Music Background

“…Talented...One of the best players."

Richard Rosenthal, Music Connection

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Upon arriving in America from my native England at age 9 I began playing trumpet in school bands. I learned the horn quickly, and within three years, at age 12, I was invited to play as a guest musician with the Charleston (South Carolina) Symphony Orchestra.

Throughout high school I was a trumpet player in marching, concert, pep and jazz bands. St. Andrew's Parish High School often won Best Marching Band contests throughout the Southeastern US. I played on an eclectic album released by St. Andrews band, and I regularly entered sight reading competitions.

Entering the U.S. Navy at age 18, I was asked to join the navy band, where I switched from brass instruments to percussion. (I was enamored with Sib Hashian's drumming on Boston's first album...remember "More Than a Feeling?") While playing concert and marching snare drum in the navy band, I performed at various parades and pro sporting event halftime shows.

The navy assigned me to shore duty in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (sweet!) where I spent the next two years buying cheap used drums from pawn shops, covering them (the drums, not the pawn shops) in sticky shelving paper to create a "unified" look, and assembling a crude drum set. Playing with a variety of fellow sailor guitarists and bassists, I leaned how to control tempo and volume, and how to control pedals (hi-hat and bass drum) and sticks simultaneously. I started dreaming about a career in drumming when my navy enlistment was completed.

Dreams become reality. After the navy I moved to Southern California to become a full-time pro rock 'n roll drummer. It was 5 nights a week playing cover songs (mostly rock with a little disco and country thrown in), in smoky clubs across the Southwest US. Listening to how recording artist drummers created various beats and feels helped me develop my own unique style. Our band was originally called Collector's Item, then we changed it to Night Moves, then finally to Kilroy.

After three years of full-time drumming, by the early 1980s I was growing tired of the low-pay and grueling travel schedule. I went to college, completed my bachelor's degree in computer science (programming actually has much in common with writing music), and launched a new career as a computer geek. Along the way I also jump-started a new family: married at age 25 and two daughters by age 27.

I played drums part-time with a few different bands (including WizeGize) through the mid- and late-'80s, until I met keyboardist/frontman Bill Grisolia and formed The Attachments in 1991. Bill's toe-tapping original songs (often compared to those of Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel) received rave critical reviews by music journalists. The Attachments headlined at Hollywood's biggest venues: including The Roxy, Club Lingerie and The Palomino.

The Attachments recorded and released four albums, including one (Rosarita) produced by Barry Fasman (Styx, Billy Joel). Bill and I enjoyed playing and recording with a number of talented musicians in The Attachments, including bassists Jeff Klein and Scott Duncan, and guitarists Lynn Grieves, David Goldman and Scott Lawson.

In 1994 I branched out on my own and recorded a solo album (Hey, Little Girl), then helped form power rock trio The Mean Rights, along with former Attachments Jeff Klein (writer, bassist, lead vocalist) and Lynn Grieves (guitarist). In 2006 I created two music videos based on these solo album songs.

Over the years I've written and recorded a number of "idea songs" in my home studio, ranging from standard rock ballads to humorous ditties.

In 2004 I rejoined my old friend Bill to create BGB (Bill Grisolia Band), which included Chap Cooper on guitar and Bart Broadnax on bass. BGB has opened for national touring acts including Three Dog Night, Eddie Money, Leon Russell, Macy Gray and others. (Meeting the original members of Three Dog Night after our New Years Eve 2004 gig with them in front of 850 people at The Vault was a real treat.)

tel. (562) 986-5163 Lee@LeeGodden.com