By Shanda Block/reporter

Having been born into music since his father ran a recording studio in New Jersey, Nathan Lee started performing at an early age.

During his 20s, he moved to Nashville and began writing songs for a friend who had a record deal. That led to Lee’s getting a publishing deal with EMI.

Between that and a few other small jobs, he attempted to launch a music career with a band he put together. Unfortunately, he became homeless until he got a business job, but that left him unhappy. His dream was to perform.

Finally, Lee caught a break from Dean Miller. Miller saw something in Lee and believed in his lyrics, resulting in his signing Lee to Miller’s new media company.

Lee got with producer Paul Moak to record Lee’s current album, the ironically titled Risk Everything. Moak pushed Lee to cover the boundaries of his talent and then pushed him harder still. With Moak so strongly believing in Lee, Lee’s career finally took off.

Lee’s genre is modern rock, and his latest album Risk Everything contains 11 tracks, and all songs are written or co-written by Lee. His raspy, had-a-hard-life–but-I’m-still-kicking-strong vocals keep the listeners’ attention and give the feeling of “Hey, this guy tells it like it is, and I want to hear more.”

The song “El Diablo Y El Angel” is the best song on this album. It says people can be like the devil or an angel because they are unpredictable and don’t usually have a story line.

Therefore, the things people do can be either “devil-like” or “angel-like” depending on how they react in different situations.

“Still” is another good song and has a sad/mellow feel yet projects to the listener a hope through the darkness that befalls life from time to time. Basically, it sounds like a person who won’t give up no matter how hard things get. Lee illustrates that if people follow their dreams, anything can happen. Risk Everything is just a motivational album in itself.