Jimmie Tee and The Darts

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Jimmie Tee and the Darts

Jimmie Tee & the Darts is a studio production of, with two exceptions, two musicans, Jeff Covert and Jim Lawrence

Jeff is the owner/operator of Wally Cleaver's Recording in Fredericksburg. He is an outstanding producer and one of Fredricksburg's finest musicians. His skills are prominently on display on Afternoons at Wally's as he plays all the drum, bass, lead electric and guitar parts as well as shakers, tambourine, guiro, hand claps and other percussion parts. He helped put finishing writing touches on Different Drummer.

Jim is a lifetime singer and sometimes songwriter, having sung rock, folk, church music and completed a stint in the tenor section of The Fredericksburg Singers, the Mary Washington Community-College choral ensemble. Besides writing five of nine songs on the project, he provides all vocals on the recording and plays Rhythm electric and acoustic guitar, piano as well as tambourine, handclaps and other various percussion instruments.

Jeff Covert (l.) and Jim Lawrence (r.)

Afternoons at Wally's

Afternoons at Wally's was recorded, mixed and mastered at Wally Cleaver's by Jeff Covert from 2022-2024.

Original songs were in the style of 1970s commercial rock songs.

"In my teens the Beach Boys, Beatles, Music Machine, Love and countless others were part of the very fabric of my life. In the seventies the frustration of failed relationships, a bad job and other factors presented me with more challenges than I was prepared for. Three things were with me the whole time: family, friends and music. And for that reason, the music of that period still resonates deeply with me."

Traditional tunes The St. James Infirmary and I'm Workin' on a Building are augmented heavily with Jeff's accompaniment and solo work on slide and electric baritone guitars. His skillful work and production permeates the entire project.

Featured also, is Jessica Marschall'a beautiful piano accompaniment on She'll Never Hear This Song.

The late Vivienne Lawrence, Jim's mom, is caught riffing on Duke Ellington on a homemade recording done at her home in 1980.

The name of the band was suggested by Rod Cannon, a friend of Jim's, in about 1970, partly as a joke (Jimmie Tee being short for James Thomas - he drove a Dodge Dart). Jim took a fancy to it and finally found a use for it!