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This page was last updated on: October 12, 2011

"Music has been a stabilizing force in my life as long as I can remember. To me it is equivalent to breathing air or drinking water. In short, it is essential to my life."

Lionel

L I O N E L  C R A W F O R D. C O M

Bio

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Bio

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It's funny how you can grow up poor but still be rich with love and culture. Lionel spend his formative years running and playing in the gaps of New Orleans, St. Michael, Barbados, blessed to be exposed to professional musicians at an early age. Barbadian recording artist, Richard Stoute, lived and rehearsed four gaps down and the very popular vocal group "De Opels" practiced one gap up from the 6th Avenue where he lived. He learned the importance of rehearsal by listening to Richard Stoute crooning, as Lionel played with friends on Murphy's Pasture. In the evening he would go to the corner of 5th Avenue and Wharton Gap, get a good seat on the front steps and listen to Midge and the other members of "De Opels" as they rehearsed. He paid attention to every little detail; the drummer, the guitarist, bass man, piano player, the vocals, harmonies, constructive arguments, cramped close quarters and the love that each and every one of them had for the music.  Lionel left Barbados in 1970 and as fate would have it, moved into a house in Hartford, Connecticut where the "Standing Ovations" a teenage R&B /Funk band rehearsed in the basement. According to Lionel, "Bassist, Mike Foy allowed me to join the band because of my love for music, and to get me out of the house. Mike asked my mother if I could play with the group. She surprisingly, told him yes, just as long as he looked out for me." Lionel played percussion, and 2nd chair behind drummer/vocalist Berry Green. Lionel quickly gravitated to the guitar and Sam Carr, who played guitar with the band, showed him his first chords. "I think it was a D9th chord and I would wear out my fingers and James Brown records, trying to get it right," according to Lionel. Rhythm was at the forefront of his guitar style of playing due in part to his early calypso influences like Sparrow and the Merrymen, so he developed a very rhythmical strumming style. He worked with several Hartford groups including the Stunning Generation, before Joining the Funk band Pok' Chop. Band leader, Earl Calloway, gave him an opportunity to play the New England College and club circuit with one of the areas best R&B/Funk bands. Pok' Chop's name was changed to Pressure Point and Lionel honed his performing, arranging, songwriting and music production skills with them, playing dances, weddings, concerts and doing studio work. During the period from 1976 to 1980, he attended the Hartford Art School, University of Hartford where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree while studying with Sculptor Wolfgang Beal, Figure modeling and drawing with Lloyd Glasson and painting with Paul Zimmerman and Rudolph Zallinger. An accomplished artist, he has exhibited art in the U.S and abroad, including the Queen’s Park Gallery, Barbados. While at the University of Hartford, Lionel found his way into world renowned Jazz saxophonist Jackie McLean's Afro American Music studies class. It was because of Jackie that he was able to hear stories of jazz musicians, told in their own words, as part of the Afro-American Music Studies (Visiting Musicians) Program. He wrote and arranged the first recording by Presasure Point, "I'll Make It Worth Your while" which featured Pat Thompson and appeared on the WHCN homegrown Album in 1977. He also wrote, arranged and produced "Come Inside" for Pressure Point in 1981, which appeared on Yvonne Jordan’s Elrod Records. After Pressure Point disbanded, Lionel released "Crop Over" his first solo recording under the name Teecha, in 1984. "Take Control" followed in 1992. The single, "It's A Family Thing", released in 1995, featured Pat Thompson and gave Lionel the opportunity to work with Pat once again. In 1996, Lionel released his first solo album entitled "Bridging De Gap"  on which he wrote, arranged produced and performed all the material except for a few voice samples. His guitar work can be heard throughout the album, but his solo work on the cuts "Bridge In De Gap" and "Big Money" are indicative of his emotional playing style. Lionel has performed with the Platters,  People of Goodwill, Tony Harrington & Touch, Tamaca Govan,  Seth Sharp, Soul Candy, Top Hat Band, Alvin Carter Jr., SoulfulPassionBand, and The Soul Sensations. In 2000, he embrassed the opportunity to work with Barbadian recording artist Lew Drayton from the Draytons Two by  arranging and producing several songs including "Evelyn" and "Kadooment Morning" for Mr. Drayton. Lionel continues to create, produce and perform music in an effort to have a musically conversation with the world.