David Ryan Harris + Chelsea Lee

Born in Chicago. Raised in Atlanta. Live in Los Angeles.
I heard music, melodies and stories in my head as a child.
It never went away and I hope it never does.

After experimenting with drums, piano and other instruments in my teens I began my love/hate affair with the guitar.
So, there it is: I am a soul singer that plays guitar.
And sometimes: I am a guitarist who sings soulfully.

Drawn to the blues after hearing songs by Son House, Robert Johnson and others and growing up at a time when Prince, Parliament/Funkadelic, Stevie Wonder and other musicians were stretching the boundaries of popular music I began to understand that music could not and should not be limited by our often narrow views of what it should be.

Co-founded a band called Follow For Now in 1991 in the hopes of creating a sound that combined all the influences that had been shaping my musical vision:
Bad Brains meets Stevie Wonder and Public Enemy in Memphis. While the band had a short life, it was my launching pad, as it allowed me to taste the fruits of such a strange mess of musical ingredients.

Signed to Brendan O'brien's Columbia imprint in 1997, released a self-titled record and began to spread my wings as an artist, writer and producer.

Signed to Elektra in 2000, with a band called Brand New Immortals and released Tragic Show. Label folded. Band followed suit.

Since then I have had the pleasure of writing with, playing with and/or producing artists from Dave Matthews, Cassandra Wilson, Derek Trucks, Santana, Marc Broussard, Guy Sebastian and John Mayer.

This is still the beginning.

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CHELSEA LEE
For a while, the only place Chelsea Lee was comfortable singing was in the shower. But at 15, the aspiring singer tried her hand at a local open mic -- and her attempt was receivedwith praise."I'm downstairs running the club, selling beer, and she's sound-checking, and instantly I was blown away," says her manager, Daniel Brindley, who owns the suburban-D.C. music club Jammin Java. Brindley began inviting Lee to open for his acts, and in a few months she was headlining shows. Armed with an alarmingly pure voice, down-to-earth charm, and a songwriting maturity that's rare for her age, Lee appears to have the entire package. In 2008 she got the attention of Atlantic Records, and in June she signed with the label just days after her 18th birthday.With less than three years between her first open mic and her record deal, Lee's ascent is remarkable, especially given how quickly she's taken to performing. "I was really nervous at first" she says, but as an audience member you'd never know it. A gorgeous girl with organic songs is bound to draw comparisons to Taylor Swift and Colbie Caillat, but Lee's voice carries an emotional depth that's more like Patty Griffin or Brandi Carlile. "A lot of people ask me, 'who do you sound like?" she laughs, "but I never have an answer for them."For a while, the only place Chelsea Lee was comfortable singing was in the shower. But at 15, the aspiring singer tried her hand at a local open mic -- and her attempt was received with praise. Though she's well-known in her native D.C., in February a pair of synchs on MTV's "The City" for her songs "Figure Us Out" and "Long Way Down" provided some deserved national exposure. Around that time she spent three weeks in London writing with Martin Terefe, producer of Jason Mraz's platinum-selling "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things." Currently she's working out of Charlottesville, Virginia, with writer/producer Chris Keup (Parachute, O.A.R., Josh Kelley).
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