M U S I C
Demo queen cuts loose
Stephanie Lee isn’t afraid to say what needs to be said

By Deonne Kahler,
The Taos News, June 14, 2006

Stephanie Lee worked as a studio musician for nine years, playing piano and singing backup in Taos for local lumi-naries like Jenny Bird, Kim Treiber, and Michael Mandrell, until 1999 when Bird crowned Lee the "F---ing Demo Queen of Northern New Mexico” and told Lee to get over herself and put out an album. Lee took the advice, but it was a long road to get to that debut record.
  Lee ran away from home as a kid and experienced what she calls “a lot of dark stuff,” later moving to Taos in 1977 to raise her children. As a girl on the road and then as a struggling single mother, Lee experienced a lot of hardship, and writes songs about people she perceives as the forgotten, the invisible, people who deserve to have their stories told.
  Lee has grown into a politically outspoken woman, and after releasing the decidedly anti-George W. Bush single “Get Out The Bushes, Get Out The Thieves,” had that CD confiscated in October 2002 at JFK International Airport by airport security, under the auspices of the Patriot Act.
  Ah, the irony.
  She describes herself as straightforward and unglamorous, and only having heard her music and not met her, I wholeheartedly agree with the first adjective, but I don’t know about the second. Lee’s latest release, “One Little Seed and Songs from The Psycho-Political Cabaret,” may as well be its own Broadway show, with Lee as its starring diva. Her Web site says the new record is “sung with a twist of wicked glee,” and there’s definitely a lot of that on this jazzy, dramatic, funky politico-folk album.
  Lee recently won a Nammy for best vocal performance for that album’s track “Rachel Corrie,” the dark and mournful song about the 24­ yar old American war protester who was run over by an Israeli bulldozer and killed. Corrie was in Gaza opposing the illegal demolition of Palestinian homes as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. Eyewitnesses state Corrie was clearly visible to the bulldozer driver in her day-glo orange vest, and was doing nothing to provoke the attack. (For more information about Corrie, go to www.rachelcorrie.org.) The song is haunting and beautiful with a melancholy cello running throughout, and showcases Lee’s excellent vocals, as well as her passionate commitment to justice.
  “One Little Seed” includes a well-known roster of local talent. It was recorded by Jon Gold at Dead Horse Studio, mixed by Gold and Andy Byrd, and features supporting musicians like Jenny Bird, Adrienne Braswell, and Peter Barbeau. Lee produced and wrote all the songs, playing piano and singing on all tracks. She’s got an expressive, impressive voice with a broad range and precise phrasing. Whether she’s echoing a wailing saxophone or riffing over a pounding organ track, her voice swoops and soars, croons and testifies.
  The album is full of heart, in songs like the beautiful “Come Home,” a lament for the lover who’s left her, and “ Your Time is Comin’,” which reminds us that wisdom comes from getting your heart broken. Then there’s the title track, where Lee sings about how one person can have a huge impact in the world, and that miracles can happen anywhere.
  This is a woman not afraid to voice her opinions, but she wraps them in such a sonically sweet package you won’t mind the preaching. “Can’t Sanctify It” posits that war can’t ever be justified, since “murder is murder is murder is murder,” while “ Whose Boys Died” depicts the innocent victims of combat.
  There are three big, big songs on the record. “Just Another Killing” is about how we’re so desensitized to violence and how pervasive it is in our culture, how children grow up seeing daily images of blood and violence – “ Thirty murders a day in your living room with a snack.” Sort of a Sweeney Todd for the kiddie set, tempered by the humor of Lee’s piano noodling “Chopsticks” and a play on slang for female anatomy.
  Then there’s “Mrs. President.” It’s Lee’s revenge fantasy of what it would be like if she were to take over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where she’d control the urge to eat “neo cons for hors d’ouevres,” and “wallop the FCC for banning political songs.” Lastly is Lee’s take on American apathy and the Iraq war in “ Why Should I Care.” Here’s a sample: “I work so hard 40 hours a week just to pay my bills/Why should I care who my government kills/Besides everybody on TV agrees/We needed this war spiritually and economically/We are freeing the oppressed, ain’t that what democracy is for?” Despite the direct sentiments, the album never comes off as strident. If you like “One Little Seed” you should also check out Lee’s earlier recordings “ The Old Man’s Stories” and “Bliss is the Aftermath.” If you’re a fan of jazzy vocals, solid songwriting, ardent delivery, and impas-sioned content, these CDs won’t leave your stereo any time soon.
 For more information call 575-7704004.