The first time I met John Lee was the night before our first gig together at the Atlin Arts and Music Festival. He and Kelby had worked together extensively for a few years, including on the tour David did on Vancouver Island, so he seemed like the natural fit for the band I wanted for the festival.
John arrived in Atlin with nothing more than a tiny backpack. I mean, a tiiiiiiiiiiiiiny backpack! I had asked "The Fellas" to have something dressy for the gigs, and when I saw his "luggage", I wondered if he'd missed the memo. But shortly before the gig, he produced a suit jacket, dress pants, shirt, tie, and shiny shoes out of that puny pack like some kind of modern-day male Mary Poppins. Even more impressive: his duds weren't the least bit rumpled. He looked sharp!
That is just the beginning of the magic of John Lee. When you hear him shred a bass at a million miles an hour with virtuosic gusto, you might not be surprised to learn that he went to the prestigious Berklee College of Music. But he didn't study bass there. No, he went there as a drummer. At the "Piano Summit" workshop at the Atlin Arts and Music Festival, John handed off the bass temporarily to David and tore it up on a piano, to the great delight of the audience. And then in March, when he came to Whitehorse, he spent the first evening at my house making my little guitar play like it had never been played before.
John plays music the way other young men drive fast cars — sometimes I’m a little afraid for him, but it is exhilarating as he deftly weaves his way around the notes. I especially love his bass solo in “Make a Little Noise”, and particularly his interplay with Kelby at the drums. I enjoy singing along with the instrumental solos on the album, and that one is especially fun to sing.
John is fun to hang with, too. Our band photo shoot was a blast with him playing his bass both on camera and off. (I highly recommend having live music during photo shoots! It adds so much energy to the pictures.)
John says his job is to make people's musical dreams come true. He certainly delivered at the live concert we recorded for this album, and I am grateful to have him on the record.
For more John, visit https://www.facebook.com/johnleemusician/
To purchase music: https://fawnfritzen.bandcamp.com/merch
Photos by Christian Kuntz Photography