A few months ago I released “Elon and the Hotrod Race.” It was a fun piece and I had a blast flexing my art skills to do the animation. The project took about a month to complete and I couldn’t be more proud of my production. The video is available to watch on YouTube and the audio is available for streaming on SoundCloud. I wanted to share with you today a little bit about the story behind the song and some behind the scenes info on the process.

I’m a huge fan of Elon Musk, obviously. The founder and CEO of SpaceX, Elon is insanely smart and spends his time doing super awesome and seriously sciency stuff. Perhaps better known for his contributions to Tesla Motors as well as his push for space travel, Musk has had his hands in quite a few pots. Musk’s online bank X.com merged with Confinity in 2000 leading to the launch of PayPal which was later bought by eBay in 2002 for a cool $1.5 billion. 

Now I’m not a Tesla owner. In fact, I get around in a Dodge Challenger. I like my cars fast and loud. But Musk’s great work got me thinking, what would happen if my American made muscle care was pitted against one of his sleek and modern electric cars? Well, my animated music video shows just that.

First I wrote the song. I had a lot of fun with the lyrics and of course I put my own country twang into the mix. Once the song was written I set to work on the recording and production of the piece. I went to an audio production workshop taught by the legendary Chris Lorde Alge last year so I had a lot of stuff to try out. A lot of my studio hours were spent on perfecting the sound and I think it shows.

Once the song production was complete I thought, this would be a great animation! I started with some concept drawings and eventually moved onto storyboards and then finally editing. The more I worked on it, the more my story came to life and my excitement grew with each frame. 
​
Have you seen the video yet? Let me know what you think!

​Never miss a single blog, release, or moment. Make sure you hit that subscribe button and get all Stanford Lee related news and updates straight to your inbox.

​I hate spam just like everyone else. I promise I won't give your information to anyone else because that would be uncool.

Make sure to check up on Tuesday, September 1st because I've got something fun planned for y'all!

Tags: elon and the hotrod race, elon musk, youtube, soundcloud, animation, music video

When you think of musicians, you think of someone who’s outspoken and dedicated to performing to the masses. Typically, you would think that a person who regularly plays in front of people would be completely at ease when interacting with a crowd, but that’s not always the case. I am a musician. I grew up on art and music and my life is dedicated to the creative process. But when it comes to people, well, that’s a work in progress.

I’m an introvert. By definition that means I am “a person predominantly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings rather than with external things.” (Oxford Languages) Ask my wife, she’ll tell you that’s pretty accurate. Sometimes she even has to remind me to say hello.
​
Although being a performer and an introvert doesn’t seem to jive, somehow it works. Introversion is great for the creative process in which I can really delve into my experiences and feelings to create a melody or lyrics for a song with meaning. But performing the piece in front of people and interacting seems to be counter intuitive. Thankfully it’s not though.

Notable Introverts

​Music history is full of introverts. Like I mentioned earlier, introversion is great for the creative process. Some famous introverts include George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Trent Reznor. All of these guys are considered to be music legends but all share the same self-reflective qualities.
​
Coping and Performing

Rock icon David Bowie was known to be shy and reserved. It is believed that his flashy costumes and dominant stage personas were his way of coping with the anxiety of performing. As a person who wants my own Nudie Suit and bring back the era of flashy Nashville styles, I can relate. At the risk of sounding cliché (or maybe I’ve already passed that point by using that phrase) I really do feel like a different person when I perform. It’s like I see the group in front of me and then the curtains open and the small little bit of extroversion I have comes out. I get my nerves together. I start strumming on my guitar. I sing a few bars and suddenly that quiet, reflective person takes a back seat so the performer can shine. 

Never miss a single blog, release, or moment. Make sure you hit that subscribe button and get all Stanford Lee related news and updates straight to your inbox.

​I hate spam just like everyone else. I promise I won't give your information to anyone else because that would be uncool.

Tags: performing, introvert, creative process, george harrison, jimi hendrix, kurt cobain, trent reznor, david bowie, nudie suit, nashville, extroversion

Growing up in California, I was raised on the Bakersfield Sound. What is that? You ask. I’ll tell you. The Bakersfield sound is a sub-genre that was created during the 1950s in you guessed it, Bakersfield, California. According to VisitBakersfield.com, “the Bakersfield Sound was created in the honky tonks.” It was created in “smoke filled honky tonks in and around Bakersfield.” The sound was created in small town clubs and bars like The Blackboard Café, Rainbow Gardens, and Tex’s Barrel House where music was played seven days a week. The most notable artists from the Bakersfield era include the likes of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, but musicians such as Bill Woods, Fuzzy and Bonnie Owens, are attributed to the development of the Bakersfield sound.

What is the Bakersfield Sound?The Bakersfield Sound was born in an attempt to move away from the Nashville Sound. You see, Nashville had a reputation of big productions and glitz and glam. Nashville music had it all. String arrangements, perfect voices, and enough lights and flashy clothes to get anyone’s attention. The Bakersfield artists were not about the pizazz though. You can think of it more like the raw, edgier side of country. Instead of orchestrated arrangements, Bakersfield music used electric guitars and began to fuse country with rockabilly and rock and roll influences.
​
Who are the Bakersfield Artists?Although Bill Woods is attributed to pioneering the Bakersfield Sound, earning him the nickname “Father of the Bakersfield Sound,” the most notable artists in the genre include Buck Owens and the Buckaroos and Merle Haggard and the Strangers. Eventually as the sound developed, other artists began to embrace the sound and incorporated it into their own music. Gram Parsons, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater, and Dwight Yoakam can all trace their musical styles back to the Bakersfield Sound.

Never miss a single blog, release, or moment. Make sure you hit that subscribe button and get all Stanford Lee related news and updates straight to your inbox.

​I hate spam just like everyone else. I promise I won't give your information to anyone else because that would be uncool.

Tags: bakersfield, bakersfield sound, honky tonks, buck owens, merle haggard, bill woods, nashville sound, gram parsons, grateful dead, creedence clearwater, dwight yoakam

While I have enjoyed the ample time for retrospection and self-discovery during this year’s quarantine, its time for me to come out of my music cave. I’ve got some material I’ve been playing with over the past few months and I’m excited to share it with everyone soon!
But until those pieces are ready for release, I wanted to re-introduce myself and share some of my past work.
Hi! I’m Stanford Lee and I’m a singer, songwriter, and musician based in Marietta, Georgia. I’m not from here though. I grew up in California which is where I learned about and fell in love with the Bakersfield sound. Waylon Jennings, Dwight Yokham, and Merle Haggard are some of my personal heroes and I hope to bring back the glitz and glam of the Gram Parson’s nudie suit era. 
I wasn’t always pursuing country music. I’ve dabbled in a lot of different musical styles. Ashcraft was my band during my Goth period. The album is still available on Amazon if you want to check it out. While it was entertaining to explore darker subjects, Goth and alternative music just wasn’t doing it for me.
So I went solo for a while. Jammed with a lot of great musicians and eventually made my way back to my roots. I played with some local bluegrass artists and eventually started a 3 man band, Trainchasers. That’s when I realized that country western was truly my thing.
Trainchasers didn’t last long. One of the guys had a huge opportunity in Nashville and took it. I do still have plans to revive the group at some point though. Until then, I’ll just keep on doing me.
Since going solo I’ve released a few singles, “Back on the Honkeytonk Road”, “Country Western Band”, and my most recent “Elon and the Hotrod Race.” Elon was released with a special animated music video which I’m super proud of. I even did a fun little Christmas number called “Awkward Christmas.”
So that’s me in a nutshell. Obviously there’s a lot more to me, but you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out more.
Did I mention I’m starting a newsletter? Stay up to date with all of my news and announcements and subscribe. Sign up today and you might just get a shout out on my next video release!