Life > October 20, 2006

By Rachel Kowal

Staff writer

Amos Lee, acoustic singer/songwriter and Philadelphia native, calmly stepped onto the stage of the Music Farm on Oct. 13th, the coldest night in Charleston, S.C. since the beginning of May. 

Despite the sudden cold snap, Lee and company were warmly embraced by a decent-sized crowd. 

Though the show occurred on Friday the 13th, the only sign of bad luck was a brief bad connection for a bass guitar. 

Lee’s music, which is a unique conglomeration of a number of genres including folk, jazz, pop, R&B and even country, is that deep down soulful music that is so rare on the music scene today.

It’s as if in addition to beautiful lyrics streaming forth when Lee opens his mouth, a bit of his soul comes out as well.

In the middle of songs, Lee would often turn around on stage to face his fellow musicians and would play as if the audience had suddenly melted away.

Lee and the band showcased many new songs from the recently released album Supply and Demand, the follow up to the self-titled album with Blue Note Records that came out in 2005. Lee may not have hit it big yet, but he seems to have a dedicated fan base. 

Instead of knowing the lyrics to one song the audience seemed to know and sing the lyrics all of the songs on Lee’s debut album equally well.  Following only the release of two independently recorded EP’s, Lee notably opened for Norah Jones’ international tour.

Following the release of Supply and Demand on Oct. 3, Lee has kept busy.

Preceding the kick-off of his current tour in Atlanta on Oct. 12, Lee showcased two of his new songs through his subsequent guest appearances on the NBC late night show Last Call with Carson Daly on both the Nov. 10 and 11. 

If you listened carefully, Lee’s songs seem to paint a story of love, yearning, and peace tinged with a sort of melancholy hopeful sadness.  Lee kicked off the show with “Skipping Stone,” a track from his new album that fittingly includes the lyrics, “Won’t you please say hello/’Cause I don’t know if I can do this alone” only to immediately follow with the song “Listen” which seemed to immediately call the audience to engage in the music. 

It seemed as if Lee’s plan all along was to wrap the audience up in the music, for at the conclusion of the show Lee stated, “I’m glad we’ve connected this evening.”

While Amos made only a few comments between songs, the confessions and exclamations yelled out by the audience got him going.  Throughout the performance, audience members of both sexes would yell out, “I love you, Amos!” 

Following about ten desperate confessions of this, Lee responded with a playful sarcastic comment about not feeling the love in the room. 

Upon introducing his song “Sweet Pea,” someone yelled out, “You’re a sweet pea!” to which Lee responded, “I can’t believe some of the things this audience is saying!”  “Sweet Pea” notably highlighted the talents of Lee’s fellow band members, and it included solos on both the trumpet and the bass guitar. 

Even Freddy the drummer—who with his grey beard and numerous wrinkles looked like a homeless version of Sir Ian McKellen—seemed to hold his own.

Lee followed his original sixteen song set with a generous encore of four songs including a cover of the song “Ain’t No Sunshine” to the delight of the crowd.

Lee’s extensive tour is expected to hit some forty American and Canadian cities by Dec. 22nd. Lee’s second and last show in North Carolina is Thursday, Oct. 19th at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro