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"Alice
Lee's vocals
dart about, going from breathy to furious, and points
in between." - NYRock.com
"Damn
this is pretty. Alice writes it all, plus plays piano and guitar. Chances
are, you'll dig her soulful, eclectic tunes as much as we did. "
- JANE Magazine
Alice
Lee was born in Boston, MA, and trained early on in classical music by
her pianist mother. Periods of sporadic nomadism landed her in Los Angeles
and Orange County, CA for the bulk of her childhood and to San Francisco,
New York, and Melbourne, Australia for her nascent adulthood. After quitting
music to pursue a dance career, she eventually returned to music - this
time, on her own terms. She soon picked up the guitar and took the initiative
in learning.
The voice
was the last element to fall in place. Plagued by shyness, she started
to sing in cemeteries to bolster her confidence. "Two words why:
no hecklers. I figured if I wanted to find out whether I could sing to
wake the dead, might as well start in a logical place." Finally landing
in Washington, DC, she began playing open mics in the area and gathering
mutual inspiration from other musicians.
She found
herself busking in Paris and Amsterdam and performing in Edinburgh and
Ghent. A demo EP followed. Through the help of a couple of friends, the
tracks were finished in Virginia and Europe in a couple of days of recording.
After
moving to Brooklyn and playing solo gigs in New York, San Francisco, Boston,
Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, she found like-minds in bassist Tony
Maimone (Pere Ubu, They Might Be Giants) and studio whiz Joel Hamilton
(Shiner, Sparklehorse). Her second release, The Quicksand EP featuring
Matt Brubeck (Sheryl Crow, Tom Waits) and Maimone, skirts along the boundaries
of what could loosely be called rock, encompassing bossa nova, bhangra
funk, and electronic drum and bass.
Her new
EP, The Art of Forgetting, takes her signature sound in a new direction,
applying her intimate songs onto a canvas of electronic sounds coupled
with live instrumentation. Recorded at Studio G Brooklyn, featuring Tony
Maimone (Pere Ubu, They Might Be Giants) and Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing,
Roni Size), these tracks comprise her first collaboration with studio
whiz Joel Hamilton (Shiner, Sparklehorse). It has been picked up by Carrot
Top Distribution and has been selected for use in MTV's The Real World.
Her distinctive
vocal style and songwriting have seen increasing recognition and airplay
internationally. She continues to sporadically tour and play with her
band. She has been featured in Jane Magazine's compilation CD and was
a Semi-Finalist in "The American Music Awards® Presents The Coca-Cola
New Music Award" 2002/2003 Competition. She is currently working
on a full-length CD slated for release next year.
"Lee's
voice carries an innate spectre of danger and tragedy that suits her writing
style perfectly. Distinct rhythm, distinct delivery, distinct style: lovely."
- Joseph McCombs, Starpolish.com
"Like
a great cup of coffee with a shot of Bailey's in a dark, intimate club
- It's hard to pinpoint Alice's unique musical style, but hopefully it's
where modern rock is heading". - Performing Songwriter Magazine
"Alice's
music is just beyond the confines of anything we could have imagined..
She is THAT good. See her soon."
-- Mike Perazzetti, thefeveredbrainofradiomike.com
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