Lee Penn Sky's songwriting is unadorned, the nature of his writing makes the songs all the more powerful - his metaphorical, vulnerable and often ironic lyrics have a way of getting to the heart of a matter and his presentation is often compared to Colin Hay's solo work, Gregory Alan Isakov, or Ray LaMontagne. He has a rootsy, direct, powerful and at times, melancholic style of conveying his lyrics which lends to a very dynamic and intimate feel.
Lee Penn Sky has shared the stage with some amazing artists such as John Craigie, Glen Phillips from Toad the Wet Sprocket, Rhett Miller of Old 97’s, the Black Lillies, the Barefoot Movement, , Mipso, Tony Furtado, Paul Cauthern, and Allie Kral from Yonder Mountain String Band. He has been billed with acts such as the Cowboy Junkies, Son Volt, the Old 97's, the Seldom Scene and many more.
Lee has played at many festivals and won acclaim including being a two time songwriting finalist in the Susanne Millsaps performing songwriter showcase, a finalist in the T.R. Ritchie songwriting contest, playing at the Snowbird Mountain Music Festival, playing the Denver Post Underground Music Showcase, played the Tucson Folk Festival, the Spokane Fall Folk Festival, the Salt Lake Folk and Bluegrass Festival, been booked for the L.A. Americana Music Festival , played the Yellow Pine Harmonica and Music festival, The Summer Festival at Roseberry, The Sawtooth Valley Gathering, The Lava Folk Festival, and appeared repeatedly at the Treefort Music Festival. He has played a number of civic concert series such as the Music from Stanley Series and Boise’s Alive after 5 series. He has been featured on several television shows such as the Park City TV show Soundtracks and Boise Song Talk.
His fourth studio album Prophets and Pretenders will release on July 25, 2025.
Lee Penn Sky released his 3rd album Lean into the Letter on 1/17/20, which chronicles an amazing journey that started with the discovery of a letter sent from Israel in 1958.This letter, found in the back of a drawer in a purse that belonged to Lee's Great-Grandmother Sadie, was translated at a local synagogue, revealing the author as Sadie's nephew, Jakob Nistel, thought to have perished with the rest of Sadie's family in the Holocaust. Jakob detailed the perils of evading the Nazis until the end of the war, hiding underground, to ultimately immigrate to Israel to start a new life. Through the magic of the internet, Lee's family located Jakob’s descendants in Israel, resulting in Le embarking on a pilgrimage to Israel to connect with their history, his family, and their future. The songs that compose Lean into the Letter thread together Lee's thoughts and emotions regarding Jakob, his survival in the face of horrific loss, his ongoing and unshakable faith, the discovery of and joy for new family, and ideas of resistance, depression, loss and anger in the context of historic and volatile conflicts that permeate the Holy Land. No Depression magazine named Lee Penn Sky's Lean into the Letter as one of their favorite albums of the year! http://bit.ly/2EoUXDU
29 Left Down, a 13 song album, was released in March of 2015 to much anticipation and immediate critical acclaim.
Several of Lee’s songs from his debut album Prelude to Hindsight released in 2006, have been played on folk and alt-country radio shows throughout the United States and in Europe.
His song "The Trees” was included on In Our Town: Songs for BOISE 150 in 2013.
Lee is a board member of the Idaho Songwriters Association.
