Born Leslie Johnson in Torras, Louisiana on June 20, 1933, Lester was weaned on the music of country pioneer Jimmie Rodgers. He started playing guitar at an early age, and by his teens had also become a distinctive harmonica player, inspired by his harp hero Little Walter Jacobs and the records of Jimmy Reed and Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller).

Cutting his teeth playing the Louisiana clubs with Big John Jackson and Guitar Gable, Lester eventually met Lightnin' Slim riding on a bus, and tagged along with Slim to a session at Jay Miller's Modern Music recording studio in Crowley, LA. When the harmonica player scheduled for Slim's session failed to show, Lester volunteered his talents, initiating a fertile creative relationship with Miller that helped pioneer the Louisiana swamp music style.

In addition to cutting such seminal numbers of his own as "I'm Gonna Leave You, Baby," "Strange Days," "You're Gonna Ruin Me Baby," "I'm So Glad," "Sugar Coated Love," "I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter" and "I Hear You Knockin'" for Miller's Excello Records, Lester was a prolific session player on records by such fellow blues legends as Slim Harpo, Lightnin' Slim, Katie Webster, Carol Fran, Lonesome Sundown and Tabby Thomas. He also proved his musical versatility on R&B, Cajun, country, zydeco and rock'n'roll recordings at Miller's studio.

Although his guitar and harmonica talents were featured on many Modern sessions, Lester excelled as a percussionist, not only playing drums, washboard and woodblocks, but almost anything that was handy - cardboard boxes, rolled-up newspapers, bottles, and even banging on the studio wall. It was his innovative approach to rhythm that helped develop the distinctive Louisiana swamp music sound.

It was also at Modern where he was dubbed "Lazy Lester" by Miller for his low-key yet deliberate approach to the tasks at hand. Says Lester, "Whatever I do, I like to take my time and do it right."

Throughout the late-1950s until the mid-1960s, Lester recorded at Excello and toured with Lightnin' Slim. He also kept busy with such day jobs as working construction, lumberjacking and truck driving, proving himself anything but lazy. In 1966, Lester quit the music scene, and in 1968 moved to Chicago, where he worked for Greyhound Van Lines and Capitol Furniture Co., and on occasion jammed in the South Side blues joints. By 1970 he had tired of the cold Chicago winters and returned to Louisiana.

In the years that followed, Lester made a few rare appearances at blues festivals, and in 1975 relocated to Detroit, where he worked in the auto industry. But in 1987, he was coaxed out of retirement to cut the album Lazy Lester Rides Again in the U.K. with the young English blues band Blues N' Trouble for Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label, winning the '87 W.C. Handy award for Best Contemporary Blues Album - Foreign Release.

That same year, he made his first appearance at the legendary Antone's nightclub in Austin, making friends with such devoted fans as Kim Wilson and Jimmie Vaughan. He also began a long relationship with Clifford Antone - who says of Lester, "He ain't lazy, he's just crazy" - which eventually led to Lester's signing with Antone's Records.

Since cutting the critically-acclaimed Harp & Soul (which featured Kenny Neal on guitar) for Alligator Records in 1988, Lazy Lester has kept busy touring North America, Europe, Australia and even the Caribbean, thrilling blues fans around the world with his distinctive swamp blues style. Now, with All Over You, his first new album in 10 years, Lazy Lester demonstrates once again that, despite his nickname, he's anything but idle, proving himself one of the most exciting and distinctive blues artists making music today.

Albums by artist:
All Over You
Blues Stop Knockin'

Listen:
To listen to sample tracks, click the album of choice above.

Artist's Links:
All Music
Lester's Tour Dates