Summary

This week in 2015, we’re excited to sit down with Lee Gallagher from the band Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah. Their self-titled debut album just dropped in January, and it’s already turning heads. Originally from the Midwest, Lee brings his indie rock roots and blends them with the psychedelic folk vibes of the San Francisco Bay Area. The result is a sound that feels fresh, emotional, and totally his own.

In our chat, Lee shares the unexpected story behind how the band came together, with musicians from all over bringing their unique styles to the mix. We also dive into the creative process behind the new album, which combines raw, live instrumentation with deeply personal songwriting.

Come along as we explore Lee’s musical journey, the making of the record, and the rich, inspiring music scene that fuels it all.

What We Wrote in 2015

Lee Gallagher inhales the Bay area of California, making it part of who he is musically. After a few years in the area, Gallagher appreciates its history and vibe even more than when he was a Midwestern kid seeking something other than cornfields. He is not jaded about his roots, though, rather, he takes the indie roots rock foundation and filters it through his newer psychedelic surroundings. With two recent albums that deserve a listen, Lee Gallagher shares his appreciation for his new home region and musicians.

Show Notes

• We sat down with Lee Gallagher, front man of Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah, to talk about his journey as a musician and how the band came to be.
• Originally from Cincinnati, Lee shares how he and his bandmates, hailing from Indiana, Ohio, and Louisiana, all ended up in the artistic hub of San Francisco, where their musical paths crossed.
• The band’s self-titled debut album came together organically, blending indie rock with psychedelic folk to create a sound that’s both nostalgic and new.
• Lee opens up about his songwriting process and how deeply rooted his music is in American music history, pulling influence from the past while still pushing forward.
• Live performance plays a big role in the band’s identity. As they started playing together, their chemistry sparked something unique, a raw, energetic sound that really connects with audiences.
• We talk about the vibe in the studio while recording the album at Light Rail Studios, where collaboration and spontaneity helped shape the final sound.
• Lee highlights the importance of authenticity in their work and how the band’s dynamic fosters creativity and mutual inspiration.
• The conversation wraps with stories from the road and excitement for their upcoming tour, which will feature a visually immersive experience thanks to a collaboration with a well-known liquid light show artist.
• Overall, this episode offers a deeper look into Lee Gallagher’s artistic vision and the collaborative spirit that fuels the band, a reminder of how creativity thrives when people come together with a shared passion.

Links

• Lee Gallagher
• Lee Gallagher on Bandcamp
• You may also like our podcast with Cale Tyson
• Sloane Spencer now hosts a Gen X sleep podcast, Sleep with Rock Stars
• After you buy music or see a show with these musicians, feel free to toss a few in our Tip Jar

Chapters

• 00:00 - Introduction to Lee Gallagher and His Music
• 02:05 - The Formation of the Band
• 04:21 - The Journey of Making Our Record
• 11:14 - The Influence of Place on Music
• 11:15 - The Indie Rock Scene in Ohio
• 14:30 - The Mad Alchemist and His Liquid Light Shows

Takeaways

• Lee Gallagher talks about how the band’s sound naturally came together, a mix of indie rock and psychedelic folk, shaped by each member’s different background and musical roots.
• The debut album is more than just a collection of songs. It’s a snapshot of their journey as a band and the creative energy that brought them together.
• Live shows are a huge part of what makes this band tick. Lee shares how performing live brings out a unique connection between the band and the audience.
• When it came to recording at Light Rail Studios, the process was fast, raw, and totally in the moment, which really helped capture the spirit of their sound.
• The band’s name, Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah, nods to gospel influences and their goal of creating music that’s full of feeling and soul.
• Looking ahead, they’re gearing up for a tour that’s not just about the music. They’re adding a visual edge with a liquid light show to create an even more immersive experience for fans.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah
• Crawl Space Press
• Light Rail Studios
• Crazy Horse
• Grateful Dead
• Sheryl Crow
• Eric Burdon
• Victoria Williams
• Neil Young
• Humble Pie
• Living Color
• Doobie Brothers
• Temples
• Chuck Prophet
• Heartless Bastards
• Wussy
• Guided by Voices
• Drivin n Cryin

Recommended If You Like

Lee Gallagher, Hallelujah band, Country Fried Rock podcast, indie rock music, psychedelic folk sound, San Francisco music scene, midwestern songwriters, new album release, vinyl records, music interviews, live music performances, band formation stories, musician collaborations, recording studio experiences, music production insights, Americana music, gospel influences in rock, music festival performances, artist promotion strategies, musical inspirations.

Transcript

Speaker A

00:00:00.160 - 00:01:19.200

This week on Country Fried Rock, I talk with Lee Gallagher of Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah. Their self titled kind of debut record just came out in January.

This midwestern songwriter formed his band in the bay area of San Francisco, merging his indie rock roots with the psychedelic folky vibe of the area. It's a great record and a fun conversation with Lee Gallagher today on Country Fried Rock. We really appreciate your support for country Fried Rock.

Every so often we offer a limited edition T shirt only, on sale for three weeks. And when they're gone, they're gone forever. Our brand new design is a spark plug with a very small Country Fried rock logo.

On sale now for three weeks [email protected] Country FriedRock 4 it's the limited edition T shirt number four designed by Skillet Gilmour, noted musician and designer with Crawl Space Press. They're super soft with women's kids v neck hoodie, long sleeve and they're all on sale right now for three weeks only.

Teespring.com Country Fried Rock 4 Get yours before it's gone forever. My guest today on Country Fried Rock is Lee Gallagher with a brand new self titled record, Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah. Welcome.

Speaker B

00:01:19.200 - 00:01:20.480

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Speaker A

00:01:20.720 - 00:01:23.850

So how'd y' all end up out in California, kind of?

Speaker B

00:01:23.850 - 00:02:05.850

Well, I think all of us fell into the dream of California, I guess. I don't know. I wasn't begging to leave. I'm from Cincinnati. Cincinnati has a great music scene, great history.

You know, I've met all sorts of people there. Pootsie Collins lives there. I met his brother Catfish, or he died, which is cool. Just lots of cool stuff.

But I don't know, we just, we all kind of met out here. We're all from Indiana and Ohio and Louisiana. We came together kind of by accident. I met Kirby, who plays the piano playing in the street.

I walked past him and he had an upright piano out in the street and he was playing with a drummer.

And I kind of just had to stop and turn around and I got up the courage, kind of asked what they were doing and yeah, and then we kind of hooked up and then everybody kind of fell in.

Speaker A

00:02:05.930 - 00:02:09.289

When did it kind of gel and become like, hey, I think we're a band?

Speaker B

00:02:10.010 - 00:03:14.190

Well, I drove over to meet with Kirby. First of all, I love the piano and it's very rare to find somebody who really plays the piano.

A lot of times you see people kind of standing behind a keyboard holding down cords, but this guy can play. And so I was excited to Meet him. And I drove her to his house.

He lives in El Cerrito, over in the East Bay, which the only thing I knew about El Cerrito is our holy records, blues folk based record labels based out of there. And that's where John Fogarty's from. That's the only thing I knew. So I went over there and it was cool to drive around there. And I went to his house.

He has an upright piano in his house. And I kind of just sat down and played some old blues songs. And that was it. And then we got Jacob Landry, who plays the guitar from Louisiana.

I kind of. I met him on Craigslist. That was the only Craigslist involved in the thing.

Pretty much Craigslist for me is all I did is like, list like 10 cool, cool bands. And he replied, you know, I put Graham Parsons, the band, Neil Young, Humble Pie, that kind of stuff.

So he came over and then we just kind of all fell in and started playing.

Speaker A

00:03:14.350 - 00:03:20.730

As y' all got together and started playing, were you just jamming from the offse on your own stuff? How did that develop?

Speaker B

00:03:21.530 - 00:04:42.470

Well, the funny thing was, when I moved here, I tried to force myself to learn how to record myself, which I was never really interested in. A lot of people were doing that kind of home recording, bedroom stuff. And I'm just so untechnical trying to do that.

So I had all these songs and I wrote a bunch of new songs. I was kind of doing it in my bedroom. And I would go down to the desert down in Joshua Tree.

And I met a friend of mine was recording some of my stuff in his house. And. And he would bring friends over. And the people down in Joshua Tree who kind of ended up playing on my record were people I was huge fans of.

Victoria Williams. I don't know if you ever listen to her. Yeah, she sang on this thing that I did.

And this guy, Waller Ingram, who played Sheryl Crow, he's been touring with Eric Burdon. He comes and plays a lot up in the Bay Area. But I had all these amazing musicians playing on the record.

And I had this record out and I didn't really know how to. But I lived up in San Francisco and so I needed a band. I had this record, which hopefully people get to hear that one too.

Because it kind of got pushed under the rug. I got this new thing going, but I just kind of was wanting a band to play the songs live. And so.

But once we got into that, then all these new songs came and we kind of had our own Identity.

So we started playing live, and we kind of really caught on in San Francisco doing something that it seems like nobody else is doing, which is kind of cool. We didn't really mean to do anything that nobody's doing. It just kind of happened. So, yeah, we went into the studio and put out a record.

We recorded it about nine days. It took us nine days to do the whole record, so.

Speaker A

00:04:42.470 - 00:04:42.990

Hey, y'.

Speaker B

00:04:42.990 - 00:04:43.070

All.

Speaker A

00:04:43.070 - 00:04:57.170

This is Sloan Spencer, the host of Country Fried Rock. We've had an incredible year with more people finding us on the radio and our podcast than we ever imagined. Thank you all so much.

Careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Speaker B

00:04:57.330 - 00:04:59.970

Hey, this is Lee Gallagher on Country Fried Rock.

Speaker A

00:05:00.210 - 00:05:01.730

And where did you go to record that?

Speaker B

00:05:01.970 - 00:05:27.110

It's a place called Light Rail Studios. It's in San Francisco. It's actually. We have a rehearsal space there and the studio is attached.

And we actually wandered down the hall and there's a studio there, and the guys who own it are great. Crazy Horse would record there. Betty Kanter, who used to do. She started recording the Grateful Dead live.

So all the live stuff, they had the Betty's tapes, the Betty's boards, they called them. So she was in there doing some stuff for Chris Robinson.

Speaker A

00:05:27.110 - 00:05:27.710

Oh, my gosh.

Speaker B

00:05:27.870 - 00:05:49.070

Him live. And so, you know, it's just very. You know, San Francisco is a small town. The people you run across are just crazy.

And so I felt really at home in that place. And so we just kind of had these songs. We went in and played all night, really just did our thing.

And the record that we put out is essentially all the drums and the bass and the live stuff is that one night. And then we kind of just build on that.

Speaker A

00:05:49.610 - 00:05:53.450

Wow, that's great. Did you have anyone operating in a producer role or were you all doing that yourselves?

Speaker B

00:05:53.610 - 00:06:05.210

It was kind of self produced. We didn't. Nick, who owns the studio, was really into what we were doing. It's a very unproduced record.

But he did some great stuff as far as the engineering and stuff that he did is pretty cool.

Speaker A

00:06:05.450 - 00:06:07.210

What was the name of that other record?

Speaker B

00:06:07.690 - 00:06:37.830

It was called Valley of a Dying Breed. Didn't get to do the proper publicity and everything for it. But there's some good songs.

There's some good songs with me and Vic singing on, and it's more kind of acoustic y. Heavier stuff too. But this, when we did this record, it turned. Turned out to be more psychedelic and more heavy, and it just kind of happened.

I didn't really. I always kind of compare us to Crazy Horse meets the Heartbreakers.

You know, Tom Petty always talks about how he has, like, the best rock and roll band ever. And that's why he never gets new people to play with, because he's like, why would I?

Speaker A

00:06:38.070 - 00:06:43.430

So tell me a little bit about the visual of the album cover and the artwork that goes with all of that.

Speaker B

00:06:44.070 - 00:07:47.740

Well, that was kind of funny.

Doing art, I guess I'm kind of hard to work with and kind of opinionated, but being somebody who can't really do anything, like, I know what I want, I guess, but I can't really do it. And so I guess I can frustrate people with. So anyway, it was just actually that photograph. It's my face.

Everybody's like, oh, you need to be on the COVID And I was like, okay. So then I just had a bunch of pictures taken in a drunken night one night. But those are the ones that I kind of liked.

And so I was like, can you just kind of make this into some kind of image? And so this guy, he was actually in Cincinnati, friend of a friend. You know, he was a graphic guy. And he knew that. He sent that right away.

I just said, can you do something like this? And he sent it right away. I was like, yep, that's it. Done. So I'm a big fan of birds. When I first moved here, we went up to.

There's the greatest concentration of bald eagles in North America at the border of Oregon and California, right around this time of year. So when I first moved here, I drove up there. It's in the middle of nowhere, but there's just like, bald eagles, like pigeons.

They were doing a very country thing down there. They were baptizing my little nephew in the swimming pool. And a bald eagle flew over down there in Kentucky.

And they said it was me in spirit being there.

Speaker A

00:07:48.300 - 00:07:52.980

Explain to me how you became Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah and you're spelled with the J A H, not the.

Speaker B

00:07:52.980 - 00:08:47.360

I A. I've always had an affinity towards gospel music.

And what we were trying to do is if you ever listen to anybody who's really, really singing, they're usually singing gospel music and just singing their heart out and losing themselves. And so coming up with a band's hard. And I just had that solo record out, so I kind of had that my name on it already.

But I really am a band type person. I love being in bands. I love the music that a certain group of people make together in the interplay and all that kind of stuff.

So it was a lot about Victoria Too. Down in the desert. She would go in the desert. The sunsets are spectacular. The sky is purple and pink and crazy.

And she would just come out and say, hallelujah. It's a hallelujah sunset. You all seen this? So it was just something simple, but something kind of cool that I was like, why not?

But I wanted to call them something. I wanted to have the band called something, not just call it Lee Gallagher.

Speaker A

00:08:47.440 - 00:08:51.440

So for a band that's fairly new, what's working for you all?

Speaker B

00:08:51.760 - 00:09:36.490

I think what's working for us is just when we go play, there's just an energy that, I don't know, we kind of tap into when we play, and it's really coming across, and people are getting into it and happening really fast.

We've had a lot of good opportunities, like, right away, like, to open for the Doobie Brothers at Shoreline Amphitheater down in Mountain View, which is like, I know it, because that's where Neil Young holds the bridge benefit. You know, it's a big Grateful Dead. Like, you know, you go into the venue and there's just a huge steal your face symbol over the thing.

So it had a really cool vibe, and the Doobie Brothers are great, so we got to play with them and just different stuff. We got to open for Living Color, which is cool.

Those guys really loved us, and just different stuff is happening, like, really fast, and we're lucky to get on the ball and put a record out that's coinciding with the energy that's happening with our live shows.

Speaker A

00:09:36.490 - 00:09:58.690

Hey, y'. All, this is Sloane Spencer, the host of Country Fried Rock. Those of y' all who listen on our podcasts, it's a quick hit of just the conversation.

If you want the full radio program with all the songs that we talk about, ask for it on your local radio station, joining 20 other stations across the country. Get the [email protected] Hey, y', all, it's Lee Gallagher.

Speaker B

00:09:58.930 - 00:10:09.380

G A L L A G H E R In case you were confused. If you want to know more about our debut album, check it [email protected] what.

Speaker A

00:10:09.380 - 00:10:10.620

Do you all listen to currently?

Speaker B

00:10:11.260 - 00:11:13.970

All sorts of different stuff. I mean, Kirby, our piano players, more...