LancasterOnline.com:
Jesse Dee's mom and dad steered him away from the pop music of the day while he was growing up in the 1980s and toward classic soul and R&B.
His deeply religious parents were offended by what they heard on Top 40 radio and banned it from their house.
Little did they realize that their decision would point their son toward a career in music.
"I first got into older R&B/soul music from a local oldies radio station when I was a young kid," Dee says during a telephone interview from his home in Boston, where he grew up. "That certainly kind of planted the seed.
"As I've grown up, I've just loved it more and more and kind of dug deeper and deeper into it. One of the great things about soul music is once you've started down that path, looking for more of it, there's a never-ending treasure trove of just wonderful music."
Dee, a guitarist, singer and songwriter, will perform with his five-piece band Sunday at Marion Court Room in downtown Lancaster.
Dee, 33, and his band (guitar, bass, drums and a two-piece horn section) are touring in support of his second full-length album, "On My Mind/In My Heart," which was released in February.
The album of all-original songs is his first for Alligator Records, the Chicago label known for its stable of blues musicians.
Dee independently released his first album, "Bittersweet Batch" (2008).
"I think (Alligator) will certainly get the album out in front of fresh ears that I probably wouldn't have been able to get in front of otherwise," Dee says.
Though his sound is rooted in the soul music of artists like Al Green, Otis Redding and Jackie Wilson, Dee never mimics as he puts a modern spin on it with his thoroughly contemporary songs. Dee brings a lot of the singer-songwriter sensibility to the soul genre.
"I think it's important not to really take yourself too seriously but take what you're doing pretty seriously -- take music seriously," he says. "I'm just trying to write good songs. I have to enjoy them myself because I have to go out and sing them every night."
Dee, who started singing by performing in church choirs and in school theater productions, says he began writing songs by singing melodies and lyrics into a cassette recorder that was built into his alarm clock.
No comments:
Post a Comment