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TL3 delivers rock and roll with TLC By Wayne Bledsoe (Contact) The Tim Lee 3 have found a favorite string of clubs where they can make a regular tour route through the South, but they're not referring to it as the "chitlin' circuit." "It's more the pulled-pork circuit," says Tim, with a chuckle. Today, Tim Lee and Susan Bauer Lee, the married two-thirds of the Tim Lee 3, are taking a break from the pork circuit for hamburgers at Litton's in Fountain City. The Mississippi-native couple settled in North Knoxville in 2000, where, until recently, they edited and designed the magazine Dirt Late Model. While Susan has only been playing bass for the past few years, Tim is a rock veteran. In the early 1980s, he co-founded the band the Windbreakers, an on-the-edge-of-breaking-out alt-rock act that enjoyed more critical praise than financial reward. Rolling Stone named the group one of "the best unsigned bands" in the country, but it didn't help change the group's "unsigned" status. While Lee continued to release discs with the Windbreakers (and other projects with co-core Windbreakers member Bobby Sutliff), he began focusing on solo efforts in 1988. "I made five or six albums before I ever felt like I made a good album," says Tim. "People ask me to play something from the Windbreakers records, it's my past and I don't disown it, but I'm so much more excited about what I'm doing now." The Tim Lee 3's new album, "good2b3," is the first album that really feels like a complete group effort for several reasons. The album elevates Susan's vocals in the mix, includes full-time drummer Rodney Cash and pushes Tim's guitar up front. "I always wanted that male/female dichotomy thing - X, Richard and Linda Thompson," says Tim. "Now it's exciting to be able to implement it." As for the guitar work, Tim has regularly added guitar power to recordings by other local artists, but seemed to hold back on his own discs. "This is the first time in my life that I'm the only guitar player on the record," says Tim. "With other guitar players in the band I'm not as likely to cut loose. On this one I did, and I had a blast." Both Tim and Susan agree that, while Lee's bands have always had good drummers, Cash is the perfect fit for the music the Lees want to create now. "He has an appreciation for some of the same bands we do - New York Dolls, Mott the Hoople - and he plays with a lot of roll to the rock." "I think it's Tim's mission to put the roll back in rock 'n' roll," says Susan. "So many people seem to forget the roll." "People want to come across as too smart and forget the fun part of this," says Tim. "Rock music needs to be fun and joyous and sloppy and ridiculous." "Hey, we're smart!" counters Susan. Married for 22 years, the Lees are comfortable with each other both as a couple and as musicians. When the two put together songs or are in the recording studio, it isn't a scene filled with drama or tension. "Susan and I tend to hear things the same way," says Tim. "So it doesn't take a lot of discussion." Recorded at Wave Lab Studios in Tucson, Ariz., "good2b3" was mostly tracked with all three musicians performing in the same room at the same time. Tim says the recording was the easiest he's ever done and both he and Susan agree it's their favorite Lee effort. "You're always proudest of the most recent thing that you've done," says Tim, "But this is really the kind of record that I like. I don't think about 'Will it get played on the radio?' or 'Will it sell?' Nothing sells anymore." Susan says there's a more important reason the two keep the music flowing: "We don't play music to make a lot of money. We just play to stay sane." The Tim Lee 3 hit their groove with the new album "good2b3." The group is, from left, Susan Bauer Lee, Rodney Cash and Tim Lee. |