Lonnie and Hobart!

As noted in the title Lonnie will be performing in ‘Launnie’ and Hobart this weekend.

Singer Lonnie Lee has visited Tasmania a number of times for performances not to mention the additional times he ‘sneaks’ in non performance mode to enjoy a holiday on the East Coast in a cabin situated near Coles Bay and the Freycinet Peninsula, he finds these perhaps once a year non- performance visits very condusive to song writing. He sees Hobart as what Sydney was 50 years ago and means it in a very complimentary way, he believes Tassie, even Hobart City has managed to retain its peaceful quiet without all the hustle and bustle and describes it as a last bastion of charm.

This time Lonnie will have a quick visit. Flying in for two shows one each in Launceston and Hobart. When the band flies out on Sunday he will remain here until Tuesday.
Lonnie has been performing for something like 50 years now and he entered the business when there really was no real business about it here in Australia. The US and UK were thriving industries with movies and tours but Australia didn’t have much going on.

Growing up on a sheep farm it wasn’t easy to opt for a career away from the land and indeed Lonnie did enjoy the land and was all for fulfilling family expectations, him to become a first rate wool classer and being groomed for management, and Lonnie had done a stint as a jackaroo, all until the music bug bit. Lonnies great love is singing and he often mentions how the money and fame associated with success in the industry is a byvproduct and a bonus to what he really loves.

His musical appreciation started out in the choir just at about the time that he says rock and roll visited and he was dragged up to his destiny using the analogy of Dorothy being caught and transported in a tornado in the ‘Wizard of Oz’. And indeed Lonnie was transported in the tornado that was rock and roll. Because of the lack of a thriving industry in Australia he created his own gigs, taking whatever opportunity he could to get out there and perform which meant doing as many charity events as he could.

He studied piano and remembers his piano teacher rapping him over the fingers during the learning process, he also played the ukulele and stepped up to the guitar.

Lonnie is sometimes defined as rocka billy has also been called a crooner (which he says always makes him think of Bing Crosby) but the fact is Lonnie is very eclectic in his music and people going along to his Tasmanian concerts will see a wide range of music played. There will be ballads and country (Hank Williams kind of country rather than Aussie bush ballads). The performance will also encompass his 50 years and ongoing in the business from Australia to the US and Lonnie has many interesting tales to tell about his brushes with the famous.

One such story Lonnie recounted to me about his working in Nashville and being called by Don Williams, not the country singer but the brother of Andy Williams . Don was originally part of a quartet with his brother but after they broke up Don went to work behind the scenes as talent scout, he Lonnie remembers looking out the office at the sunset strip boulevard discussing some of his songs being recorded by Florence Henderson.

At the Tassie shows audiences will also get the opportunity to purchase some merchandise that lonnie is developng including the first release DVD ‘Black and White years/ a DVD of his black and white TV performances.

There are also the intention to put some bibliographies together which pose a problem, with as Lonnie says, the fractured career he has lived, from pop idol at the beginning of his career to time in Europe as a cabaret singer and the US as a songwriter and later promoter of Normie Rowe and others.

You can check out Lonnies site to purchase the DVD and other merchandise and you can see Lonnie at the Australian Italian Club – Launceston and at the Wrest Point Casino, Hobart on Saturday 27th October.

http://www.lonnielee.com
Paula Xiberras