all the country players. When we’d go to Nashville, we’d always go to Dollywood.

“Now, we’re passing all this to the next generation,” he says of the group, which currently includes three original members and three nephews, including bassist Alvin Cordy Jr. and drummer Kenneth Earl Walker.

Emphasizing that the Lee Boys plan to keep their material gospel rather than purveying a soul and rock blend, à la Randolph, Lee says: “Not to take anything away from Robert, who’s opened a lot of doors for us, but we’re a sacred steel band. We’re trying to stay within our original boundaries. You may hear us throw in a bluesy tune, but our music will always stem back to jubilant praise. It’s feel-good [music] that gets into your heart and grows. It’s a positive message.

“Our goal is to make the people feel good about what we’re doing,” he says. “We don’t have to preach at them. Our message is, if we can touch one person through our music, then our job is done.”