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Biography
Samuel C Lees started playing at the age of 13. It seemed a natural direction to go in, as his family were extremely enthusiastic about music, and Sam grew up with it in his life everyday. Like all sufferers of dyslexia, Samuel was perceived as not being as academic as his peers, but it soon became evident that Samuel’s talent lay in music, and there he proved himself as a promising musician. It was a natural progression. Within a year he was soon amerced in the world of professional guitar playing, after graduating from the Dimarizio School of Music with honours and getting an A* rating in his GCSE music.
Samuel’s music has many influences, the biggest being ‘Queen’, whom he went to watch when he was eight years old. He describes how their music was powerful, “they blew me away”. Guitar wise, Sam would say that Yngwie J Malmsteen was a major influence. His was captivated by Malmsteen’s style and flair. Sam actually got the opportunity to work with Yngwie, and supported him on is UK leg of the Attack tour. Samuel could not go on to talk about his influences without mentioning Stevie Ray Vaughn. Listening to Samuel’s music it is clear to see that he has been an great follower of Stevie’s music. Sam describes how Stevie is “passionate about his music, rather that being too technical”. Sam feels that Blues gives you the power to get rid of feelings. Rather than being vocal, you can make people see what you are feeling. He admires Stevie, for the way that no matter what he did, or who he worked with, he always sounded like Stevie ray Vaughn. He also says how Tommy Bollin is one of the greatest, yet underrated guitarists around. You can see that Tommy and Sam share many attributes of their style of playing.
In 2000, Sam started the band ‘Texas Flood’, with Mark Fitten, Adam Ogiliev, and Neil McCarran .It was a great idea with a great line up, but the band was very strained. Sam had a phase of going up on stage and doing whatever he wanted, just on the spot, leaving the others to think on their feet. He adopted a ‘follow me’ approach. Just as the band had started to establish itself, some members left to work on other projects. That was the end of ‘Texas Flood’. This left Sam to create a new band, with drummer Steve Washington, called the ‘Washington Lees Experiment’.
Now Sam has created a new band with Adam Ogiliev as bassist, and Andy Perfect on drums. With this new band comes a new concept. A new way to look at blues. Samuel’s idea is to bring the aspect of entertainment back into blues. He feels that so many blues players are stuck in a restraint, and the ‘Samuel C Lees Band’ plans to break the conventions of the genre of Blues. He says how he wants his music to become a ‘roller coaster of emotion’. He wants it to convey sadness and happiness, whilst still being entertaining and enjoyable. It will not be seen as ‘just another blues number’. His new band will be free from all of the constraints that blues hold, “Blues doesn’t have to be so narrow”. This is Sam at his most expressive.
Samuel’s main aim is to keep the ‘Samuel C Lees Band’ a family, and make sure that first and foremost, it is an enjoyable experience. He hopes to branch out over Britain and Europe, and get this new sound heard. The blues scene has not moved in the past 15 years. Samuel says how, “We need players like Doyle Bramell. He has an amazing knowledge of guitar, and yet doesn’t restrict himself. We need to shake it up a bit, you are a vessel to show people feelings that they possibly do not show themselves”.
Sam has definitely shaken it up a bit. This is blues at it’s most innovative. This is blues at it’s most entertaining. This is blues straight from the heart. Watch out for the ‘Samuel C Lees Band’.
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