Music:
Member Since: 2/17/2005
Band Website: ForrestLee.com
Band Members:
Influences: As a writer... I'd have to say Hank Williams, Hank Cochran, John Lennon, Rodney Crowell and my dad.
As a guitarist... it all started with Jerry Reed for me... I can list 300 pickers, but JR was my first hero.
As a singer... George Jones, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard for the country stuff. The Beatles, Elton John, Freddie Mercury and Chris Cornell for the rock stuff.
As a producer... I listen to everybody, and get ideas. It all started with Sir George Martin, he had such a unique style on the early Beatles albums with separation... The early stereo sound that shaped my ideas when I was 10 years old playing in the studio.
Sounds Like: Whoever or whatever tone you are looking for. It all about making music and gathering as many influences as possible.
Most country studio sessions I'll use my 1971 Princeton Reverb that's been hot rodded with a 12". For live shows I use an AC 30 or a Classic 50 4/10. If backline is available, I always ask for a top boost AC30. Boss pedals, Ibanez tube screamers, Ernie Ball volume Pedals.
Fender Tele's and Strats, I love the mid 80's Japanese Squire neck. Gibson SG, Gibson Les Paul Artisan, Floyd Rose guitars, Takamine, Gibson and Martin Acousic guitars.
I'm a gear junkie so I opened a music store outside of Nashville in Waverly. Now I can get whatever I want and tell my wife it's for sale. lol
Actually I keep a collection of around 15 guitars for all styles I may need to reproduce in the studio. and with the advent of amp modeling, I can get just about any tone from any genre in any era.
More Bio
Forrest grew up in Bellingham, Washington, and had a grunge band at the same time Nirvana, and Soundgarden were starting out... so how did he get into country music? Well.. by the time he was 16 years old, he was living in Arlington Texas playing guitar and singing Merle Haggard songs in his dads band. He always loved country, and discovered that he got paid better and had more gigs!
Country music in his blood... his father was a fairly well known country star in the 50s, and an great songwriter. His mother plays every instrument on the planet... and he was just born into the biz you could say. His mom's influence was more soul and blues oriented, but she had Jerry Reed's Georgia Sunshine album, and that was 4 year old Forrest's favorite. She also had Sam Cooke and Ray Charles albums. When he heard Emmylou Harris' Luxury Liner album at around 10 years old, he was totally into country guitar. Albert Lee was so fluid and fast that it captured his attention, and he put down the Van Halen album, and studied the country stuff...
Forrest signed catalog licensing deals with publishing companies which are using his songs in shows like Friday Night Lights (5 songs so far) and several cable networks shows (CMT, MTV, VH1, Travell, HGTV, etc...), so He's been writing and recording everything from Hard Rock to Harry Nilsson. But he's really a country singer like no other, more Ray Charles and Steve Winwood than Merle... But he can sing it all with the same intensity. And throw in a little George Jones for good measure! Yeaow!
On many of them Forrest did the drums as well, played ALL the instruments, Guitars, Bass, Pedal Steel, Slide etc... Recorded and mixed them it in his studio in Waverly, TN in a matter of a few hours each."Telethon" is out now... With a few of his friends playing their asses off... and it's getting rave reviews from the likes of Vintage Guitar Magazine, Pipeline Magazine (UK) and several awesome reviews on Amazon and other sites... The stuff Forrest, Redd Volkaert, Matt Rae, Geno Burbank and Jimmy Yeary cut heads on, "it's a veritable cornicopia of Tele licks"! (as John Heidt put it)
Telethon is now available as a digital download! http://payplay.fm/forrestleejr
Forrest played lead guitar and sang in his father's band Forrest Lee and The Shenandoans from 16 years old until 20.
1991 he toured all over British Columbia Canada and Vancouver Island. Forrest headlined several country music festivals and by the end of 1991, Bobby T and Forrest Lee were voted duo of the year in Twang magazine... the Canadian country music magazine.
Forrest then moved to Nashville and toured extensively with various artists as lead guitarist and background vocalist.
Most recently:
Minnie Murphy , Jace Everett, Jonathan Harris, Clay Canfield and Brad Tyler.
Currently Forrest lives a few miles outside of Nashville and has been recording the new tracks for the follow up to Telethon. And doing a lot of session work. He has signed a non exclusive with Pump Audio and 5 Alarm music publishing. You have probably heard his music many times on TV and wondered who was ripping up the guitar. Forrest is endorsed by Floyd Rose Guitars.
Record Label: Out West Records
Type of Label: Indie
