About
Lee Neitzel makes rootsy alt-rock music. This new project is his first solo venture, and finds him inspired a lot by time – the time he has spent pursuing a career away from music, and now, on his return to writing and recording, learning to live in the moment and not wait for any more time to pass to pursue his dreams.
Born in Chicago but based in Charlotte for the past 15 years, Lee was the frontman of Transmission Fields (Spectra Records), who Shuffle Magazine called “a little gem for those who like their pop rock like R.E.M. or Built to Spill … a little angular, a little obscure and a lot of fun”. The band enjoyed a hectic year touring the east coast of the USA, and then Lee spent the next seven years learning to grow sunflowers and absorbing himself in the routine of a day job outside of music.
An afternoon noodling on some Wilco songs found Lee with a pen in his hand hooked on a vocal melody, and a complete song followed in less than an hour. He knew right there it was time to get back in the game. Swapping pop-rock for a more rootsy sound influenced by artists like The Shins, Benjamin Gibbard and The Decemberists, his solo writing still finds a little of the edge from his Transmission Fields days, but with a more organic, mature feel. After so much time away from the scene he is working on squeezing as much music as possible into the humdrum of daily life, with his debut EP due out mid summer 2023.
Written by: Erica Bramham
