Name: AJ Lee & Blue Summit, Water Tower
Start: 2025-03-07T20:00:00-08:00
Location: The Venice West

AJ Lee and Blue Summit made their first appearance in Santa Cruz in 2015. Led by singer, songwriter, and mandolinist, AJ Lee, the bluegrass band has performed all over the world, but finds home in Californias Bay Area. In 2019, they released their debut album, Like I Used To. Their second full length project, Ill Come Back, came out August 2021 - with national touring in support of the record ongoing.Unlike their first record, which featured experimentation with session musicians and electric instruments, the new project is a pure reflection of the live sound of the group, hearkening back to their acoustic roots. Each band member performs at their peak, and the variety of songs on the record caters to their broad fanbase. Certain tracks (Put Your Head Down, and Faithful,) fall more in the classic bluegrass realm of songwriting, while others (Lemons and Tangerines, and Ill Come Back,) fall into that hard-to-define realm of acoustic Americana that blends mesmerizing lyricism and acoustic mastery.Although falling loosely under the bluegrass label, AJLBS generally plays sans banjo, with Sullivan Tuttle and Scott Gates on steel stringed acoustic guitars, AJ on mandolin, Jan Purat on fiddle, and Chad Bowen on upright bass - a configuration effectively used to create unique space and texture in the arrangements not as commonly found in the music of their peers. Drawing from influences such as country, soul, swing, rock, and jam music, the band uses the lens of bluegrass as a vessel through which to express and explore the thread that binds and unifies all great music. Members AJ Lee, lead vocals, mandolinScott Gates, guitarSullivan Tuttle, guitarChad Bowen, bassJan Purat, fiddleWater Tower was founded in 2005 by multi-instrumentalist Kenny Feinstein. While their lineup has evolved over time, fuelled by Feinsteins masterful song-crafting, fiercely DIY approach, and genre-bending sonic identity that fuses bluegrass/old-time revivalism with a distinctly punk-rock edge, Water Tower have maintained an ongoing reputation as a force to be reckoned with, with a growing horde of loyal fans. Based in LA since 2019, the bands current lineup of Kenny Feinstein, Tommy Drinkard, Taylor Estes, and Jesse Blue Eads divide their time between working on their upcoming self-titled album, practicing for their 2025 summer tour, and busking in the local area. They write their songs together.
Sale Dates and Times:
Public Onsale : Thu, 14 Nov 2024 at 10:00 AM