Christie Lenée has been capturing a wide audience across the US, touring frequently and delivering vibrant energy at every show. Her unique guitar work is often compared to visionaries like Michael Hedges, Bela Fleck, Andy McKee, and John Mayer- fusing folky/funky playfulness with pop/rock inspired songs and virtuosic guitar compositions. She is, as Skope Magazine states, “a refreshing burst of unrestrained love and feeling… It’s simply a joy to listen to her spirit break free.”
Christie has been seen many times on stage with Tim Reynolds (guitarist for Dave Matthews Band) and a stellar cast of musicians including Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Jeff Coffin, and Stanley Jordan. Her eclectic guitar skills have not only accompanied other great artists, but she has also played a multitude of instruments on her own records. An extensive original repertoire of both vocal and instrumental music showcases her extensive musical background, with studies including classical, jazz, rock, blues, folk and flamenco. Her innate ability to fuse these styles propels an eruption of harmonic fluidity, delivering profound expressions and a vibrant live performance.
Christie was recently endorsed by Engler Innovations to compose music for “The Engle,” a drumstick for guitar that launched onto the market in January of 2012. Being a compositional pioneer for this new product has inspired an abundance of innovative techniques and a unique percussive approach to the guitar.
“The Engle” is featured on Christie’s new instrumental album “Chasing Infinity,” often performed on a Veillette Soprano 12 string guitar called “The Gryphon” which creates a worldly sound unlike anything ever heard. Some have compared this sound to a choir of hammered dulcimers, or what you might hear if a 12-string guitar and a mandolin had a child. Combined with “The Engle” or “guitar hammer,” you may hear songs like “Raining a Miracle” or “Eastward Horizon” and have no idea what you’re listening to until seeing it visually. Even so, watching a performance can often fool the mind to think that you are hearing multiple instruments at the same time.
Adding to her percussive fingerstyle and two-handed tapping guitar collection, Christie recently decided to record her first completely instrumental album. This record was an enormous endeavor on her musical path as a composer and touring/recording artist, coming to completion of her 4th digitally released project out of hundreds of songs and compositions.
The album “Chasing Infinity” creates a compelling sonic journey through mountains of dynamics, harmonic textures, upbeat grooves and meditative moods. It also includes two bonus acoustic duets featuring Tim Reynolds, completely improvised in the studio with Tim on nylon and Christie on acoustic. Such impromptu magic is frequent for the two guitarists, and can be seen on various stages and videos on Christie Lenée’s YouTube Channel Playlist entitled “Tim Reynolds and Christie Lenée”: www.youtube.com/christieleneemusic .
But she’s not stopping now. In fact, she’s preparing to go back into the studio to finish her next full band/vocal production already in the works. Meanwhile, extensive touring across the US is continuing to expand in her desire to bring positive energy and uplifting joy to the world. Christie thrives on bringing communities together through music, touching hearts, and enlivening inspiration to people. In her words: “this is what I live for.”
“Christie Lenée is a wonderful spirit making beautiful music on the guitar. She has epic compositions that take one on a journey through time.” (Tim Reynolds, Guitarist for Dave Matthews Band and TR3)
