Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Lee.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
I moved to Austin in the summer of 1990. I soon became the lead vocalist for a well-known band called The Phaze. A few years later, we disbanded, and I went on to perform in several other groups. In the mid to latter half of the 90s, I began performing as a solo singer-songwriter, introducing my music as I navigated through the downtown Austin scene. During those years, I played in brief collaborations, duos, and small acoustic band projects. In the early 2000s, I began prioritizing my music. Eventually, around 2005, I was introduced to Monte Montgomery by our mutual friend. Monte took me under his wing and produced my first CD, Pennies and Dimes. I toured on and off with him as his opening act from 2005-2007.
In July 2007, my wife Michelle and I discovered we were about to become parents. Everything I was doing at the time came to a halt as we prepared for our daughter to go into the world. While my daughter, Aria, was young, I wanted to be closer to home. I formed a project with fellow musicians John Lockhart and Chris Skiles. That project became a band known as Suede (ATX). We gained recognition as one of the top bands in Austin and even traveled around the country and Canada for gigs. For the next 9 1/2 years, Suede was my primary work, but I wanted to find my way back to producing and performing my music again. I left Suede in 2017 to begin this pursuit and rebuild my presence as a songwriter and solo artist. I am working on a series of EPs released in 2024. I am looking forward to playing with my new material. I will be promoting it online and also at my shows. I occasionally travel for shows but like to keep them close to home, so I primarily play in the Texas Hill Country.
Let’s dig deeper into the story – has it been an easy path, and if not, what challenges have you overcome?
It has only sometimes been a smooth road. It has always been a system of ups and downs. There are seasons of my life as a performer and writer when the road was smooth. Those seasons have been gratifying, delightful, and further inspiring. There have also been seasons of struggles and hardships that felt so overwhelming and painfully difficult to the threshold of feeling frustrated and defeated. Every artist goes through this back-and-forth process throughout life. Obstacles are a part of life, but how we learn from them guides us along the way. Both living together in the same space is a blessing and a curse. It’s a paradox. It’s all part of a journey that never concludes an ending or has a final say. It’s a life that is always challenging, growing with you, and inspiring within you where you want that journey to take you next. In my truth, and from the personal wisdom I’ve grown into, I don’t believe there is such a thing as a final destination or swan song that I must or, perhaps, have already achieved along the way. I can only be who and what I am and accept that challenges will always bring both hardship and positively gratifying things along this journey I’ve chosen to traverse. Every day, I am honored and grateful to be able to share the gift of music and performing with people.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a singer-songwriter composer, and I love working as a studio technician and studio vocalist as well. My primary instruments are voice and guitar. Like many musicians, I play several instruments, but singing and playing guitar are my main passion and identity. I have been a part of several successful Austin-based projects, but for the last several years, I have been performing as a solo singer-songwriter. In recent years, I have mainly been playing shows in the Hill Country surrounding Austin and extending into neighboring towns within the central Texas Hill Country. I am proud and honored to have worked with exceptional musicians in the greater Austin community in performing and studio production work over the years. One notable example of this, in particular, can be found on my album “Pennies and Dimes,” to which I had the opportunity to work with the extraordinary talents of Monte Montgomery and composer-producer Carl Thiel in collaborating arrangements and performances that gave way to a footprint of its unique sound. In recent years, I’ve done some mastering work for a few artists’ albums that I am proud of. I am working on my new material to be released in 2024. Not to mention, I am also currently producing an EP for a very talented artist in the Austin scene that will also be released in 2024. I love what I do, which inspires me to keep doing what I love. I like to put myself in different positions occasionally and explore musical endeavors to challenge myself and touch on new perspectives that I’m not convinced I would touch with in any other way. There is so much influence and inspiration to draw from in Austin, but I think that I’m most inspired by the artists who are inventive and fearless about their craft. It has inspired me to be fearless and confident about my uniqueness. The most powerful thing you can do as an artist is to be honest. No one can be you except you. That is a superpower when truly recognized.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I’ve learned along this journey is not to over-obsess about things but to be prepared to endure whatever comes along and not be fearful of it. In my experience, the luck we experience as entertainers and entrepreneurs in this business is more about preparation and meeting chance. There’s nothing magical about it, as some might think. Still, when you’re prepared to face whatever challenges come your way, it can feel magical when things pan out to work in your favor because you were prepared for the possibility of it happening. In my younger years, there were many things I didn’t know to be prepared for. The wisdom gained through experience is equally as important. It’s the very thing that teaches you what to be prepared for.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianandrewlee/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brianandrewlee
- Other: Camden Lock Band
