Christie Lenée
Words: Stephanie Bolling
Photo: Tim Downin

Christie Lenée's musical message isn't about fame or money; it's about positive change and peace. "I want to create a positive change through music. Experience and people generate the inspiration to write. I observe things happening in the world today and I believe that we as individuals can make a difference. There is so much unnecessary violence in the world and I hope that positive, spiritual music can bring peace, love and harmony while gathering people together."

Christie dapples in a little bit of everything from guitar and keyboards to bass and drums. She says, "I hear a broad array of instrumentation orchestrated above raw acoustic songs.  While envisioning the big picture, I do my best to notate every idea and am lucky to have amazing musicians to fulfill the sounds I dream of." From her early piano lessons and voice training, Christie has gradually acquired musical talents that assist her ever developing sound. Her style blends classical and fusion guitar, jazz, folk, blues and funky instrumentals alongside solid dance grooves with melodic electric guitar on top. She says, "One of my favorite things about playing live is breaking into melodic, storytelling jams and letting creation radiate through the instruments."
 
She has opened for many musicians, including Tim Reynolds and Todd Snider. Her audience is as vast as her taste. Lately, the scat singing of Oteil Burbridge, with who she recently played with, has inspired her. One early musical influence was her older sister, Carla, who was involved in a local singing and dancing troupe called Entertainment Review. Christie attended every rehearsal and learned all the lyrics and choreography.  She was let into the troupe at age five, the youngest member at that time. She says, "I was excited to be on stage and loved performing so much that I would continue bowing after the others left the spotlight. It became a joke. I would keep bowing as the crowd laughed and the other members would have to drag me off."

In 2004, she went to Taiwan to teach English as well as pursue music. It was there she first played her songs with a band. Orenda, meaning "the soul of all things," was formed with several foreign musicians. The group performed at major music festivals including Spring Scream, May Jam, Peace Festival, and the Pengu Fireworks Festival, where they played for a crowd of over 5,000. After almost nine months in Taiwan, Christie came back to Tampa and continued to spread and awaken her musical visions. Orenda carried on for a couple of years and released a CD entitled Peace Is stemming from the lyrics of their 'Peace Song': "Peace is beauty even the blind can see/Freedom, the language even the mute can speak/Courage the power that our soul holds/and we are the change that we've been hoping for."

Throughout all her musical endeavors she has been attending the USF School of Music working on a B.M. in Jazz Studies and Jazz Composition, along with a B.M. in Music Composition, which will include choral and symphonic music. Her current course load is 17 hours. On top of that, she teaches private guitar lessons to approximately 30 students. The fan base and gigs continue to proliferate. Her latest venture is her current band, Christie Lenée and the Funk Grass Groove. They have several upcoming shows as well as Christie's solo performances. Check out her MySpace for a full listing: myspace.com/christieleneemusic.

Her solo CD, Melody of Mood, was released in August and is available online at www.christielenee.com and also at live performances. The first full production band CD, Figure Painting, has been in the works since May of 2006 and is advancing towards completion. "It has a broad instrumentation, including drums, bass, keyboards, organ, saxophone, trumpet, banjo, violin, cello, and lots of guitars and vocals. I'm hoping for a February 2008 release."

Christie Lenée is strong and alive in the Tampa music scene. With her sound, style and dedication, I have no doubt her positive musical vision will come to fruition.