With musical influences including Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and James Taylor, Lee Rogers' brand of blues-laced rock/pop has the distinctive charm of fellow countrymen Van Morrison and Paul Brady while remaining uniquely his own. His live set, either solo acoustic or with the musicians he works with regularly, combines heart stopping vocals, super slick acoustic guitar work and an incredible penchant for story telling.
Lee cut his teeth locally in Belfast where he picked up residencies most nights of the week in various venues and clubs in and around the town. He started sending his demo album ‘Promise of Day’ at the end of 2004 and a UK label picked up on it almost immediately. In February 2005 (within days of his son being born) he signed a contract with the Zenith Cafe label and this forged what has become an amazing relationship.
His debut album 'Drawing Clocks' was recorded in Italy during the summer of 2005, with Marco Canepa at the production helm and July 2006 saw the long awaited official release of what has already been called an "instant classic". Already Drawing Clocks is gathering momentum in both North America and Europe.
Nowadays Lee gigs all over the UK and, having already played some of the hottest music venues around, including the XM Worldspace "Best of British" showcase with Ted Kelly at Abbey Road studios in London. His show went out to millions of UPoP listeners worldwide, and he has been invited back for the 2007 showcase in February. Lee was offered a slot at the North by Northeast (NXNE) music conference in Toronto, Canada playing as one of only four acts on the official British stage. He not only brought the house down with his music but showcased a natural stage presence for spinning yarns between songs, enrapturing the audience with both true and imagined anecdotes of the tracks to come, gently teasing them into his world.
Phil Vellenueve from ‘Chart Attack’ Canada who was present that night said of Lee’s performance, “it was like watching Tom Waits, John Lee Hooker and The Commitments in the form of a charming Irishman”&.and even though it was only Lee on guitar and vocals and an upright bass player, he was scored by Chart Attack 99/100 in the review.
Whilst ‘Drawing Clocks’ looks set to be a huge success Lee has been involved with movie soundtrack work..... Last year Myriad pictures used the original version (pre the album one) of "How will I sleep?" in the supernatural thriller The River King. This year Lee was asked to co-write and perform a song with legendary Italian soundtrack composers/producers, Pivio and Aldo Di Scalzi for the title track of the movie ‘The Hand Of God’ (the life of Diego Maradona) which will be released worldwide in 2007.
January of this year (2007) saw Lee perform 3 shows during Midem for the labels and publishers from all over the world who are on the verge of, or to date, have signed him. The feedback from his shows was fantastic, and at times left the normally hard music business audience completely breathless.
All in all it’s been a busy few years for the 28 year old Belfast man and it seems he is set on making his mark among both the greats of the singer-songwriter world and his own peers as well as achieving all his own aspirations.
Description: With musical influences including Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and James Taylor, Lee Rogers' brand of blues-laced rock/pop has the distinctive charm of fellow countrymen Van Morrison and Paul Brady while remaining uniquely his own.
Press
Release:
“I like the idea that music crosses oceans of time, that my songs and my voice will be here long after I'm gone, that someday they will belong to my son. It's important that he knows who I am. He inspires me everyday. Maybe someday I'll inspire him."
For those of you who already own Drawing Clocks you are invited to leave an AMAZON REVIEW here. We hope you are enjoying the album!!
"Unbelievable music, loving the voice. The songwriting is solid gold" - Arnold McCuller, singer, James Taylor band
"....Love, love, love....pierced by impassioned vocals sounding like Sting at his stratospheric best" -Alan Fark, Minor 7th review
"....a very very good record, I hope someone at radio picks up on it and plays it to death" - Paul Brady
"...very impressive and very enjoyable!" - Dominic Miller, Guitar Virtuoso, Sting Band
"..This was a mix of Tom Waits, The Commitments and John Lee Hooker in the form of a charming Irishman." -Phil Velleneuve, Chart Attack, Canada (live review of NXNE show)
"'Nevermind' is sublime and the forthcoming single 'Love, Love, Love' wonderfully soulful. ...If you like your rock laid back and blues laced then this could be right up your street" - Pete Whalley, GetReadyToRock.com
With musical influences including Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and James Taylor, Lee Rogers' brand of blues-laced rock/pop has the distinctive charm of fellow countrymen Van Morrison and Paul Brady while remaining uniquely his own. His live set, either solo acoustic or with the musicians he works with regularly, combines heart stopping vocals, super slick acoustic guitar work and an incredible penchant for story telling.
