lee penn sky - prophets & pretenders
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Lee Penn Sky’s origin story…
It was a cold January day on a remote highway in Idaho. A young man stopped to help other travelers who were trapped in an overturned truck. As the man was working to rescue them, another car skidded off the road and struck him at highway speed. That man was Lee Penn Sky.
On that grey day, Lee almost lost his life and nearly lost his leg; what he did lose was his fear. Until this day, Lee had been a prolific songwriter but never stepped from behind the shelter of a band into the spotlight himself. The risk of stepping into the spotlight seemed to pale in comparison to nearly losing his life. Slowly as he healed he began writing new songs and performing solo. Healing from his severe injuries gave Lee time to figure out who he was as a songwriter, time to hone his skills and style.
Fast forward…
Lee Penn Sky's songwriting is unadorned, the nature of his writing makes the songs all the more powerful - his metaphorical, vulnerable and often ironic lyrics have a way of getting to the heart of a matter and his presentation is often compared to Colin Hay's solo work, Gregory Alan Isakov, early Iron and Wine, or Ray LaMontagne. He has a rootsy, direct, powerful and at times, melancholic style of conveying his lyrics which lends to a very dynamic and intimate feel.
Lee Penn Sky has shared the stage with some amazing artists such as John Craigie, Glen Phillips from Toad the Wet Sprocket, Rhett Miller of Old 97’s, the Black Lillies, the Barefoot Movement, , Mipso, Tony Furtado, Pual Cauthern, and Allie Kral fromYonder Mountain String Band. He has been billed with acts such as Billy Strings, the CowboyJunkies, Son Volt, the Old 97's, the Seldom Scene and many more.
His fourth studio album Prophets and Pretenders will be released on July 25, 2025.
Lee Penn Sky released his third solo album Lean into the Letter on 1/17/20, which chronicles an amazing journey that started with the discovery of a letter sent from Israel in 1958.This letter, found in the back of a drawer in a purse that belonged to Lee's Great-Grandmother Sadie, was translated at a local synagogue, revealing the author as Sadie's nephew, Jakob Nistel, thought to have perished with the rest of Sadie's family in the Holocaust. Jakob detailed the perils of evading the Nazis until the end of the war,hiding underground, to ultimately immigrate to Israel to start a new life. Through the magic of the internet, Lee's family located Jakob’s descendants in Israel, resulting in Le embarking on a pilgrimage to Israel to connect with their history, his family, and their future.The songs that compose Lean into the Letter thread together Lee's thoughts and emotions regarding Jakob, his survival in the face of horrific loss, his ongoing and unshakable faith, the discovery of and joy for new family, and ideas of resistance,depression, loss and anger in the context of historic and volatile conflicts that permeate the Holy Land. No Depression magazine named Lee Penn Sky's Lean into the Letter as one of their favorite albums of the year! http://bit.ly/2EoUXDU
29 Left Down, a 13 song album, was released in March of 2015 to much anticipation and immediate critical acclaim.
Several of Lee’s songs from his debut album Prelude to Hindsight released in 2006, have been played on folk and alt-country radio shows throughout the United States and in Europe.
His song "The Trees” was included on In Our Town: Songs for BOISE 150 in 2013.
Lee was a founding member of the bands Mr. Picassohead in the early 90s and Thistledown in 2016-2018. He was a primary writer for and recorded albums with each band.
Lee serves on the board of directors for the Idaho Songwriters Association.