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THE BiTS INTERVIEW: VINCE LEE

Vince Lee has been a mainstay on the South West’s music scene for over 30
years.

An authentic, virtuoso blues guitarist & singer whose band ‘The Big Combo’
have been performing regularly since 1996. Vince has gained a large following
around Devon & Cornwall playing uptempo rhythm & blues, early rock & roll,

calypso & jump blues.

Vince has recently formed a duo with ace bass player Sophie Lord and they
are clearly fired up to make music, going out into the rural areas (the sticks)
around Plymouth and recording some excellent blues and roots based music.

Ian McKenzie spoke to Vince in the telephone.

VL: Hello.

BiTS: Hi Vince, it’s Ian McKenzie, thanks for agreeing
to talk to me. What I want to talk to you about is your
background in music and then the new album, if that's
OK with you?

VL: Yeah, yeah.

BiTS: Okay, let's start. How did you find the blues, or
how did the blues find you?

VL: Oh well, it's a long time ago now. I've been playing
for nearly 40 years, I suppose, playing blues. I was a
musician when I was a kid. I used to be a drummer
when I was very young and I played in punk bands and
stuff and things that were going on at the time, because
this would have been in the early 80s. Then I left
school, I got a bit more mature about music and I got
into the blues and decided to start a band in 1987. I
hung around with a lot of older guys who sort of
steered me in the right direction with good music.

BiTS: Was this in Plymouth? Have you been in Plymouth all the time?

VL: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I used to work as a gardener on Plymouth Hoe, and I hung around with some
old gardeners that were into blues, and they steered me right with some good music. They used to
bring records into work and lend me them and stuff. And then when I got into the band, a lot of the
guys they’d steer me in the right direction with good music, so I’ve got them to thank, really.

BiTS: When you say good music, what was the good music? What were you actually listening to?
VL: Well, back then, I suppose they introduced me to the greats, Chess Records, stuff like Little Walter
and Howlin’ Wolf and all that kind of stuff. But then, obviously, there was the more recent stuff that
was going on at the time on the West Coast, people like James Harman and William Clarke. Those
guys made a big impression on me.

BiTS: That's the first time in a long time I've heard somebody mention James Harman. Nobody talks
about him these days.