Gary Lee’s Music Makers: A Podcast Touting Local Talent

Gary Lee of Music Spotlight San Diego. Photo by Cara Cormier.

It’s 2021. Like most, I’m emerging from my COVID chrysalis with new skills. House painting. Avocado tree-growing. I’ve even written a few songs.

I’m not an “artist.” I still think it’s odd to use that term outside of museums. But setting my little three-minute stories to music is exhilarating. So, I begin searching for podcasts to improve my skills.

I stumble on Music Spotlight San Diego with Gary Lee. It checks all my boxes. It’s the perfect length—about 30 minutes so I can do a whole episode during my commute. It’s actual songwriters talking about songwriting. They play some of their own stuff, so I can decide whether their advice is worth listening to. Most appealing, they’re all here, locally. People I could run into at the grocery store. People I might be able to hang out with some day…

********

Gary Lee seems a little nervous. He doesn’t turn his Zoom camera on. After a lifetime in radio broadcasting, he’s used to directing the spotlight away from himself and toward musicians. “I’m terrible on this side,” he confesses.

He’s not. Even when I start psychoanalyzing him four minutes into the interview, he rolls with it. His early love of music got a boost from his older brother, a singer-songwriter who played guitar, piano, and harmonica; he died of AIDS in the ’90s. (The fact that Gary loves when podcast guests play harmonica now carries deeper weight.) They did what all good ’70s college students should do—sit around smoking joints and introducing each other to albums from their eclectic music collections.

But unlike his brother, playing musical instruments didn’t come easy for Gary. So, he “went the other way” and became a broadcaster. Not surprising, given that he used to sit by the radio and practice introducing the next song. Not surprising, given that his childhood dream was to be a DJ in New Mexico with a dog named Bogie (a dream he’d one day fulfill). And not surprising, given that his uncle, Harold Leventhal, was an iconic folk music manager in the 1960s, handling the careers of Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Judy Collins, Pete Seeger, and the Weavers.

In the studio

After broadcast school helped him shed the accent of his New York and Boston roots, Gary started in North Carolina and began working his way westward. But even with the accent gone, “being a New York Jew didn’t fly well” in certain parts of the country. Some local sheriffs didn’t take kindly to long-haired northeastern transplants with specific surnames. And some troubles were the result of his own Kristoffersonian lifestyle. Drinking and drugs. Multiple jail stints. Taking up residence in a former whorehouse. Imagine WKRP moving south and unleashing Dr. Johnny Fever on the streets of Odessa, Texas.

Gary kept migrating west until hitting the 619 area code in 1982. Then came the more stable years. Getting sober. Starting a family. Establishing a career in the San Diego radio community.

But the halcyon days of radio were starting to fade. Corporate conglomerates gobbled up independent stations. Music directors played the same hit song every 45 minutes. Even the so-called “request hours” didn’t actually take requests. He realized that, while “radio was fun back in the day, it wasn’t fun anymore.”

Gary called it quits in 2019. But just before he left, he started a podcast called Music Spotlight San Diego. With new-found time on his hands, this podcast would grow into an audio collection of local talent and even inspire new songwriters, like me.

********

It’s 2022. I’ve been writing more songs. I’ve been going to open mics. The music bug hits me and buzzes incessantly. I’m learning chord progressions and lyric-crafting and trying to soak up wisdom from people who’ve been doing this a lot longer than I have.

But I’ve exhausted my episodes of Music Spotlight San Diego. The last one aired in November 2021. Did Gary end the podcast? Did he retire? I’m worried about this person I’ve never met who’s been guiding me into my new identity.

I find Gary’s new podcast, Music Makers San Diego, and devour all the old episodes. I know many of the people he’s interviewing. And I’m starting to feel a part of something…

********

Gary recorded a few dozen episodes of Music Spotlight San Diego before COVID hit. Like most musicians, he had to take a break and wait it out. But in early 2022, the podcast returned—re-branded as Music Makers San Diego.

Lee with author Cara Cormier.

The format is simple. Gary invites a local singer-songwriter to Amplified Studios, a blossoming creative hub in Carlsbad. He asks about the songwriter’s background—what kind of music was played in their home, were other family members musicians, how did they start songwriting. He asks about the process—do they write at certain times of the day, do they experience writer’s block, do they write solo or collaborate. And he asks about where the songs come from—personal experience, trauma, attempts at self-therapy. Sprinkled among these discussions, each songwriter performs three of their creations live.

The goal is also simple—to spotlight local talent. “For years, I didn’t know how big and great it was because I was playing all the national stuff,” he marvels. He also limited it to songwriters because “I didn’t want cover bands, I wanted to showcase originality.”

This celebration of local talent reaps dividends. Musicians tell stories and spill tea, unraveling the anecdotes and struggles that spawned their songs. You learn tidbits you’d never glean from a rehearsal or a passing conversation at the Ould Sod. You learn that other songwriters have the same insecurities you do. You learn about the ways music has saved us all. And you feel less alone.

Gary sees this, too. “San Diego has so many open mics, so many songwriting circles, everybody working together. I go to shows and see so many artists there supporting the person who’s playing.” And he’s among them. The man who spent his career spinning the hits of arena-packers now attends shows where the audience may be less than dozen. But he doesn’t miss his old life. He’s leading a quiet counterrevolution to the homogeneity of the industry, reminding us that “there’s so much music out there—good music.”

********

It’s 2023. I’ve recorded my first album. I’ve done my first paid gig. I’m entering “artist” territory. And I think I’m supposed to be doing self-promotion. Dare I proffer myself to Gary as a songwriter? It feels presumptuous. Maybe I won’t rush it…

********

Like songwriting, podcasting doesn’t come easy. In the years since his initial sponsorship funds dried up, Gary has paid thousands out of his own pocket for studio time. New funders are hard to come by, and a GoFundMe attempt yielded little. So, if your business wants to become the headline sponsor for San Diego’s premier music podcast, Gary would love to buy you lunch and tell you all about it.

Finding and corralling the songwriters also takes energy. He scours social media and responds to direct requests from people who want to come on the show, sometimes from as far away as LA. Like all pools of musicians, there’s a few who flake out. If you want to be a guest, reach out to him.

Will he ever exhaust the pool of local singer-songwriters? Probably not. But he occasionally supplements with a month of Orange County musicians. He also does shorter follow-up episodes with some songwriters and may expand the format in other ways. And his Instagram account, @musicmakerssd, offers a weekly calendar announcing upcoming shows that anyone can submit to. “It’s just another way to help the local music community.”

So for now, the plan is to keep doing the podcast as long as money and talent allow. Motivation isn’t the problem. “It’s the love of music, that’s what it is,” he muses. “That’s the whole reason I do this. My love for music and to help the local music community.”

********

It’s 2024. I’ve listened to nearly all the episodes. I know Gary’s go-to questions. I know which songs to sing. It’s time.

I message Gary and tell him I’m a huge fan. I pitch myself as a guest. I hit send and try to manage expectations.

He responds in under two hours. He’s already checked out my album and some of my YouTube performances. He invites me on the show.

I guess I’m a San Diego Music Maker now.