BluesBerry

Contact Information

Biography

Over the years after learning Bass and Guitar, I would play with a number of musicians and I would go on to Front several Bands. Through those years, I watched a few go onto the so-called big time. During that time that spanned from 1970 to the 1990s, the Rumblebugs would come to forge a "new sound." Looking back I realize that playing in Dive Bars such as the The Congo bar, the Dew Drop Inn, the Whitehouse, Sam's place, the Curve Inn, the 24-40 Club, the Shenago, and the Saddleback were just a few of the Dive bars around the North eastern part of Kansas our Rumblebugs band had been honing an original sound.
Their new sound was also a result of the time that Jim and the others grew up in. He and the other band members grew up in the 1950s and 1960s and this time period had a lot of influence on their eventual new sound of music. Like most Bar Bands, they had to play the standard Bar Band song list, which included a mixture of old Rock, Blues, some Country Western, and few of their own original tunes. This need to cover numerous genres would also influence the making of their new sound. In the early 1980s Jim and other band members were already writing songs that seemed to blend different genres. Maybe this was a result of playing so many different genres. Rockabilly, Latino, Punk, Heavy Metal, Blues, Country, Western, Reggae, Island music, Rock and Roll, Old time Jazz, and Folk music, to name a few, were blended and mixed in the minds of Jim and others to create songs that he would come to call, simply the "New Swirl Sound". Yes, Swirl music, would best describe this blending of genres and Jim even wrote a song called the "New Swirl Sound" to describe his new sound.

Looking back before he wrote the New Swirl Sound, in1982 Jim wrote a song called "Reggae Watusi". Reggae Watusi would be his first original song he could rightly call a "Swirl Song". It wouldn't be until several years later he would actually put a name to his new sound. Blues, Soul, Latin music, old Rock and Roll, Island music, and a little Dean Martin all mixed together came to create Reggae Watusi. A song about a man watching a woman dance to the rhythm of the waves on the shore, while he pines, too shy to tell her of his love for her.

As most bands do, Jim Lee and the Rumblebugs, evolved as entertainers, musicians and songwriters over the years. Still they never stood on being so polished as to make the songs sound lifeless and without a soul. They learned the secret of entertaining is to entertain oneself on stage and the audience will follow suit. They "Rocked Out", but if the need be, they could keep the music low and yet energetic. Again, this type of knowledge they had learned on the Dive Bar Band circuit. Jim loved dancing and still does and he would always incorporate movement on stage whenever he could. He can do a great "fish out of water" on stage as a grand finale at the end of the night. Basically, they are a great little dance band featuring the New Swirl Sound .

Instruments

First off I am a singer-songwriter that plays rhythm guitar to accompany my vocals. But I also play lead guitar, keyboards, a little Drums, and Bass

Recording devices

I am recording on Protools presently. I have the yearly subscription plan.

BluesBerry suit