All Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Cello, and Drum Programming: Mr. Lee
Violin: Bruce Windham
At 13 Mr. Lee decided that he wanted to be a songwriter and wrote his first melody, a still unreleased song called “Anthem For The Men Of The West.” He then played in garage rock bands, high school dances, fairs, and bars for a few years, enough to hurt his ears. At 19 due to a spiritual longing Mr. Lee abandoned music to learn about religion and God.He continued to and play sporadically. But it was only at the age of 50 that he began to record his songs.
Having both historic perspective and rich musical influences, he is a new and genuinely unique American artist suddenly arrived. Based on his first offering, he is likely to go down in the annals as one of America’s important songwriters.
Mr. Lee has mastered a rich musical lexicon. From the Enya-esque Gregorian Chants buried at the end of “The Exiles,” to its crunch metal guitar chords, to the Beach Boyish backing vocals of “Johnny Oh,” or the simple folkishness of songs like “Ancestor Song” and “There’s Really No Goodbye” — you can hear decades of musical flavors. The music is like old hits never heard. But Lee’s songsmanship and voice are fresh and unique, and his lyrical content is rebellious and new. Original melody, song crafting, strong vocals, and pungent political message make Julian Lee one of the most fascinating songwriters of our time straight out of the box.