Local musicians nominated to Georgia Music Hall of Fame
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On September 4, Appling County icon Stagger Lee announced his nomination to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Lee intends for the official act to also include his brother Dale, and his sister Diana, under the stage name, Diana Lee and the Lee Brothers.
Known for his remarkable contributions to the local music scene and beyond, Stagger Lee is the owner of the Stagger Lee music and RV park, located on the county line between Appling and Jeff Davis.
The Georgia Music Hall of Fame was created by the State of Georgia in 1979 to celebrate and remember Georgia musicians who have made noteworthy contributions to the state’s music industry. Notable inductees include Ray Charles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sugarland, Whitney Houston, and many more.
Born Donald Paul Lee Jr. at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, in January of 1952, Lee was raised in the mountains of Beaver, West Virginia, where he first picked up a fiddle and started making music with his brother Rodney, sister Diana, and late brother Dale.
By the early 1970s, he and Dale made history as part of Don Lee Jr. & Blue Country, playing the first-ever country/bluegrass show at the Empire State Building in New York City, sharing the stage with legends like David Allan Coe, Larry Gatlin, Buck Owens, and Jana Jae.
In the late 70s, he brought his fiddle down to Gilley’s in Pasadena, Texas, where he wrote and recorded the regional #1 hit, “Wacky Tobakky.”
The 1980s found him behind the mic as a DJ at KWKH Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana, the legendary home of the Louisiana Hayride. In 1982, Diana, Dale, and Stagger were honored with Entertainers of the Year on that very stage.
In 1998, he won third place at the Florida State Fiddle Contest. Beyond the fiddle, he’s a multi-instrumentalist, with guitar, bass (both electric and doghouse), banjo, mandolin, and piano all a part of his musical toolbox.
Throughout the 2000s, Lee played with Georgia-based groups Showdown and Cheyenne, and played fiddle with WWVA Jamboree host, Mac Wiseman. In 2008, alongside Diana and his wife, Lori Lynne, Lee earned second place in the National Traditional Country Music Association’s Harmony Singing Contest in Iowa.
The next big event for Stagger Lee Music Park will be the Heading Home Bluegrass Festival, which will be hosted from October 22-26.
