User:Johnny Rae Lee/sandbox

Johnny Rae Lee (Gianni Raeli) is born on May 19, 1973, in Toronto Canada.

Canadian born Johnny Rae Lee, is a blues artist, singer songwriter, guitarist and bass player, quoted at Etna in Blues as having “ the right combination for stardom a warm enchanting voice and a style in playing and composing that is worth listening to, a combination of the past and contemporary blues, both electric and acoustic styles are present in this artist’s songs, his blues is easy listening, he is a genuine story teller who is able to capture moods and incorporate authentic feelings in all his songs” Coming from a family of musicians has certainly encouraged an inner growth in regards to performing and communication through music.

Johnny Rae Lee is present on the blues scene with his latest work “Stories”, a collection of acoustic and electric blues, which touches various life stories and experiences lived both by the artist and stories of everyday people seen through his eyes. With great affection “Dreaming” was written just after the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris and is dedicated to France and its people as a message of hope and change.

“I got the blues on my mind” quoted from the track Blues On My Mind, the artist starts to understand that blues is what he wants to do at a very young age and so decides to go on a music study trip to Mississippi and New Orleans to hang out and play the blues with the musicians of the area. When he returns to Toronto he continues to play blues in various bands.

In 2000 he is invited by Eco Art to participate in “Young International Talents” which takes him on a small tour in Sicily during which he meets Corrado Della Luna a blues drummer who he will play with during the tour and become great friends with, in the later years another good friend, blues and jazz guitarist Corrado Ferro comes into the picture and the three put together the Rolling Papers Blues Band which has great success with the classics of the great blues repertoire, both artists have played on the album “Stories” and have contributed significantly in the making of “Stories” as they are a part of the Johnny Rae Lee story. As a band they participated in various Blues festivals and opened up concerts for great blues artists like Eric Bibb, Daniela Cotton and Popa Chubby.