‘Catch of the Day’ – Donovan Lee – “She Stays” [AUDIO]

Its Thursday, and like every Thursday, today we feature an unsigned artist or an artist who is signed to a smaller, independent record label. Today we have a return visit from a Colorado country music outlaw, an artist who does things his own way, right down to bottling his label of whiskey for the bar he owns.

Donovan Lee is not your cookie cutter country star. Both his look and sound flash you back to artists like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Tompall Glaser. Lee was born in Port Arthur, TX, but now splits his time between the road, Westcliffe, CO and Nashville.

Lee started playing music at the age of 12; when he turned 19 he left the his music behind to pursue a career, which led him to law enforcement. Then, at the age of 27, he joined the United States Marine Corp, where he rediscovered his love for music. While stationed in San Diego, CA, Donovan started singing again on a karaoke dare.

But, it wasn’t until his deployment to Iraq that he realized the true impact and healing of music. Donovan bought an acoustic guitar and started playing and writing songs during his downtime on base. After about a week, Donovan noticed he had created an audience of 20 plus, and it soon became a daily event and the audience continued to grow. While in Iraq, Donovan suffered a hand injury and had to have bone fusion surgery upon returning home.

After returning stateside, while awaiting his medical discharge, Donovan attended Digidesigns School at Soundtrack Studios, graduating with a certification in Digidesigns Pro Tools. He returned home to Colorado and opened Dungeon Recording and Sound Studio in Westcliffe, and while recording other artists, Donovan's passion for his own music was reignited, and he soon started playing drums for a local country band. He eventually created his own band, Taylors Bayou, but the band evolved into Donovan as a solo artist. He solidified his status as a lead artist with his debut album release Taylors Bayou.

Lee has performed over 1200 shows in over 30 states, and he is currently touring in support of his current 2nd full length album Darker Side of Me. Today our spotlight falls on the 2nd single from the EP. Donovan Lee and “She Stays” is today’s Unsigned/Indy Artist Catch of the Day; new music you haven’t heard, but you’ll want to hear it again.