Biography                                   FAQs

Rod Lee was born in February of 1966 in a small town in Indiana. From early on, Rod was at work as a noisy child banging on pots and pans and using anything that he could find to make noise. At the age of 4, Rod’s family moved to El Paso, Texas where he was exposed to a predomimantly Hispanic population and culture. At the age of 5, he got his first drum set, which he quickly wore out. His next instrument that he can remember was a red plastic toy guitar. Although he didn’t know how to play it yet, he could sit for hours and sing the words to his favorite songs, like "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" (by Charlie Rich) and "Tell me Have you Seen Her?" by the Temptations.

Rod started playing the piano at around 8 years old. Without much knowledge about chords and the structure of music, he fumbled over and over, finally learning a few annoying tunes that he would play until everyone had heard enough. The one thing that came out of those meaningless tunes however was Rod’s desire to understand the structuring of the music he was trying to create. The piano for the most part became his major source for learning. 

All through his early school years, the school choir was part of his curriculum. As Rod grew older though, sports became a major part of his life. He started playing football at the age of 8, and was soon also involved in basketball and baseball. Sports had been a big part of his father’s school years and so he was encouraged to be involved in sports as well. In the 5th grade however, Rod decided to try his hand at his first music course - orchestra. Although the orchestra didn’t turn out to be the right fit for him, the following year he tried out for the school band playing the coronet. It was in band class that he really became interested in learning notes and chords.

It wasn’t long however until Rod decided he wanted to play drums in the school band instead of the coronet. When his teacher didn’t agree with his choice, he eventually gave up band class to focus again on sports. Music however remained an important outlet for Rod. His early influences were 70s music and early 80s disco music which were very rhythm driven. He also began to explore country music and began to understand and mimic what the singers were singing about. As Rod entered Jr. High School (the "in-music" at the time was disco), he still continued to have an ear for country music. Rod says he remembers listening to K C and the Sunshine Band, Wild Cherry, The Commodores, and many other disco bands, but he also found that he had an appetite for country artists such as Michael Martin Murphy, Lee Greenwood, Kenny Rogers, and Glenn Campbell. 

Nearing the end of 9th grade, rock music started to find its way into Rod’s album rack. He began listening to bands like Van Halen, AC-DC, Kansas, Fleetwood Mac and others. It was in his sophomore year in high school (when Rod began to lose interest in sports) that a few of his fellow classmates approached him at an end-of-year concert in the school gymnasium about joining their band as a drummer. He gladly accepted, even though he did not own a drum set at the time and had never played on a real drum set, let alone with a band. Years earlier, he would air band with his friends to bands such as KISS, but that was nowhere near the real thing. Needless to say, his desire to be involved in music overcame his lack of experience and he became a drummer in a band called Spellbinder. It was at that time in his life that Rod says he found his true calling. He played a backyard party one year at Halloween and the band dressed up in spandex and makeup. That show was his first lesson that showmanship plays a vital part in a music career. The band went on to play many venues ranging from school events to eventually opening acts at big concert nightclubs.

With Spellbinder, Rod had developed into not only a solid drummer, but had learned that he could also sing. It wasn’t until his first recordings in the studio that he realized that he wanted to sing as well. Rod eventually left Spellbinder and formed Mammoth, a three-piece band where he was still the drummer, but he also shared lead vocals with the bass player. Although enjoying some short-term popularity, as rock and roll "glam-rock" began to fall from popularity, Mammoth soon disbanded and Rod found himself searching for his next musical project.

A day job took him to Midland, Texas where he began working on his writing skills when he wasn’t working. He spent hours creating and writing music, acquiring a small 4-track recorder, a keyboard and a drum machine. It was here where he met a young group of guys called Room Service. He soon found himself working as a full-time drummer again in their band, only this time playing pop, college, funk and new wave music, something new to him. Playing clubs and developing a good following, the band recorded a demo and received regional radio play, but Rod soon decided leave the band to move on to pursue his own writing.

Rod eventually moved to Austin and began his quest into what now has become a well-rounded music career. He began experimenting with electronic music and honing his vocal abilities. He picked up the guitar again, but this time with the understanding of chord structuring and arrangement. He began performing in talent contests, but found that he was the only one performing pop and rock music from artists such as Bryan Adams and Michael Bolton. Again, this music was beginning to fade in popularity while country music was starting to grow. It was around the late 80s and early 90s when Rod started focusing primarily on country. He bought all the material he could get his hands on and began singing daily to background tracks until he finally captured the country sound vocally. He entered more talent shows and eventually started performing as a country singer throughout Austin playing outdoor concerts and private parties.

As his performances matured, he began playing in nightclubs and honky tonks. In 1994 he decided that it was time to move to Nashville to pursue his dream full time, so he sold everything he had and moved there. It wasn’t long however before Rod realized that talent was not enough to earn him his dream, and that he didn’t have any idea about how the country music business worked. He soon decided to move back to Austin where he regrouped and began learning what he didn’t know about the music business.

Prepared with big plans and a new approach, Rod moved back to Nashville a couple of years later. This time he planned to get a producer and record an album. Answering a newspaper ad, "Looking for Talent - Producer with connections and songs will make you a star!", Rod cut and recorded a 10-song demo to be pitched to the major record labels. Although the project was completed, the producer turned out to be less than credible, and Rod quickly found that he had fallen victim to a classic Nashville scam. Although discouraged, he stayed focused and eventually found a new producer, Michael Lewis, and a new project. That project ("Fire up the Crowd") featured "A Roar in Adelphia" a song about the Tennessee Titans Football team's Music City Miracle play written by Thomas Mills and Michael Lewis, and ended up producing a single called, "Just Another Town in Texas" (writers: Michael Lewis/Curt Campbell), which got national radio play. Another project came Rod’s way with a different producer, which eventually became a third album, "Just One Moon".

Rod has since moved back to Austin, where he calls home. He has traveled around the country performing shows with such artists as Perfect Stranger, B.B. Watson, Doug Supernaw and David Allen Coe.

Rod believes that music fans of all genres and ages can connect with a good song as long as they feel that the song and the artist is real and sincere. He has stayed true to his belief that if he records something, it must be from true life experiences and true to his heart. He believes that in order to convey what he wants the listener to hear, it must have passion and be real in order for them to believe in the song. 

Rod continues to receive material from some of the industry’s best writers, and he has plans for recording a fourth CD in the near future, however, he is currently in his home studio writing and exploring musical interests outside the traditional country music genre that he has become accustomed to and been known for. He would also like to record a piano and guitar instrumental CD, as well as a traditional piano and guitar instrumental Christmas CD in the future.