Gabe Lee stopped by KGNU’s Morning Sound Alternative with Greg Schultz during his Colorado tour. He performed songs from Drink the River, shared stories from five years of full-time touring, and talked about his upcoming album Brittle County, recorded in a haunted mansion in West Virginia.
(Air Date: 2/12/26)
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Transcript:
Greg Schultz: Gabe, welcome this morning. Gabe Lee is joining us on the Morning Sound Alternative here on KGNU to play some songs. Thanks to your good friend Sophie for the introduction.
Gabe Lee: Howdy. Yeah, Sophie’s one of my pals. We met on tour together with Margo Silk through the Carolinas. She was playing lead guitar in that band. We became buds and started singing together. I saw her CD on your shelf, Greg—had to represent.
Greg Schultz: You mentioned you know quite a few of the artists on our new band shelf. We’ve got all kinds of music here—country, folk, Latin, international. It’s a beautiful thing that you turned me on to her and we were able to play one of her tunes. Thanks for the introduction.
Gabe Lee: It just got here—brand new baby.
Greg Schultz: All right. Gabe Lee is a singer-songwriter out of Nashville, Tennessee. He’s here to talk about his new record and play some songs. He’s doing a run through Colorado. Why don’t you kick off a couple tunes, then we’ll come back and chat some more. Let us know what you’re playing.
Gabe Lee: Happy to. Thanks. This is the title track from a record I put out in 2023. It’s called “Drink the River.”
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Greg Schultz: Go ahead and give us another one. What was that tune?
Gabe Lee: That was “Drink the River,” off a record I put out a couple years ago. A lot of story songs on that one. I’ve been on the road full-time for five years now—playing shows to make a living, pay rent, and buy dog food. The house doesn’t look so good, but the dogs are well fed.
This next one is about how sometimes it takes leaving home to appreciate where you’re from. It’s called “Rusty.”
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Greg Schultz: If you’re just tuning in, we’re pleased to have Gabe Lee in the KGNU studios this morning. Singer-songwriter from Nashville, playing some beautiful tunes. Really appreciate that.
Gabe Lee: Thank you.
Greg Schultz: You’re starting your Colorado run tonight at Swallow Hill. You grew up in Nashville and left home—was it just time to go?
Gabe Lee: Yeah. Sometimes you can’t prepare yourself for life’s journeys. I grew up in Nashville, but I needed to leave. I went to school in Indiana and learned some hard lessons. The second I moved back to Nashville about ten years ago, I jumped back into the music scene. I’ve been writing songs, putting out records, and road-dogging ever since.
Greg Schultz: You did some bartending too, right?
Gabe Lee: A lot of bartending. I’m grateful for that time. I haven’t had to pick up a bar shift in a couple years, which is great. I loved working in restaurants—the stories you hear are incredible.
Greg Schultz: It’s like a confession booth sometimes.
Gabe Lee: Exactly.
Greg Schultz: Let’s talk about the new record. You released a single about your wedding. What can you tell us about the upcoming album?
Gabe Lee: As soon as I know, you’ll know. Putting a record together is a fun process, but there’s a lot that goes into it. This time I did much of it on my own. I still have a management team and a label, but I set out with my bandmates and set up a mobile studio in an old haunted mansion in West Virginia. We spent a week there and captured about 80–85% of the record.
We brought it back to Nashville and have been working on it since. The working title is “Brittle County.” It’s about how things can seem strong but be falling apart inside—and how things that seem fragile can actually be resilient. It’s a sad record at times, but it lifts you back up.
Greg Schultz: Recording in a haunted mansion sounds pretty cool.
Gabe Lee: It was. My last four projects in Nashville were great experiences—everything from home studios to big places like Sound Emporium. But this time I wanted to do my own thing with my closest friends. We’ll see how it turns out.
Greg Schultz: You’ve got control of the environment and the band. That’s huge as an independent artist.
Gabe Lee: Absolutely. You want the story to feel good while you’re telling it so it translates through the tape and the airwaves. Music is magic like that.
Greg Schultz: Let’s hear another tune.
Gabe Lee: This one’s about weathering storms in life and wondering what might’ve happened if you’d stuck it out a little longer. It’s called “Surrender to the Rain.”
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Greg Schultz: Beautiful song. Incredible lyrics. So what’s your songwriting process? Lyrics first? Music first?
Gabe Lee: It’s wonderful when melody and lyrics come together at once, but that’s rare. I spend a lot of time behind the wheel driving around the country—about 150 shows a year. Writing on the road became essential. Driving can be meditative. I have tons of 20-second iPhone memos that might sound rough, but they’re seeds for future songs.
Once I started traveling more, the car became a great place to work on ideas, listen to mixes, and stay inspired.
Greg Schultz: Don’t delete those ideas.
Gabe Lee: Exactly. The day you throw something away is the day you’ll need it.
Greg Schultz: You can also find where people really connect with your music as you travel.
Gabe Lee: Totally. It’s a unique lifestyle—introducing yourself to different music communities, playing a show, meeting folks, then packing up and heading to the next one. Keeping stories alive is what drives me.
Greg Schultz: Let’s talk about tonight’s show at Swallow Hill.
Gabe Lee: Swallow Hill is a great listening room. I’ve only heard good things. I’ll be playing solo acoustic—just me and a guitar, maybe a piano if there’s one available. Music starts around 8.
Then I’ll head up to Fort Collins to join Angie Stevens for a writers’ round at City Star Brewing. Saturday there’s a house show at Ohana Ranch in Bellevue—intimate and special.
Greg Schultz: How can people find you?
Gabe Lee: Gabe Lee is the handle on most social platforms. You can also follow along on Bandsintown to see when I’m coming through your area. There’s merch online too—CDs, records, shirts.
Greg Schultz: You’re also doing a run with Kelsey Walden.
Gabe Lee: Yes, at the end of the month. Kelsey Walden is a fantastic country artist from Kentucky. We’ll be playing shows around Tennessee and Kentucky—Louisville, Newport, Chattanooga, Jonesboro. If you’ve got friends out that way, tell them to look us up.
Greg Schultz: Before we wrap up—beautiful old Gibson guitar.
Gabe Lee: It’s from 1961. I probably didn’t have any business buying it, but I got to keep a deposit from a canceled festival and went straight to a guitar shop in Nashville. I hope it sounds good on the airwaves.
Greg Schultz: You made the right decision.
Why don’t you take us out with one more?
Gabe Lee: This is from my first record, Farmland, released in 2019. It’s called “People.”
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