Years in the making, the new CD Here At Last by Lenny Austin is the culmination of a career in music which has spanned over 40 years. Lenny's talents as a singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer are finally displayed in an eclectic collection of original tunes and inspired covers. Born in Ohio and raised in St. Petersburg, Fla., Lenny has been playing guitar since he was nine years old. Over the years, he's played everything from top 40 and disco to country and blues and led the popular Florida band 'Skunk Junction' in the early seventies, which featured mostly Lenny's original music. Other Florida groups he has played with since then include The Mad Beach Band, Tom Gribbin and the Saltwater Band, T.
C Carr and the Catch and Gravy. In 1989 Lenny joined Dr. Hook and toured the U. S. extensively in addition to playing in Canada, Norway, Sweden, Britain, Iceland and Australia. Following two years on the road with Hook, Lenny obtained a B.S. in Music Education and has taught guitar and music theory. He was featured in the March 1987 issue of Guitar Player magazine and recently had one of his original songs recorded by Alligator Records artist Michael Burks. Currently Lenny gigs mostly with the group Motel Funk, but finds time to play with his many other friends in the Tampa Bay area also. Here At Last is a collection of tracks drawn from Lenny's stockpile of studio efforts dating back to the mid 90s and touches on a wide variety of styles. It features guest appearances by many prominent Tampa Bay area musicians including Lenny's son, Bryan, now an established drummer in the Austin, Texas music scene. As for the diversity of material, Lenny says: Each track on this CD began as either a songwriting demo, a tribute to a song or artist I admire, or an inspired bit of lunacy. In each case, they were created and expanded upon in an atmosphere of complete abandonment and disregard for commerciality or anyone else's expectations.
