[bright piano intro] - [Female Announcer]: Christie Lenee is a singer songwriter and renowned finger style guitarist.

She has won multiple awards and recognition for her unique style of playing.

Coming up next on "Echo Sessions."

[bright acoustic guitar music] ♪ On the wheels of love we'll roam ♪ ♪ It's a Subie thing ♪ ♪ - [Male Announcer]: Echo Sessions is made possible by Prestige Subaru.

[upbeat jazzy rock] ♪ [rhythmic thudding] - I know you guys might be watching from, I don't know, somewhere else other than Asheville, but maybe we can all clap together and find a little bit of synergy.

Feels good to clap.

Maybe you can get up and dance a little bit.

I feel like we all need to dance just a little bit more and we'll be happier people.

One, two, one, two, three, four.

[bright country music] ♪ I'm a passenger on planet Earth ♪ ♪ I belong to the universe ♪ ♪ Got a body made of flesh and bones ♪ ♪ Got a pass and I'm free to roam ♪ ♪ Climb the stairs, make my way to the stars above ♪ ♪ I'm a member in the state of love ♪ ♪ Ooh yeah ♪ ♪ I am moving at the speed of light ♪ ♪ Got a ticket to paradise ♪ ♪ All alone on these heavenly streets ♪ ♪ I see your light shining back at me ♪ ♪ All my brothers and sisters gather here ♪ ♪ My heart is open and my mind is clear ♪ ♪ I'm one of seven billion pretty white lights here spinning ♪ ♪ Moving in circles 'round the sun ♪ ♪ I am the sea, the mountain ♪ ♪ I am the here, the now ♪ ♪ And I'm in every grain of sand ♪ ♪ I am a free world citizen ♪ ♪ Ooh yeah ♪ ♪ A free world citizen ♪ ♪ I'm a passenger on planet Earth ♪ ♪ I belong to the universe ♪ ♪ Got a body made of flesh and bones ♪ ♪ Got a pass and I'm free to roam ♪ ♪ Climb the stairs, make my way to the stars above ♪ ♪ I'm a senator in the state of love ♪ ♪ I'm one of seven billion pretty white lights here spinning ♪ ♪ Moving in circles round the sun ♪ ♪ I am the sea, the mountain ♪ ♪ I am the here, the now ♪ ♪ And I'm in every grain of sand ♪ ♪ I am a free world citizen ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ A free world citizen ♪ ♪ I'm in a world without borders ♪ ♪ Breaking through law and order ♪ ♪ I am in a woman in a free land ♪ ♪ Free world citizen ♪ ♪ I'm one of seven billion pretty white lights here spinning ♪ ♪ Moving in circles round the sun ♪ ♪ I am the sea, the mountain ♪ ♪ I am the here, the now ♪ ♪ And I'm in every grain of sand ♪ ♪ I am a free world citizen ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Free world citizen ♪ Chris Rosser, why don't you play a little?

Oh, sounds so nice!

♪ I'm one of seven billion pretty white lights here spinning ♪ ♪ Moving in circles round the sun ♪ ♪ I am the sea, the mountain ♪ ♪ I am the here, the now ♪ ♪ And I'm in every grain of sand ♪ ♪ I am a free world citizen ♪ ♪ Free world citizen ♪ ♪ Free world citizen ♪ ♪ Come on, free world citizen ♪ ♪ Rise up, free world citizen ♪ ♪ We are free world citizens ♪ ♪ Oh come on now, free world citizen ♪ ♪ Rise up, free world citizen ♪ ♪ We are free world citizens ♪ Keep it going now, that feels good!

♪ Come on now, free world citizen ♪ ♪ Rise up, free world citizen ♪ ♪ We are free world citizens ♪ ♪ Come on now, free world citizen ♪ ♪ Rise up, free world citizen ♪ ♪ We are free world citizens ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four ♪ [Christie laughing] Thank you guys so much.

That's Chris Rosser on the piano.

In 2017, I was entered into the International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship and my manager at the time said, "Oh, I've entered you "into the International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship!"

And I was like, "Oh, wow, that sounds really cool.

"Where's that?"

And she's like, "Kansas!"

"The International Fingerstyle "Guitar Championship's in Kansas?

"That's a little bit weird, okay."

And she says, "Oh yeah, you'll go and you'll win!"

And I was like, "I will?

"Okay, so who goes to this competition?"

She's like, "Oh, people come from all over the world.

"I've entered you, first you have to get in "and then you go and you compete.

"It goes down to the top 10, top five and two."

Anyway, I go to this thing and it was crazy because I didn't know what I was gonna play.

I did end up playing this song after lots of contemplation which is kind of the way of my crazy mind.

[laughs] "Hmm, what will I do?"

But this song is very significant to me because I wrote it probably 10 years ago and, I swear, I'm still trying to figure out how to play it.

This is actually written based off of a painting and the painting is called "Tableau Vivant".

It was done by my very good friend, Michael Pukac.

And he asked me to write the story of love and I was kind of like "The story of love.

"I need a little bit more information "about this particular story of love."

And so he said he wanted it to start out really playful and romantic and then move into this feeling of falling in love and there's going to be this sparkly moment and the sparkling moment is the moment of conception 'cause he wanted it also to be about motherhood.

As a side note, Michael is this really brilliant painter and he's got really curly hair and it gets really big sometimes when he's excited.

It's like his hair grows with his energy.

And he was like, "Yeah, "so there's gonna be this sparkly moment "and the sparkly moment is like the moment of conception."

He's like, "And then there's gonna be this big boom!

"And the big boom is the birth of the child!"

And he's like, "And then the rest of the song "is like this celebration of life.

"It's like maybe really fast.

"And it's just this victory!"

And my heart starts beating really fast and I'm like, "Michael, "how long does this song have to be?"

[laughs] And he's like "Three and a half minutes."

I'm like, "Okay, so I'm gonna go tell the story of love "and motherhood in three and a half minutes."

So I reworked the piece to perform at this competition and it has forever changed my life and my career.

So, thank you, Michael Pukac.

And thank you, Gina Mendello, for entering me into that competition.

And here we go, this is "Song for Michael Pukac".

I'll do my best to tell the story.

♪ It's a romantic thunderous night ♪ This is the part where you're not sure if you should date this person or not.

And then you finally say yes.

[relieved sigh] During quarantine, I wrote this song thinking about the inner wild in me and this experience of wanting to get back out into the world.

So here we are back out in the world at Echo Mountain Studios, ready to rock.

This is called "Coming Alive".

One, two, three.

♪ I've got a feeling deep inside ♪ ♪ I'm coming, coming alive ♪ ♪ Deep in this body of water ♪ ♪ There's a tide taking me on a ride ♪ ♪ I'm coming alive ♪ ♪ Coming alive ♪ ♪ I've got a feeling ♪ ♪ I've set my sights out to the open road ♪ ♪ This is survival out in the wild ♪ ♪ My greatest teacher, she lives inside ♪ ♪ Coming alive ♪ ♪ I won't live in fear, I am a dreamer ♪ ♪ Following the leader ♪ ♪ She lives inside ♪ ♪ I'm seeing clearly through all this haze ♪ ♪ Ready to go ♪ ♪ Into the open road ♪ ♪ Out 'til the sun sets and maybe I'll find love ♪ ♪ Can't stop dreaming, it's so close that I can touch ♪ ♪ Holding my heart here, setting my speed ♪ ♪ There is a tide taking over me ♪ ♪ Feel the light coming down from the moon ♪ ♪ Shine on, I am ready to move ♪ ♪ Got a feeling deep inside ♪ ♪ I'm coming alive ♪ ♪ Through the ocean of endless dreams ♪ ♪ Rise up with possibilities ♪ ♪ Keeping hope in my heart ♪ ♪ I'm coming alive ♪ ♪ On my journey, I'm feeling seen here ♪ ♪ Open my eyes now to the open road ♪ ♪ This is survival out in the wild ♪ ♪ My greatest teacher, she lives inside ♪ ♪ Out 'til the sun sets, maybe I'll find grace ♪ ♪ Can't stop dreaming of the stories we'll embrace ♪ ♪ Holding my heart here, setting my speed ♪ ♪ There is a tide taking over me ♪ ♪ Feel the light coming down from the moon ♪ ♪ Shine on, I am ready to move ♪ ♪ Got a feeling deep inside ♪ ♪ I'm coming alive ♪ ♪ Through the ocean of endless dreams ♪ ♪ Rise up with possibilities ♪ ♪ Keeping hope in my heart ♪ ♪ I'm coming alive, yeah ♪ ♪ Coming alive ♪ [upbeat jazzy rock] ♪ ♪ On the wheels of love we'll roam ♪ ♪ It's a Subie thing ♪ ♪ - [Male Announcer]: Echo Sessions is made possible by Prestige Subaru.