Local musician, Lee Shone, has captured international attention with his first solo album, Never Sing the Blues Again.

Lee, who lives in Helsby, recorded the country album in Nashville in September 2019, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed its release until this month.

It was certainly worth the wait. A mixture of covers and original songs, Never Sing the Blues Again jumped straight to number four in the ITunes Country Charts, and has since been featured on Chris Country Radio.

"I wasn't expecting it to make a dent on the Top 10 but that was a nice surprise!" Lee says.

"It was a really great project to do and the musicians we played with were the best of the best.

"I managed to get backing vocals from the Holladay Sisters, who recorded on some of Elvis's biggest songs, so that was amazing and really helped with the overall finish [of the album]. "

Lee tells me that recording his songs in Nashville, the Country Music Capital of the World, was the key to the album's rich and authentic sound.

"[The Nashville music scene] is a lot more vibrant than over here. Whereas with pop music, most records are now produced by a small team, there are still a lot of people in Nashville making albums with live bands in the studio. I don't think you can beat that," he says.

This album being his first solo release, Lee was especially keen to imbue it with its own musical quality and tone.

"When you record on other people's projects you try to add in your own influence and style, but at the end of the day it's always a collaboration. It's never truly your vision. So it was quite nice having full control of how the album went," he says.

As well as songs from artists such as Keith Urban and Ronnie Milsap, four of the tracks were written by Lee himself.

"I've written songs since I was young," he explains, meaning that he had plenty of compositions, new and old, to use in Never Sing the Blues Again.

"I chose the ones that I thought would suit the album, because obviously, recording it in Nashville, I wanted them to have a country sort of flavour."

"You never quite know which ones people are going to like, but it's been quite nice that even though some of the songs were written by quite famous artists, a lot of people have picked some of mine as their favourite, without really knowing which ones were which."

Even before he started writing songs, Lee was a huge fan of country music.

"When I was young, my parents and relatives all played a lot of country music. So I think it soaked in from quite a young age.

"I was no older than three, but that music has stuck with me to this day. I remember listening to my uncle finger picking 'Freight Train' in the style of Chet Atkins.

"There must have been something about that sound that resonated with a young boy living in a suburb of Liverpool.

"During the '70s country musicians were coming over to the UK to tour because the live scene was quite big here. A lot of the big artists, like Johnny Cash, were touring quite small venues.

"It was quite a vibrant time for them. And even if I wasn't particularly aware of who was singing it, I absorbed the influences.

"I've always loved American music, but as I started playing in bands in my teenage years, most people wanted to play things related to UK music. So I've been keeping [my passion for country music] back a bit, until I could do it properly."

Lee still plays in bands and is a regular performer at Kash 22's open mic nights. He also appears on the debut album of landlord Paddy Bleakley's band El Misti, which was released earlier this year.

Lee's fans will be happy to know that he is already thinking about his next album.

"It's just a matter of waiting until next year, when hopefully things relax a bit with travel. Then I'll certainly head back over to Nashville to record a second one!" he says.

To listen to clips from Never Sing the Blues Again, or to buy the album, click here.