The Recorder

"Local Band Opens for Wanda Jackson at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall" The Recorder

Local band opens for Wanda Jackson at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall

Sarah A. Henderson, The Recorder

Jacksonville band Laurel Lee and the Escapees have come a long way since playing at First Coast bars and taverns.

The “indy country” band performed for 40 minutes in front of about 100 people Wednesday night at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, opening for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Wanda Jackson.

“It’s like opening for Tony Bennett in my world,” said Laurel Lee, lead singer of the band.

Lee, a native of Oregon, said that in the 1990s she used to stand in for Jackson to help Jackson’s band warm up before the singer got into town.

Lee has performed as a musician for the last 12 years. She moved from Oregon to Jacksonville in 2006 to “get some sunshine and warmer weather,” she said. Her husband, from Washington DC, spent summers in Jacksonville, so they decided to move there.

While she lives and works as a substitute teacher in the St. Augustine area, she and her Jacksonville bandmates predominately perform in the River city.

The Escapees of the band all have strong musical backgrounds, she said.

Guitarist Don Bealle has played for numerous bands over the past three decades.

Bassist John Mortensen, who has played in a wide range of genres, was the first musician Lee—who previously had a West Coast group of Escapees—brought into her Florida band.

Cameron Wick, a graduate of Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, is a trained jazz drums musician.

Dolly Penland, who sings harmony, left her band Dollyweed to join the Escapees.

Scot Murray plays the pedal steel guitar, and Philip Pan plays the violin.

Laurel Lee and the Escapees have produced three albums—one by the first band in Oregon and two by the Florida group.

The first was recorded in 2005 titled “Why Don’t We Don’t Get Married”. The second was “Eastward Pioneer” recorded in 2007 in Orange Park. The latest album was recorded last year in Jacksonville titled “Showdown”.

Lee said she particularly enjoys playing “Sorrow” and “Holding You to Blame”.

“It’s a simple song, but it has its own little volcano behind it,” Lee said of “Holding You to Blame”.

Lee said the best thing about performing with the Escapees is simply being consumed by the experience.

“I get lost in it,” she said. “It’s like being in a play of real life.”

Next up for Laurel Lee and the Escapees on the First Coast is performing at SALUTE, the first-ever Veterans Day concert and picnic to take place at Metro Park following the annual Veterans Day parade in downtown Jacksonville. -