Gabe Lee Announces New Album “Drink The River”
If put on the spot by someone and asked to rattle off one artist that they probably have never heard of but will immediately love, “Gabe Lee” might be the best answer. The soul in this guy’s voice, the songwriting, the purpose and intention in his delivery, it is all exquisite. Gabe Lee is as rare as he is real, and all the world needs to do to fall for him is to be exposed. The music does the rest.
The world will have a new opportunity to fall for Gabe Lee when he releases his latest album Drink The River on July 14th via the Torrez Music Group. After ratcheting up the volume and electricity on his last album The Hometown Kid from 2022, Lee’s going in the opposite direction for the new one by dialing it back, and relying on more acoustic and understated tones.
Gabe Lee calls upon regular studio collaborators Lucciana Costa of King Margo on dobro and vocals, Tim Denbo on bass, and Dave Racine on drums, while also bringing in Jason Roller and Eamon McLaughlin from the Grand Ole Opry house band to help on fiddle and mandolin.
“Drink the River is about our shared human experience,” says Gabe. “Comprising stories collected from work, family, travels, and the miles in between. This record draws upon the heart of human emotions—both joy and sorrow—seeking to explore the common ground between the communities of music I’ve been welcomed into and beyond. From humorous backwoods country justice to bittersweet reminders of our mortality, this record invites lovers of storytelling to drink from the river of shared human experience through which all our collective story’s flow. And to remind listeners that even on a big planet we live in a small world.”
Well damn Gabe, say no more. We’re convinced, and July 14th can’t get here soon enough. We also have an opportunity right now to get our first taste with the song “Even Jesus Got The Blues” ahead of the album (listen below), where you can hear Gabe more earthy approach to this album. The album will also come with a new version of Gabe’s signature song “Eveline.”
First emerging with his 2019 debut album farmland, Gabe Lee quickly distinguished himself as a top flight songwriter in the field of new independent country performers, and an incredibly passionate and soulful singer with songs like “Eveline” and “Emmylou.” The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Gabe grew up in the church where his mother played piano, and the appeal for the culture he was surrounded by in Nashville took hold.
TRACK LIST:
1. The Wild
2. Even Jesus Got The Blues
3. Drink The River
4. Heart Don’t Break
5. All I Can Do Is Write About It
6. Merigold
7. Lidocaine
8. Eveline
9. Property Line
April 13, 2023 @ 8:25 am
Hell yeah – hope this gets Gabe more press and more people find him. I’m convinced that if the world hadn’t shut down in March of 2020, Honky Tonk Hell and the planned tour would have pushed Gabe up a few levels.
April 13, 2023 @ 8:33 am
Gonna see him next week for the first time on his west coast run. Can’t wait. Big fan and really looking forward to this one.
April 13, 2023 @ 8:45 am
Love Gabe Lee,
But my answer to the unheard but will love is probably Charles Wesley Godwin and then Gabe Lee
Hard to tell. Love the bluegrassy sound on the new track.
April 13, 2023 @ 8:59 am
Cats kind of out of the bag with Godwin at this point opening for Zach Bryan and signing to Big Loud. But that’s not a bad answer either.
April 13, 2023 @ 9:02 am
Great write up Trig. Looking forward to the album. Just to clarify, Lucciana is with King Margo, right? And she is terrific on the dobro. Got to see her play with Gabe a few months ago and what a great show it was.
April 13, 2023 @ 9:08 am
Yes, King Margo.
April 13, 2023 @ 9:45 am
My daughter was born in 2021, and I named her Eveline.
Gabe is coming up to Seattle for the first time that I’ve seen this month, and I’m looking forward to seeing him live finally.
April 13, 2023 @ 11:45 am
One of the best! Loved all three albums so far! Seeing him at Eddies Attic here in Decatur in a few months
April 13, 2023 @ 1:22 pm
Cool title, bad advice.
April 13, 2023 @ 1:46 pm
Gabe Lee’s voice strongly reminds me of Sam Llanas, formerly of the BoDeans. I like Gabe’s songs and voice. Looking forward to the new album. Cheers & Twangs!
April 13, 2023 @ 2:51 pm
Damn. He’s near the Charley Crockett pace. Looking forward to this – I felt The Hometown Kid was a tiny dip in quality but can’t wait.
April 14, 2023 @ 6:12 am
Learned of Gabe from this site and recently have been going back to listen to all his music. Excited for this release. Agree that many folks would immediately like Gabe’s music even if not familiar.
And TwangBob, I definitely get the Sammy Llanas comparison.
April 14, 2023 @ 6:25 am
For me personally, I thought Gabe’s first couple of albums were good but not great. The Hometown Kid was the first album that I felt brought out the best of Gabe, and seemed to gain him some steam in becoming a more well known artist. So it’s interesting that he is kind of returning to the direction of his first album here. I’m sure there will be some songs here I will enjoy, but also hoping there will be more of the Hometown sound in the future.
Also, you have to wonder if the changing styles on each album may be the reason he is the artist no one has heard of.
April 14, 2023 @ 6:46 am
I discovered him through this site. Pleased to see he’s coming over to the U.K. in a couple of months so will try and see him.
April 14, 2023 @ 11:38 am
Track sounds great. Crossing my fingers this tune sets the tone for the album.
April 14, 2023 @ 3:03 pm
Just saw him live at this tiny venue in Berkeley called The Back Room. Man- the lyrics he is penning really stand out in a brick walled small space. Played several songs from the new record. Also King Margo had some stellar words too. And the venue owner joined them at the end on to perform an impromptu Honky Tonk Women.
Definitely one to catch now, so you can I saw them when….
As a side note: These are musicians working the ROAD (Not the myth fantasy like Almost Famous) and sadly that comes with some stuff other acts don’t have to deal with like driving their own van with four people in it plus the equipment and having that van broken into during the concert.
A window was broken and one backpack stolen (money, Ipad etc) so not the worst I’ve heard about. But I mention this only because during the show I started doing the math $20 per person in a venue that had maybe 50-60 people attend. Gas, hotel, food, venue and then repairing the window… split four ways. I half to imagine it is just enough money to eat and get to the next gig and hopefully save the leftovers to record a new album. Also all four people on stage juggled instruments (except the fiddle player). Lucianna, said “We can’t pay for band members so we have to be the band.”
I don’t know if Trigger has done an article on this (probably) but man these are people definitely in it for the music. Nobody would subject themselves to all this without a great passion behind it. It was definitely an eye-opener about doing the road I have never experienced at a show.
April 15, 2023 @ 10:01 am
What happened to the song that was imbedded here? It was pretty good.
April 29, 2023 @ 9:56 am
Still here as far as I can see.
April 18, 2023 @ 4:38 am
Great first song. A real keeper.
April 21, 2023 @ 10:50 am
I talked to Gabe last night (super, super nice guy) and he referred to this record as “a bluegrass record.” Said he thought after the more rock-oriented one, it would be a fun change.
Also Gabe playing as a trio with King Margo backing him up is pretty damn amazing.