LEE COULTER – “The singer-songwriter discovery of 2011,” Sirius XM Coffee House.
SoCal based Aussie, Lee Coulter, sings deeply lyrical songs reminiscent of classic thematic songwriters of the 40s and 50s, while in the form of modern acoustic indie-pop. It’s Cole Porter meets Jack Johnson in Motown.
MUSIC (listen to more in the store):
NOTEWORTHY:
“I Would Love” in rotation on Sirius XM’s The Coffee House.
“Photograph” in rotation on Sirius XM’s The Coffee House.
“Booty Voodoo” in rotation on San Diego’s KPRI FM.
VIDEO:
More on Lee’s youtube channel.
BIO:
Self. It’s a prefix that usually sends musicians to the bottom of the pile. Self-produced, self-released, self-managed can all be ways of saying no one else cares. Lee Coulter became an exception to the rule this year when his DIY debut album saw three singles reach rotation on Sirius XM’s The Coffee House (who also named him the Discovery of 2011) and major San Diego AAA station, KPRI FM.
In Australia, Coulter started out producing and writing for other artists out of his bedroom, but after he moved from the beaches of Queensland to the coast of California, he tried getting in front of the mic himself and was hooked.
His audiences liked it too and they soon had him playing at top San Diego venues. After releasing his first album, he headed out on the road, touring the US for the next 9 months, playing for audiences from Hawaii to New York City. His song, “Booty Voodoo” became a hit on the Internet after being called “The Song of the Summer” by C.C. Chapman, host of the number 1 podcast on iTunes, Accident Hash. The tour inspired him to make his base in San Diego and build on his momentum. Unfortunately, things don’t always go according to plan and Coulter took a hit with the rest of the economy when live music became a luxury to most.
Ironically, in February 2011, at the same time finances forced him, his wife and their toddler son out of their Encinitas apartment, Coulter’s socio-political single, “I Would Love”, went national on Sirius XM’s popular songwriter channel, The Coffee House. It was soon joined by “Photograph”, another track from the debut and they both remain on the airwaves today. And then, when KPRI called to tell him they’d added “Booty Voodoo” into rotation as well, he knew he had no choice but to head back into the studio and get back to work.
Coulter began writing music when he was a teen helping his unemployed single mother raise his younger sisters. For him, it was a mechanism to help lift spirits, a vehicle to be used in the pursuit of happiness – an idea still obvious and necessary in his music today.
After a whirlwind of writing and recording while couch surfing and gigging along the West Coast, “Mr Positivity” is more introspective and raw than his last album, but Coulter hopes that his fans will appreciate the emotional vulnerability mixed with his trademark optimism. After all, Hope is his middle name. No really, it is.
REVIEWS:
“The singer-songwriter Discovery of 2011!” – Sirius XM The Coffee House.
“That’s not my theme song, but it’s cool.” – Conan O’Brien.
“Lee Coulter can bring his music to life with a guitar and a microphone, with all the tasteful rhythm, vocal presence and controlled intelligence of the best of the singer songwriters on any stage. ” – RogueRadio.com.
“This is good time music that makes you dance and feeds your soul.” – Craig Yerkes for San Diego Troubadour Magazine.
“His music and lyrics reflect a positive outlook that is galaxies away from the metallic gloom of his plugged-in contemporaries. How refreshing.” – Honolulu Weekly
“Listening to Lee Coulter, I could hear elements of some of the rhythmic play of G. Love and lyrical fluidity of Jason Mraz and, of course, the smooth feel of Jack Johnson. His lyrics are smart and actually provoke laughter and paint images.” – R World Blog
“Booty Voodoo is the song of the summer,” C.C. Chapman, Accident Hash (#1 Podcast on Itunes).