Lee Bains is a songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama, who, since 2012, has released four studio albums of what Rolling Stone once called “Southern gospel punk." His music has received acclaim from the likes of The New York Times, NPR, Mojo, Uncut, Sonic Magazine, and the Guardian. His most recent album, Old-Time Folks, was released by Don Giovanni Records in 2022, and explored stories of People’s movements in the Deep South. He will release a live solo album, Free South 2025, on Don Giovanni in August 2026. He has collaborated in live performance and on recordings with artists including Lonnie Holley, Moor Mother, and Algiers, and has toured with artists like The Alabama Shakes, Nana Grizol, Bad Moves, John Moreland, and Meltdown Rodeo. After first having his poems published by The New Yorker in 2021, Lee will see his debut poetry collection, Work Lunch, published by Hub City Press in October 2026. In addition to touring around the U.S. and Europe, Lee has lent his music to support striking coal miners, immigrants’ rights groups, abortion funds, and anti-racism organizations.
MELTDOWN RODEO
https://meltdownrodeo.bandcamp.com/
Whether grappling with the constrictions of gender expressions on dating apps (“How Do You See Me”), evoking the semi-autobiographical loneliness of Dorothy Allison’s Carolina bastards (“Maureen”), or daring white folks to “get right with their history of compliance in racial capitalism” (“Loamlands”), Register affirms that songwriting, at its best, is a gross but necessary confrontation.
Ultimately Register and Meltdown Rodeo (both the newly named band and album) have achieved in eleven songs something the south has only half-heartedly attempted – undoing generational curses by retiring “bless your heart” lip service.
Damn if we can’t all benefit from a little melting down.
– shirlette ammons
Press: “written to directly address North Carolina, the people in the Durham DIY scene, and the area's long history with LGBT communities and police violence, the themes Register… wrestle[s] with throughout—queerness, police violence, bigotry and general intolerance to those who refuse to adhere to any kind of binary—are poignant no matter where you live.” -- NOISEY
"It's a narrative-heavy — and proudly queer — record, channeling both the South's folksy past and the crunchy protest music of the modern Merge roster, sporting a genre-defying sound as courageous as the issues breached: institutionalized bigotry, body dysmorphia, the agonies of love and loss. " - AUTOSTRADDLE
"Even if you don’t know Register’s backstory, you can still hear that Sweet High Rise is a compelling, beautiful, and starkly political record." -Bitch Media "...a lush guitar pop sound that pulls from the late ’70s rock and country." - Brooklyn Vegan
