Lee’s former bands:
From sweet to raucous
The Lee Stripling Trio
Lee with Bonnie
Zahnow and
W.B. Reid.
The Lee Stripling Trio, with harmonies that are lively, funny and sweet, perform the beautiful Western tunes from the Sons of the Pioneers, the delightful “We Three” from the Ink Spots, old quartet favorites such as “Winging My Way Back Home,” and many of Lee’s dad’s tunes, including “Lost Child” and “Coal Mine Blues.” W.B. Reid keeps time on the guitar – and the band on task. The kindly Bonnie Zahnow adds a twin fiddle and tender voice as she explains to Lee why a head is on her pillow where his head ought to be. Lee also performs duets at smaller venues with either W.B. or Bonnie.
Lee Stripling and His Six Footed Boys
Glenn Dudley, Tony Mates
and W.B. Reid are Lee’s
Six Footed Boys.
Although their primary desire is to black their boots and go see the widow, Lee Stripling and His Six Footed Boys also like to generate excitement at contra, square and swing dances. Formed in 2000 to back Lee on his CD “Hogs Picking Up Acorns,” the band plays primarily in the Seattle and Portland areas and has appeared at the Northwest Folklife Festival, Fiddle Tunes and Merlefest in Wilksboro, N.C. Band members include W.B. Reid on guitar, fiddle and mandolin; Tony Mates on bass, and Glenn Dudley on plectrum banjo.
Others who play with Lee professionally or jamming include Bríd Nowlan, Stuart Williams, Phil and Vivian Williams, Hank Bradley, David Cahn, Mark Graham, Morgan John, Sarah Funk, Claudia and Paul Anastasio, Rich Levine, Martha Jackson and Mary Varnum. In Alabama, he plays with Robert Stripling, Elsie Stripling Mordecai, Clarence Stripling, Jim and Billie Goodwin, and Joyce and Jim Cauthen.