Bio

Jimmy Lee Hannaford is enjoying the adventures of a working  musician, primarily in Lower Alabama and along the Mississippi Coast.  A Mississippi native who was part of the busy music scene in Austin, Texas for 10 years, Jimmy Lee moved to Fairhope, Ala., in 2007 and has found a new home and embracing audiences for his engaging style of music.

Jimmy Lee is currently performing solo or with supporting musicians up and down the scenic Gulf Coast, the same area he called home from 1989-95.  He is also working on a followup to his acclaimed CD, Outside In.

As a songwriter and performer, Jimmy Lee’s roots stretch back to his native soil, where he soaked up the sounds of Delta bluesmen as well as R&B, rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, folk, country, funk and soul. He shows off considerable skills as a singer and songwriter and on guitar, harmonica and bass, when the opportunity calls.

“I grew up thinking there was such great music everywhere,” he says. “And then I realized the sounds from Mississippi musicians were pretty unique. But over the years I’ve learned that are great musicians in every community. The music just has its own distinctive flavor wherever you go. ”

Jimmy Lee has been a featured artist each for four years now at the L. A. (Lower Alabama) Songwriters Festival and in 2008 made his debut at the Frank Brown International Songwriter Festival. Recently, he’s been playing up and down the scenic Gulf Coast in such places as Windmill Market and Fly Creek Cafe in Fairhope, Lulu’s and Tipsea’s in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Moe’s Original BBQ in Daphne, Huck’s Cove in Gautier, Mosaic Tapas Bar and the Peter Anderson Arts Festival in Ocean Springs, the Cabana Bar & Grill in Gulfport, Serda’s Coffee Company in Mobile and Palmetto’s on the Bayou in Slidell.

Jimmy Lee also hosts once a month at the popular musicians jam at the American Legion Post 199 in Fairhope, a nice, historic spot on the waterfront that differs from most Legion posts around the country in that it is always open to the public and actively promotes live music.

In short, Jimmy Lee is a familiar talent on the Gulf Coast scene, entertaining listeners as a solo performer, alongside other area musicians, sometimes with The Occasionals (featuring cohorts Randy Branch and Keith Glass), sometimes as a duo with such stellar musicians as Glass on guitar, mandolin and harmony vocals, James “Jambo” Boring on bass or Diamond Dan Quibel on saxophone.

He also likes to step out with his own funky four-piece blues outfit, The Hip Waders.