Adam Lee is a fascinating combination of nostalgia, grace, brutal honesty, swaggering pride and denim.
The man came onstage rocking jeans, a jean jacket, and the most beautiful, slicked back pompadour I’ve ever seen – straight out of an Elvis Presley movie (his bio says that he was a cast member in Million Dollar Quartet – that makes so much sense.)
Lee sings highly confessional rock n’ roll/country songs in a haunting baritone that could easily either lull you to sleep or scare the living shit outta you depending on his mood. If there’s one thing Adam Lee’s set is not, it’s boring. Lee worked his way through some tracks off his upcoming album as well as “antiques,” as he lovingly referred to them, off his 2010 album When the Spirits Move Me.
As Adam swigged at his water he shared a story with the audience, “I’m not drinking tonight, but I’ll tell you the story of the drunkest I ever got at a show. I was up first, already pretty tipsy, and I just kept drinking throughout the other four acts that were going on. But I needed a safe space to sit, so I went ahead and passed out at the merch booth. Thing was, the merch booth was right next to the stage so everyone saw. And you know, a lot of my songs are about getting drunk and passing out so my good friend Matthew said, ‘You know, sometimes you just gotta show folks you mean it.’ So this one’s called Show Folks You Mean It.”
My favorite part of the night came when Lee was playing a particularly difficult riff on the guitar – he leaned in with a twinkle in his eye and said, “That’s Adam Lee on guitar, ladies and gentlemen.” Love it.