Now, some fifteen years later, after fifty or so trips to Nashville and five hundred songs penned, Lammonds’ star is rising and promises to burn bright well into the future. Lammonds attributes much of his success to Craft’s tutelage, “Paul taught me the fundamentals of technique and a lot about the business of songwriting.” He was soon approached by his hero, legendary songwriter and publisher, Paul Craft, who quickly recognized Lammonds’ unique talent and became his songwriting mentor. As The Blue Dogs rose in popularity, performing across the country, Lammonds began to notice the types of songs that moved audiences, and continued to sharpen his skills. Lammonds began writing songs just after college when he formed The Blue Dogs, along with his buddies Hank Futch and Bobby Houck. Lammonds is a musical virtuoso of sorts, equally gifted at playing mandolin. “There’s a lonesome tone and a lot of emotion that bleeds through the sound of shape note style piano playing,” Lammonds says, and it’s that subtle warmth and longing that continues to inform his guitar technique today. As a boy, he listened to his father sing gospel songs on his grandfather’s Sunday morning radio show and spent hours stretched out alongside the upright piano while his aunts practiced for the Pentecostal Baptist service. Raised in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina, Lammonds was immersed in music. “I don’t like to waste words,” Lammonds says, and when you listen to his songs, you know he’s telling the truth. He’s earned the reputation for being just that good through years of honing his craft.

And like the very best in the business, he has a way of elevating life’s ordinary moments into soulful, poetic perfection, full of grit and authenticity with the turn of a phrase and the lift of a just-right melody.

Lee brice the best part of me