RAW POWER: Lee Cleaveland & The Lefthand Band bring Detroit to Mac’s

For those searching for Motor City-made rock ‘n’ roll this weekend, a drive to Detroit is unnecessary because Lee Cleaveland & The Lefthand Band is rolling into town.

The high-octane outfit plays Mac’s Bar Friday (April 7), along with openers Corduroy Pants, In a Daydream and Clipboards. 

Like many bands from Detroit’s illustrious musical past, Lee Cleaveland & The Lefthand Band combines raucous energy with blasts of infectious hooks. The result is a diverse, well-crafted hybrid sound that blends ’60s, surf and folk rock. 

Born missing his left arm below the elbow, Cleaveland is a congenital amputee often equipped with a mind-controlled bionic prosthetic. (Be sure to check out his Stooges-esque “Cyborg Man” video on YouTube.) His tenacity, detailed in his 2017 TEDx talk, is unquestionable. 

“It’s definitely given me a different approach to problem-solving and the way I approach any task,” Cleaveland told City Pulse in 2018. “I don’t take myself too seriously and just have fun with it. At first, guitar was definitely tough. I thought, ‘How am I going to do that?’ A lot of people didn’t think I could, either.”

Cleaveland began performing under his own name in the summer of 2017. Back then, he mostly played tunes with his guitar and harmonica at “biker bars and punk basements.” By April 2018, he added a full band for his set at Stoopfest, Lansing’s DIY music festival. Afterward, the band stayed together and played five shows at the Traverse City Film Festival, opening for filmmaker and co-founder Michael Moore. 

Today, the band has grown into a five-piece with the additions of a lead guitarist and saxophonist — though Cleaveland has no problem covering many bases on his own. As a touring and session musician, he plays 10 instruments, often leaning toward his guitar, trumpet and bass. Over the last eight years, he’s worked everywhere from gritty clubs to musical theater orchestra pits. As a singer-songwriter, his music has been heard in feature films, independent shorts, plays and podcasts. 

The band’s self-titled EP, released independently in April 2019, was recorded by Mark Stewart at Raydon Studio in Keego Harbor. Since then, the band has gigged extensively throughout Michigan, the Midwest and the East Coast.

Outside of music, Cleaveland also juggles work as a filmmaker, actor and stage manager. He graduated from Michigan State University in spring 2018, double majoring in acting and media and information and minoring in musical theater. But, come Friday night at Mac’s Bar, it’ll be all about rock ‘n’ roll. 

For more information, visit facebook.com/leebcleaveland.