The spotlight from "American Idol" casts a long shadow. Shining in this coast-to-coast mist is the group once known as the Lee DeWyze Band. The band used to back the "Idol" finalist from Mount Prospect, and its members have a colorful pedigree: Guitarist Louis Svitek was in the popular industrial metal band Ministry and the thrash band M.O.D.He also co-owns the independent WuLi Records in Chicago, for which DeWyze, 23, recorded two albums.» Click to enlarge imageLee DeWyze performs April 27 on "American Idol" -- without his band.
(Fox)» Click to enlarge imageLee DeWyze (right) sings with his band at Naperville's Ribfest in July 2009.
» Click to enlarge imageMusic producers Louis Suitek (from left), Ryan McGuire and Jeff Henderson pose for a photograph at McGuire's studio Friday in Oak Park. The trio also play in a band with "American Idol" contestant Lee DeWyze.(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
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Jeff Henderson is the band's multi-instrumentalist. In 2008 his wife, Denise, cooked up the idea of having DeWyze record six songs for their Square One Organic Baby Food children's album (squareoneorganics.com). DeWyze sings original pure pop songs including "Vitamin C," "Greens" and "Porridge," available at iTunes.
The Lee DeWyze Band released the CDs "So I'm Told" in 2007 and "Slumberland" in January.
"There was no response," Svitek said. "The response is huge
On Monday, "Slumberland" went out nationwide to Wal-Mart outlets. It also is slated for a national release at Best Buy and can be found at cd baby.com, where it's one of the top-selling albums.
An "Idol" finalist with product while still competing on TV is unheard of. WuLi had a three-album deal with DeWyze, but to comply with "Idol" rules, the label had to let him out of his contract once he survived the auditions.
His band is left to work out the kinks. "Target only takes jewel cases," McGuire said with a gentle groan in his Oak Park studio. "Lee is a tree hugger. He wanted triple recycled hemp paper with plant-based paint."
McGuire waved a copy of "Slumberland" in the air and said, "This took six weeks to manufacture vs. four days with plastic. That's the way he wanted it."
But it's plastic now. "Once we started getting this rash of orders, we can't wait six weeks."
Time has always been tight in the DeWyze camp.
"Over the summer we played at Fox & Hound [in Arlington Heights], and we were out late whoopin' it up," said McGuire, who plans to attend Friday's "Lee DeWyze Hometown Visit" with his bandmates, should DeWyze survive tonight's round. "He said, 'I gotta get outta here, I'm going to try out for 'American Idol.' " He needed to be there by 5."
5 a.m.?
"5 a.m.," McGuire answered. "So we just dropped him off at the United Center. When he made the final Hollywood cut, we had to release him from the contract. We finished 'Slumberland' in four or five weeks. He was literally on a plane the next day."
"Slumberland" works because DeWyze's soft, grainy vocals counterpoint Svitek's scorching lead guitar and McGuire's spacious drumming. DeWyze plays keyboard, piano and some percussion. Henderson chips in on guitar. Just like the "American Idol" where DeWyze landed, the 10-track record leaves the listener wondering what will happen next.
The albums were recorded in McGuire's studio, which he built in the backyard of his Oak Park home. McGuire is Svitek's partner in WuLi (wulirecords.com). In 2007 the label also released "Only Out for Destiny" from Chicago hip-hop artist Redd and "Blue Screen" by the Chicago metal band the Waking.
Svitek met DeWyze through a friend when the singer-songwriter was 17.
"Lee has a really beautiful voice," Svitek said. "On one track his seven-part harmonies sounded like a church choir. He could probably be in a boy band like 'N Sync. He could have been in a metal band because he can belt it out. But this is his style -- a soulful, acoustic guy. And he writes songs every day."
McGuire added, "He gets the John Mayer/Dave Matthews comparisons. But he's closer to Ben Harper. He can sing any genre, so when they throw these theme weeks at him, it's nothing for him. He put his own twist on [the Frank Sinatra standard] 'That's Life.' "
But DeWyze couldn't find the right band for his approachable style.
"Most of his friends were doing heavier music," Svitek said. "At the end of the day we would say, 'You gotta get a band, dude.' "
McGuire interrupted, "A young band. We're all a biscuit shy of 40. Nobody wants to look at us."
McGuire and his compatriots began performing with DeWyze in 2006. There was heavy debate on the band's name. "He wanted 'Lee DeWyze,' " McGuire explained. "But we weren't Lee DeWyze. So we would call ourselves Supreme Juice."
The band had planned to wear Cuban lounge shirts with white pants and matching white shoes.
"Lee asked, 'Do I get a band outfit?' " McGuire continued. "We said, 'No, you're Lee DeWyze.' It would drive him nuts. We would razz him and say he wasn't part of Supreme Juice. We played the Good Times Pub in Elmhurst. It's next to Supreme Lobster. So we got there early and all the Supreme Lobster guys say, 'We're Supreme Lobster,' and we go, 'We're Supreme Juice.' It was very funny."
McGuire's StudioTen23, which the drummer built behind his home, is never far from DeWyze's supremely active mind.
In an "Idol" news conference Friday, DeWyze said, "I'd like to sit in a studio and, especially after going through all of this, I'd like to start writing new things, work on things I have written and co-write with people. To put together a good, solid rock album would be cool."
His bandmates recall DeWyze as a shy performer. "Maybe not now, but when we started, if he were to play in front of 10 people he would most likely throw up," said McGuire, a former member of the Primus-influenced Big Foot Sex Slave. "He still looks glassy-eyed on 'Idol.' "
DeWyze has a kinetic mind. If he performs with a set list, he will change midstream, according to his band. The DeWyze Band appeared at FitzGerald's in Berwyn and the Double Door in Chicago, and its last gig was in mid-December before a turnaway crowd at Smoke Daddy in Wicker Park.
"Jeff and I try harmonies with him and we can't," McGuire said. "He gets so caught up in his performance and he's not with it."
DeWyze had a grass-roots following on the Chicago circuit without benefit of mainstream media exposure.
"We drew a couple of hundred people per show," McGuire said. "It was all word of mouth, Facebook, that kind of stuff."
When DeWyze agreed to cover material, it would be left-of-center stuff. His "Idol" audition number was almost "Wagon Wheel," written and performed by the Old Crow Medicine Show from the remnants of a Bob Dylan riff. "That was on a list of 1,800 pre-cleared songs from 'American Idol,' " McGuire said. "Lee lost his mind, as it's a real folky song."
The DeWyze Band lives on as a new rock band called the Virginia Gentlemen. On July 2, they open for Sammy Hagar at RibFest in Naperville, where the Lee DeWyze Band played last summer.
They also were the live house band for "The Chicago Huddle," a Bears TV talk show. The show was taped Fridays at the ESPN Zone.
"They wanted Lee to play cover songs, like Aerosmith, Dave Matthews, Stone Temple Pilots," McGuire said. "And we had to get makeup. He hated cover songs. And makeup. He would hide from the makeup lady. He also hated in-ear monitors.
"I go, 'And you're going to "American Idol?" ' "I am your sunflower and you are my sunshine
I believe in myself
never say never
dreams will keep me young
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