PARROT TALK

People Get Ready: Lee Boys Bring Sacred Steel Gospel Music to The Green Parrot

People Get Ready! The Lee Boys, Florida’s finest African-American
Sacred Steel artists are ready to transform the Green Parrot into the
Green Parish with shows at 10 P.M. on Friday and Saturday, December 18th and 19th.
Fans of all different genres of music will definitely not want to miss
out on this amazing group. The Lee Boys deliver powerful music with an
exciting new sacred steel twist that never fails to thrill an
audience. These guys will funkify your soul and help you see the
musical light.
Sacred Steel Gospel Music has lately crossed over to the
mainstream from gospel thanks to the tumultuous energy and power
brought by bands like theLee Boys, Robert Randolph and the Family
Band, Aubrey Ghent and Willie Eason to name a few.
It is the music of praise, faith and hope but with a lot more funk and
enjoyment than has ever echoed through any church. The sacred steel
style is rooted in gospel, but is infused with rhythm and blues, funk,
hip-hop, country, and the world music genres in a powerfully jamming
mix. When the LeeBoys bring their joyous spiritual sound to the
stage, audiences instantly recognize that this is not “sitting and
listening” music: dancing, shouting out, and having fun are considered
essential parts of their tradition. Their style of music is unique and
different from any other music that’s ever been heard before. It
features the pedal steel guitar as the central instrument. It is music
with the exciting sacred steel dimension that uplifts you and makes
you feel good like nothing else can!!! Guaranteed.
Peter Katel of Newsweek magazine said, “For American music fans,
it’s a find like a scientist’s discovery of a new species. The steel
guitar is central to country music. But no one outside Southern
Pentecostal House of God churches had heard of black gospel steel.
Robert Stone a Florida folklorist, stumbled onto the haunting sound
when a music-store owner told him about a steady stream of
African-American customers for steel-guitar supplies. With an NEA
grant, Stone made the first ever compilation tape of five gospel steel
masters playing at services and revivals. ‘Sacred Steel’ was an
instant hit.”
Featuring massive-toned, tear-it-up versions of gospel standards,
the “Sacred Steel” sound developed its roots in the House of God
church and is the hottest movement on the music scene these days.
Their church served as the foundation from which the LeeBoys
developed and perfected their style, talents, and skills. There are
six members who are brothers and nephews. Each member began making
music in the church when they were 7 or 8 years old, and they have not
stopped playing since.
The Green Parrot, your Southermost Center for Blues Culture at the
corner of Southard and Whitehead Streets. For more information call

The Green Parrot at 294-6133.