With his rough-hewn voice and laid-back Midwestern charm, Lee DeWyze won over millions of listeners. An accomplished singer, guitarist, and songwriter who built his initial following on the Chicago club scene, Lee DeWyze displays his true nature as an artist on his major-label debut Live It Up. The title track captures the easy-going sprit of the album — a breezy blend of rootsy pop, rock, and folk, anchored by DeWyze’s soulful, husky voice and bright-sounding acoustic guitar.
Working with top-notch collaborators such as Toby Gad (Alicia Keys, Fergie), John Shanks (Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow), David Hodges (Kelly Clarkson, Weezer) and Norwegian production team Espionage (Beyoncé, Train), DeWyze co-wrote nearly every song on Live It Up, which he recorded while on the road over the summer. “To see my name listed in the credits was really important to me because I’m a songwriter,” DeWyze says. “I also loved working with such talented writers. They all brought so much to the table and really helped me flesh out my ideas.”
DeWyze created his own musical memories growing up with three siblings in Mount Prospect, Illinois, where his mother worked at a local hospital and his father was a postal carrier. “Sunday was my dad’s day off, so that was when he’d put on records and we’d just listen to music all day long,” DeWyze says. “I have such vivid recollections of that time. We listened to Simon & Garfunkel, Grand Funk Railroad, The Mamas & The Papas, and Cat Stevens. Tea for the Tillerman was my favorite album. I have the lyrics to ‘Father and Son’ tattooed on my arm.” When DeWyze was 14, he hauled his dad’s old guitar out of the closet and begged him to get it restrung so he could learn how to play. Working with a book of Beatles chords his father gave him, DeWyze began to teach himself basic progressions. “I’d play the chords and sing my own thing to them because I didn’t know how to write music. So I’d sing my own lyrics along to ‘Yellow Submarine,’” he recalls with a laugh.
Lee is writing and recording his second record in Los Angeles, CA.
