The Freddie Lee Band

This is a video interview. Katie O'Connell, of Tap Milwaukee/JSonline, interviews Freddie for Tap Milwaukee at Summerfest. - Tap Milwaukee at Summerfest (JSonline.com, posted on youtube)

The Freddie Lee Band has more than 30 years of experience, including 15 years of Summerfest performances. This local band, with it's rotating crew, has in Freddie Lee's opinion reached the point of perfection. See what he has to say about his new and his many years of local work in this clip from today.

- www.jsonline.com (Katie O'Connell)

Milwaukee prog-rock and blues guitarist Freddie Lee has been touring the greater Midwest for over three decades, deftly shredding his guitar with the might and skill of a man with a few more upper appendages. For his Freddie Lee Band, Lee has teamed up with a tightknit group of eclectic musicians to play local shows behind his silky-smooth latest record, Here's Your Hat, Man.

- Shepherd Express Milwaukee Online (Shepherd Express staff)

Lee having fun with 'Packers Extra'

By Nick Carter
of the Journal Sentinel staff

November 7, 1997
If longevity alone counts in determining a local musician's worth, then guitar wiz and singer Freddie Lee is solid gold.

FYI

Local vistas: To hear a sample of "Bradford at Sunrise" from Lee's CD "Mach II Boogaloo," click here.
A longtime if low-key figure on the local music scene, Lee's persistence has led to a niche: He currently holds down a weekly gig on Kevin Hunt's "Packers Extra" show Sunday nights on Channel 4.

Lee serves as a sort of Kevin Eubanks to Hunt's Leno-with-a-jock twist: "It's more fun than I'd ever imagine," said Lee. He accompanies game highlights and Hunt's commentary with funky blues licks that emanate from a guitar carved into the shape of a helmet, complete with a Packers logo and painted green and gold. It was made by Cedarburg guitar and violin maker Peter Huiras.

"Freddie's just a neat and original guy," said Hunt. "He adds a unique presence which really helps out the show."

"I may be a bit more vocal and outgoing," added Hunt, "but we're not really opposites: Freddie just expresses himself more through his music. It's a good balance. We've been bringing in some of Freddie's band mates to play with him and now they're working on writing a song specifically for the show."

"I was sort of nervous at first, alone in the studio but knowing all those people were out there watching," said Lee. "But then I'd watch Kevin acting all business-like yet having a good time and that would help me relax."

Born Freddie Lee Peterson, the musical persona of "Freddie Lee" began with his playing guitar at age 7 -- "but I didn't get into it seriously until I was about 13 or 14," said Lee, who was raised on and off in a children's home since he was 2. "I used to mess around and make up ditties on a couple of acoustic guitars they had lying around the home."

Lee's early teens coincided with the mid-1960s, a time when guitars took on a lead role in popular music. A bit later he won a music contest which yielded a prize that would prove to be influential: a single of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze."

"That did it for me," said Lee. "I hadn't even heard of Hendrix until then. But from then on for quite awhile, that's about all I listened to and wanted to be."

Lee's early bands ran along Cream and Hendrix lines with a little Motown and Chuck Berry tossed in. Some even made their way out of the basement and into friends' parties. Early bands include Mudshark Wroughtiron and, later, Bootleg and Wild Cat Mountain Express.

Mainly, Lee sat in with other club acts, occasionally receiving invites to jam with a national artist passing through town, such as the late blues great and onetime Milwaukeean Luther Allison.

"I met Luther at the old Ham and Egger on Brady Street," recalled Lee. "He came in and saw me sitting on a stool playing my guitar and invited me to play with him later that night, which I did. I still rank that experience as one of my greatest honors."

During the late '80s, Lee found his talents in demand as a Hendrix tributeer. An overseas call for his services came from Ireland one day by a Milwaukee man with international ties.

The offer was backed by a one-way ticket, but things didn't turn out quite as Lee expected.

"I got a lot of work in Belfast playing old blues tunes," said Lee. "That was fine for a while, but it wasn't the reason I went there. Initially, I was led to believe that there was a new scene taking shape, but I found out people there were more into where I'd been than where I was going."

Lee's currently enjoying his longest stint yet as a group leader in his self-titled band, an ever-changing mix of local players providing a blend of rock classics and originals. Artists covered range from Frank Zap pa to Eric Clapton to you-know-who. Lee's recent CD, "Mach II Boogaloo," about sums up the approach -- and it's available at a record store near you.

Lee still seeks to make a full-time living off music, but not if that means playing what doesn't please: "I'll go anywhere, even to another country again, if I can play what I'm into," said Lee. "But if they want something that's not from the heart? Well, I'm not interested."

Guitarist and singer Freddie Lee is featured on Channel 4's "Packers Extra" on Sunday nights.

Journal Sentinel Online Inside Let's Go



© Copyright 1999, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. All rights reserved. - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

If you ain't moving behind the intense energy of "Just Relax", have someone pull the plug. You're past the point of no return. Freddie Lee Peterson has created a dynamic work that successfully combines R&B/Blues into a dance CD. He wrote all the material and plays all the guitars and bass and sings lead with backup on drums and percussion. His voice is powerful and works well with his intelligent and thoughtful material. This is a high-quality production that is sure to please anyone who loves good, clean powerhouse guitar coupled with excellent vocals, good lyrics, supported by fine musicians. If you want to witness the versatility of Freddie, check out the hard-rock influenced cut, "Annaeu DE Kronos". This is a super tight group and I look forward to hearing what they come up with next. Give it a try.
--Dave Somerscales - Showcase Reviews - 1998

Guitar standout Freddie Lee grew up in Wauwatosa but took his music to the people on Milwaukee's Brady Street. "I started out playing on the street 'cause I had no place to go", he says frankly. "I used to just sit out on Brady Street and strum on my axe. As long as I had strings on my guitar and could play one or two songs, I could always get a hamburger." Beginning with Wildcat Mountain Express back in 1973, Lee has played in a bunch of local bands, including the Esquires and a Hendrix tribute band the Screamin' Eagles. Today, the Freddie Lee Band often plays at Brady Street venues like Harpo's and Up and Under Pub.

"One time was it," Lee says of the Hendrix tribute ideal. "I don't want to get stuck there. The fact that Lee would even think of playing guitar Hendrix style says a lot about his abilities, and Lee admits that his current Freddie Lee Band can still pull out the Hendrix tribute once in a great while" to set off the originals. The band's soon-to-be-released debut CD, Mach II Boogaloo, covers some two years' worth of work, highlighting the group's up-tempo, blues-infected, alternative rock/soul soup.

--Thacher Schmid - Milwaukee Magazine - 1996

Freddie Lee Band, "Mach II Boogaloo". Older popular music fans may recall a time when artrock's overextended arms collided with soul and R&B's sheer musical finesse. Love, The Chamber Brothers and early-era Sly & The Family Stone come to mind.

Longtime street troubadour and club act Freddie Lee wants to go back, and his new album takes us there. The singer and guitarist starts by gently coaxing us with "Just Relax," a bouncy bit of blues pop. "Time" recasts a title hit by the Chambers Brothers and keeps the L.A. band's spirit intact. It seems to have been written for its live potential, iwth a few of the spacious verses filled in with Lee's "soulfuldelic" guitar lines. He then catches the boogaloos through "Suburban Blues," contrasted by the mournful serenade of "Bradford at Sunrise".

"Right Now" is a bit of jazz pop that has Lee extending his best Lou Rawls impersonation, while "Of, By And For" casts him in a more traditional role, where he evokes the spirit of Frank Zappa.
--Nick Carter - Milwaukee Journal Sentinal - Fri. Jan. 9, 1998

Milwaukee musician Freddie Lee can be described using a variety of phrases including "talented guitarist", "former street performer" and "unsung local music talent", but one thing he's not is a blues musician.

Mach II Boogaloo features 10 Lee originals, seven songs and three instrumental tracks and is about to be released by Intense Anxiety Records. Lee, created a record that blends together elements of funk, jazz, and rock and roll. Tracks like "M-16" in particular, reveal Lee's rock and roll sensibilities, while others, such as "Suburban Blues", pay homage (albeit tongue in cheek) to Lee's blues interests. What holds it all together, is Lee's considerable musical talent. He sings and plays electric, acoustic and bass guitar on all but one of the tracks.

The backing musicians on the record do a respectable job but Lee has found that assembling a live band to recreate his original songs on stage is difficult. He has songs that require two drummers, a keyboardistor harmonica player, requiring Lee to put together a six or seven piece live band. Additionally, recruiting skilled musicians to perform his songs is difficult as Lee has found that musicians playing rock and blues covers, as opposed to original material, generally are paid more for live gigs.

Lee's music, with it's extensive guitar work, layered tracks and additional musicians bares a resemblance to the complicated arrangements of Frank Zappa. Lee, who admits to being a fan of the late musician, doesn't mind the comparison.
--Mel Levine - City Edition -1998