Lee's Company

Jimmy Lee - lead vocals, narration, guitar, banjo.
Jim was lucky enough to be a small part of the embryonic folk scene in London in the sixties and cut his teeth alongside legendary artists, McTell, Aungier, Campbell , Brimstone, Silvo et al., and was greatly influenced by the heroes of the that time in both English and American Folk styles .......Over the years Jimmy has developed a style of music that is ' packed ' with emotion, played with a rare simplicity that only those with a ' gifted ' voice and a passion for music can achieve.......With a blend of Traditional, Contemporary, Alternative and Original material, a wealth of experience and great sense of humour, Jimmy is a welcomed guest wherever he goes. MORE ...
Jon Wigg - fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo & vocals.
Music was always a part of family life for us Wiggs. The gramophone would be worked hard from dawn till dusk. My Dad would be out on some adventure playing music with my older brother, Ralph. Rehearsals would be held at our house. Banjo, Double bass, Guitars, Accordions, it all seemed quite normal to me when I was seven. Then we went to festivals and what a party we had. By now I played tin whistle. My dad, Stan had a ball now that jigs & reels were part of the wigg offering. My knees would tremble at those early gigs when I was nine. I joined Finbar Fury on stage for an impromptu duet. Its his fault I've been struggling to learn Uillean pipes for years. At the Amberley folk club I met Bill Keith, Rambling Jack, Dave Swarbrick, & hundreds of other great players. I got hooked on Cajun music a picked up the fiddle -thanks uncle Ben, and at 20 went on tour with Amberley regulars Jim Lee & Billy Ayling. For a small town kid this was a great experience. Then White Mansions became part of our daily lives & the stage show slowly took shape. When we took it out on the road the reaction from the audience was something I had never experienced before and seldom since. When the dust from White Mansions settled I spent a few years touring Europe with family band 'the Falloons', recording two cd's with them and enjoying live gigging with them. Since then the music continues to flow and I'm grateful to be working alongside some great musicians who also happen to be good friends. Tours with Colin Hare (Honeybus) are planed for 08. A country music partnership is taking place, I'm running the Amberley folk club (re-born!) with wife, Hannah and Lee's Company is bringing White Mansions back where it belongs - to a live audience.
Clare Juliet -accordion, vocals.
My love of music grew from a classical background. My mother's family, originally from Central Europe, were jazz pianists, singers and conductors. Our house was always full of music - piano playing, folk singing and village choir rehearsals of madrigals and christmas carols. I played the piano from a very young age and when my mum brought an accordion home one day from a junk shop, I took to it quite naturally and could be relied upon to play jigs and reels and Happy Birthday invited or not at any occasion! My accordion playing moved on dramatically when I met and played along with some of the great musicians at the Blue Coconut Club. Soon after that I caught the infectious passion for White Mansions and, luckily for me, the accordion fits well into Paul Kennerley's music. I'm very excited to be part of Lee's Company and feel priveleged to play with such talented musicians. The live gigs are a wonderful contrast to my other passion - growing vegetables!
Steve Ball - lead guitar, vocals
Steve began playing the guitar as an alternative to attending lessons at school. One understanding art teacher (surprise) found Steve a regular gig with his band "Bachelor's Gate" at Amberely Folk Club, for which he remains forever grateful. Various forays into the late 1970s world of folk and folk-rock ensued with bands such as Tanglefoot, The Sussex Trug Band, and then later on 1066. In the early 90s Steve (with his brother Warren) teamed up with two famous Bognor-Regis reprobates to form both The Fabulous Tomato Brothers and Laughing Gravy - both bands are still going strong. An opportunity in 1993 found Steve running the house band (The Blue Coconut Orchestra) at the famous Blue Coconut Club in Pulborough, West Sussex. This was a great learning experience and also life changing, as it prepared the ground for Steve to become a professional musician. Steve finally left his corporate job in 2000 and now splits his time between teaching guitar, recording and gigging - and he still can't believe his luck!
Warren Ball - bass, vocals
Warren has played bass live for the last twenty four years, including a lengthy stint in the house band at The Blue Coconut Club, with brother Steve. Wal's musical education began at an early age; attending memorable nights at Amberley folk club, where he first saw most of the other members of the band perform. It seemed logical, then, that he join to fill the bass chair when it later became vacant, with a bunch of unrehearsed songs and gigging commitments to honour. Fortunately, this didn't put him off, and resulted in many years of playing live with most of the people he first saw at Amberley all those years before. Over the years, Wal has been able to play with some fabulous musicians and some of his musical heroes, but is always looking forward to the next gig. He continues to enjoy playing music live not only with Lee's Company, but also with a number of other acoustic and electric bands.

www.whitemansions.co.uk