Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too.
Who Are You? "I'm Dwight Taylor Lee, singer/songwriter/producer," Lee introduces himself. "Member of Lazlo (RIP), then The Literary Greats and Finnegan, currently Don't Poke the Bear." He also lists "The Wandering Bufaleros," which our editor originally thought was a typo. Make sure you read until the very end.
Why Do You Stay in Houston? "I'm a native Houstonian," he explains. "I went to Sharpstown High School and the University of Houston. I have lived elsewhere, but Houston has always been home to me.
"I think there are a lot of opportunities here and I prefer to be plugged into the cultural growth of a city, rather than move to a place where that growth is established," Lee continues. "Why be part of a tourist city when you can be part of making a city tourist-worthy? This city has so much to offer besides art. Now is the time to get plugged in."
Home Base:
Lee didn't just give us one home base, he mapped out his entire nightlife:
Bars: Double Trouble is my favorite right now and the people that work there are great. I followed the Robins from Poison Girl and I couldn't be happier for them.Food: Tacos A Go Go, 1308 Cantina, Revival Market (really, anything Adam Dorris is involved in), and of course Pass & Provisions.
Music Venue: Continental Club and Fitz are both local institutions. I hope to see more clubs this size pop up in the next couple of years.
Top 5 Desert Island Discs
"I can't decide on the order," Lee admits.
- Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin III
- Robert Johnson, The Complete Recordings
- Ryan Adams, Cold Roses
- Stevie Wonder, Songs In the Key of Life
- The Beatles, The White Album, "but it might actually be Dr. Dog's Fate. This is a tough question."
Music Scene Pet Peeve: "Passive or insecure interactions," Lee says. "Not that I haven't been guilty of this myself, but sometimes it's a lot easier to be onstage with a microphone in your hand than it is to see other artists at the grocery store, to stop and have a normal conversation with them.
"Sometimes acquaintance interactions are strange," he adds. "I used to take it personally but then I realized, I just don't care."
