03.14.12

Friends... this year's Couch by CouchWest is going on right now... as we speak.

If you remember correctly, we won the"Sketchiest Couch" award last year... it is a prized possession, for sure.

So, do yerself a favor and go check out our 2012 CXCW "showcase"... we did a version of "Something Else" from Raucous Americanus.

03.01.12

Friends, you know we recorded a live show the first weekend of january, didn't you? well, we did... at our favorite club in town, the Pilot Light. it was a grand experiment. Jason Boardman brought in his HD24 setup, mic'd everything, and ran a separate signal to his board which he set up next door at Hot Horse. we've not been in a big hurry to do anything with it... in fact, we've not even heard it. on purpose. it'll be a nice surprise when we do.... until then, we'll trust jason when he tells us that it sounds fantastic.

and with the live show in the fridge, we're also making plans to begin recording our next release. we are scheduled to visit our friends John Harvey & Mary Podio at TopHat Recording in Austin the last week of may. then we head back over to Tucson in august to work with Craig Schumacher and Chris Schultz at WaveLab Studio. we're not saying that another double cd is in the works, but ... you never know ... anything could happen.

in the meantime, we're booking shows. come say hi. we'll have a raucous good time.

02.10.12

Well, WayneStock 2012 was a smashing success. Thanks to everyone who came out, and thanks to everyone who helped out.

01.11.12

Happy New Year, y'all!

Fiends... this time last year we were gearing up for the inaugural WayneStock show. At the time we didn't know it was going to be the inaugural event, because we didn't think that we would do it again. But, here we are... preparing for WayneStock 2. Please take a moment to check out the web site and show information. If WayneStock goes on to become an annual event, we'll let y'all know.

12.12.11

Thanks to everyone who replied and asked for a download card... they're in the mail.

Merry merry and happy happy!

12.05.11

Friends... we have some download cards for Raucous Americanus and we think they'll make groovy stocking stuffers.

The first 50 souls to send their USPS MAILING ADDRESS (um, click here) by noon on Friday, December 9, we will send you a download card (limit 2 per request).

Continental U.S. only, please. We couldn't afford the postage for overseas, and the cards probably wouldn't get there in time anyway.

Cards will go out Friday afternoon with plenty of time for stocking stuffing.

And in the meantime, go dig this...

11.30.11

Friends.... we've been eating again. it's drool-worthy...

09.10.11

08.15.11

Friends... we've been eating. you should probably go read about it.

08.11.11

friends... we have a couple of special shows coming up, both in the same weekend.

friday, august 19, we are part of the MetroPulse's 20th anniversary, 20Fest. just go look at the list. it's pretty unbelieveable.

saturday, august 20, we are playing another anniversary show, this one at Toot's Honky Tonk. Bonnie & Moses were so very kind to let us come in there late summer '10 to film the video for "get there first," so we have a very special place in our hearts for Toot's. the show is just us, but we'll have some special guests come sit in... it'll be a raucous good time!

07.06.11

Friends... we've been terribly remiss in blogging about eating. In one swell foop, we're taking care of that situation. go... read...

04.19.11

Friends... Tim was on the Taproot Radio show. It was live last night but you can hear a podcast here. go.... listen...

04.06.11

Friends... if you recognize the name Craig Schumacher, it's because you've seen it on a whole lot of your favorite CDs that were recorded at WaveLab Studio... Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3, Neko Case, Calexico, Amos Lee, etc. You've also seen his name on the last two TL3 releases.

You may or may not be aware that Craig was diagnosed with head and neck cancer earlier this year. During what should have been a routine tonsillectomy, doctors discovered a mass that they found to be cancerous. Since the cancer was so close to his larynx, they made the decision to treat it medically rather than with surgery.

The good news is that Craig’s prognosis is positive (medical types place him in the 90 percentile for full recovery). His doctors believe that with the proper treatments (which have already begun), he stands a good chance of beating this. Craig is currently undergoing chemotherapy, which will be followed by radiation treatment with low dose weekly chemotherapy. All this will take a while and the radiation recovery time is up to 18 months from last treatment .

The bad news is that the treatments are particularly invasive, painful and costly (the first steps costs alone have been astronomical). Craig has some health insurance through his lovely wife Karen Lustig’s policy. Still, the out-of-pocket expenses will be enormous, not to mention the fact that there will be periods in which Craig will not be able to work during the various treatments.

Last year, Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following a lumpectomy and radiation treatment, she is currently cancer-free. That is a fabulous outcome, of course, but these back-to-back cancer diagnoses have been tough on them, emotionally and financially.

As friends of the Schumacher/Lustig family, we are setting up a ChipIn account to help offset some of their out-of-pocket medical expenses and lost income from the studio. We kindly ask you to consider helping out by utilizing the widget embedded above, or by visiting the ChipIn page to check out the Craig Schumacher vs. Cancer ChipIn campaign.

You can also keep up with Craig’s progress and other news via the Facebook page we've set up for Craig Schumacher vs Cancer. Words of encouragement can be sent to Craig privately via email and/or publicly on the Facebook page.

Here at TL3hq, we appreciate any contribution you could make to help our friends.

Thanks!

Susan Bauer Lee & Tim Lee

03.27.11

Friends... we realize that we've been out of touch for a while. Suffice it to say that the last couple of months have been rather tough at TL3hq.

But, we have a bit of good news... we won a major award. And by major, we mean... well... not. But we are honored and had a damn good time with it.

During South by SouthWest, a bunch of good folk who were more inclined to stay home (either due to financial circumstances or lack of interest) began their own "festival" dubbed Couch by CouchWest on Twitter. What started as a joke, turned into a full on movement when followers began sending in photos of themselves and/or their critters enjoying couch activities. Submissions quickly evolved into performances, and a new festival was born. The graphic above links to the page presenting us with the "sketchiest couch" award. We prefer to call it an "outdoor couch"... but at least they acknowledged the appropriate end table.

The award page includes a link to our submission, if you are so inclined. And while you're at it, look at the whole thing. It's hilarious.

02.18.11

Friends... WayneStock was a phenominal success. We couldn't have hoped for it to go any better. Please follow that link to the FaceBook page and check out all the photos. And check out all the individual bands who gave their time to help a friend... they deserve your attention.

And go check out our photo page... there are some fabulous WayneStock live photos in our Flickr stream.

In other TL3 news, we've gotten a few more reviews of Raucous Americanus... go. read.

01.26.11

Friends... we've got some new reviews. You should go check 'em out.

01.10.11

Friends... here at TL3hq, we like to try to help take care of our friends. And to that end, we're helping put together a weekend concert to help raise funds for the family of Wayne Bledsoe, who's son passed away unexpectedly just before Christmas. WayneStock will be a 3-day event with a bunch of Knoxville bands to celebrate the life of Andrew Bledsoe. Check out the web site, and if you're not able to attend, but want to help out, please consider a donation. We would appreciate it.

12.27.10

Lots of holiday eating... check out the BBQ blog. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed, aptly named FeedTL3, and get updates automatically! Ain't technology grand...

12.20.10

Here at TL3hq, we're thankful that we are blessed with so many friends and neighbors who have been so kind to us throughout the year.

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered Raucous Americanus and helped finance getting it out. Thanks to everyone who bought, listened to, played on yer show, and reviewed RA. We are a very luck 3, fer sure.

Y'all be safe out there, and we look forward to seeing y'all in the new year.

12.6.10

We had a great time down in Georgia last weekend... stole a few souls, rocked a bunch more of 'em. There will be a food blog soon, but it won't be what you think.

Next up.... Columbus, Ohio this weekend at the Carabar with our long-time friends, The Beatdowns. This show is the The Beatdowns 5th annual Christmas Extravaganza. We are worried that we don't have Christmas shoes, and might, therefore, be underdessed. I'll bet the laser light show will make up for our lack in appropriate footwear.

Hey.... doncha think Raucous Americanus would make a great ChristmasHanukkahKwaanzaFestivus gift for that rock & roll inclined person in your life?

11.30.10

Thanks to everyone who participated in Cyber Monday Madness here at TL3hq!

11.29.10

it's CYBER MONDAY MADNESS! here at TL3hq.

that's right.... and if you order a physical copy of Raucous Americanus directly from us on our merch page today only, we're gonna send you something special...

1. First five orders get a limited edition print of the original cover photograph (7"x7" suitable for framin'), stamped (with our own seal, by damn) and autographed.

2. After the first five, any orders today will get either a koozie, or refrigerator magnet, or a necklace, or all three.... it'll be a surprise. our choice.

happy shopping!

11.27.10

Here at TL3hq we had a nice turkey day... hope you did too.

Our next weekend out is down to Georgia to rock a couple of our favorite stages... The Hummingbird Stage & Taproom (12/3), in Macon, and the Highland Inn Ballroom (12/4), in Atlanta.

We're bringing our friend Angela Faye Martin with us... we think you'll like her.

Come have a sippy break with us.

11.17.10

The official release date of Raucous Americanus was 11.16.10. That means it's now available for download at most of yer favorite sites for such activity... iTunes, CDBaby.com, DigStation.com, eMusic, etc.

Check out our merch page...

11.14.10

The video for "Get There First" is now online.

Check it out!

You can also see a live performance of "Dig It Up" from our appearance on 11 O'clock Rock... then go to then go to KnoxIVI.com and watch the whole show.

We're having much more fun.

11.13.10

WOW! What an awesome night. Thanks to Jessie Greene, Roman Karpynec and the team at KnoxIVI.com for creating and premiering the video for "Get There First." As soon as we get it online, we'll let you know.

Much thanks to everyone involved in the CD release party last night... everyone at Patrick Sullivan's; Greg Horne for sitting in with us on a few songs; Graham McCorkle and Nathan Moses for spinning vintage 45s all around the show (go see their band, The Vaygues!); and everyone at WUTK for all the promotional support and playing our songs.

11.10.10

Check the show page for this week's schedule.... we're all over the place leading up to the CD release show at Patrick Sullivan's on 11/12.

You can also click on the Facebook link above for more scheduling information.

We're having much more fun!

11.5.10

Soooo much goodness coming up next week.

Check it out...

Wednesday, 11.10.10, 8 pm, live in-store performance at the Disc Exchange for WFIV's Homegrown series. Listen online at www.myi105.com

Thursday, 11.11.10, 11 am, live on 11 O'clock Rock at Knox IVI. Watch online at www.knoxivi.com/eleven_o_clock_rock

Friday, 11.12.10, noon, live on WDVX Blue Plate Special. Listen online at www.wdvx.com

Friday, 11.12.10, sometime that afternoon we'll drop into WUTK. Listen online at www.wutkradio.com

10.27.10

Raucous Americanus
is here!

Pre-orders are in the mail. Promo copies to follow. Merch is coming in daily... buttons, stickers, t-shirts, oh my! I don't reckon we could be more excited.

You can still pre-order and get the free live DVD, but time is running out.... 10.31.10 is the end of our pre-order extravaganza. Get it while you can.

10.20.10

The Tim Lee 3 Is Back.
Forget Everything You Know.

Oh, sure. The songs sound familiar enough. There’s the unmistakable crunch of the guitars; the steady thrum of the bass, and, somewhere beneath it all, the insistent drums.

So you could be forgiven for thinking that Raucous Americanus, is just another Tim Lee record.

But you’d be wrong.

Lee’s fourth, proper studio release since returning to recording with 2001’s Under the House, (Paisley Pop), and first since 2008’s Good2b3, finds the veteran singer/guitarist opening up the songwriting shop.

The 21 tracks here, recorded by Mitch Easter at The Fideltorium in Kernersville, N.C., Bruce Watson at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, Miss., and Chris Schultz and Craig Schumacher at Wavelab Studios in Tuscon, Ariz., pick up threads that have been woven through Lee’s releases since Under the House.

Shake the record a little, and the dust of rarely traveled back-roads and the tales of lonely searchers rises in thick clouds.

“GPS’s got me driving straight into the river,” Lee sings in his familiar drawl on the fuzz bass-driven “Get There First.” “If I have another drink, it’s gonna’ go straight to my liver.”

“Under the House was a good way to ease back into recording and playing,” Lee said recently from his home in Knoxville’s Fountain City neighborhood. He described Raucous Americanus as part of a natural progression in his songwriting.

“I’ve learned how to have a band and record – as opposed to the way I used to do it, where you’d make a record [and] then throw a band together to go on tour,” he continued. “I really enjoy recording with a band, playing live in the studio and building on that.”

Lee’s wife of 29 years, Susan Bauer Lee, expands on her bass duties on the new long-player, claiming sole writing or co-writing credits on half the tracks. She also contributes lead vocals on a brace of songs, her voice blues-y and confident, adding another color to Lee’s rough-hewn palette.

“When I first started helping out with the songwriting, it was just lyric fragments that would slide across my brain,” Bauer Lee recalled. “I started writing them down on sticky notes and I eventually I would give them to Tim, who would make a whole song out of them.”

The changeover to writing alone came gradually, she observed, noting, “The songs that recently came to me whole, including melody, were quite a surprise. I reckon the muses had been testing me out for a while before they allowed me a whole song.”

New drummer Matt Honkonen holds things together, adding unexpected timpani to one track, while contributing guitars, vocals, keyboards and glockenspiel to others. He claims a sole writing credit on “Long Way Home,” where his distorted vocals sound like a postcard sent from a distant planet.

Honkonen, who first met the Lees in 2007 when one of his old bands shared a practice space with an earlier iteration of a Lee-anchored combo, said he’s been made to feel a welcome and essential part of the band.

“Both [Tim and Susan] are very open-minded – musically,” he said. “Mostly this has taken shape in arrangements for songs and ideas in the studio. But it has also surfaced in the song-writing as well.”

According to Lee, who first gained critical acclaim as one-half of the southern-pop legends The Windbreakers in the 1980s, and has lately become, in the words of Honkonen “a Knoxville institution,” this change in the state of affairs is just fine with him.

“At this point in the game, I’ve kind of done it all – made records, written songs, fronted a band,” he said. “Susan and Matt are both really talented on several levels, so I enjoy encouraging their contributions as much as I do my own.

“Ultimately, I enjoy playing guitar more than the other roles, so it’s fun that we have songs that all I have to do is play guitar,” he concluded. “I’ve been doing this so long, there’s very little ego invested in it anymore. So it’s fun to turn the wheel over to them when I can.”

Raucous Americanus is out on Nov. 16 on Cool Dog Sound. Pre-orders ship with a limited edition DVD. The deadline for pre-ordering is October 31, 2010.

—John Micek, September, 2010