Lee T. Baker helps shape Red Bull Jukebox Nashville's sound
© Courtesy of Lee T. Baker
Music

Lee T. Baker on building a one-night-only Red Bull Jukebox setlist

After nearly 300 shows as Max McCown's guitarist, Lee T. Baker talks about music directing Red Bull Jukebox Nashville and arranging fan-voted songs into a night that can't be repeated.
By Keith Nelson Jr
6 min readPublished on

Part of this story

Red Bull Jukebox

Max McNown headlines Red Bull Jukebox Nashville on November 7, 2026, a one-night-only country music concert where fans vote on songs, performance styles, and surprise moments.

United StatesThe Pinnacle, United States
View Event Info

Summary

  1. 1
    How Lee T. Baker became Red Bull Jukebox Nashville's music director
  2. 2
    What goes into directing a Red Bull Jukebox performance
  3. 3
    How fan voting shapes the Red Bull Jukebox setlist
  4. 4
    Preparing Max McCown, Cassidy Daniels and Kameron Marlowe
  5. 5
    Building a one-night-only Red Bull Jukebox Nashville setlist
By the very nature of a show like Red Bull Jukebox, where a heartfelt ode to persevering in an unforgiving world like Max McCown’s “World Change Me” can be transformed into a triumphant anthem with a string quartet or a choir voted on by fans, only a musician skilled in translating visions into art, regardless of genre, can serve as the music director. Lee T Baker, McCown’s longtime guitarist, has played with classically trained Puerto Rican pianists known as Los Tres Pianistas, designed Alanna Springsteen’s show, and worked in churches as everything from a creative director to a worship pastor for 20 years. And he’s the perfect person for the job.
Red Bull Jukebox is returning to Nashville, with McCown joined by fellow Country stars Cassidy Daniels and Kameron Marlowe at The Pinnacle on November 7. Fans have voted on new versions of songs they want to hear, and those in attendance can also vote on new additions to the setlist during the concert.
Fans will shape the show when Red Bull Jukebox returns to Nashville

Fans will shape the show when Red Bull Jukebox returns to Nashville

© Red Bull

Baker will be responsible for gluing this mosaic of sound into an unforgettable night, so we spoke with him about the life experiences and music arrangements that go into putting on a show of this magnitude.
01

How Lee T. Baker became Red Bull Jukebox Nashville's music director

What about your musical journey led you to becoming Max’s guitarist and Red Bull Jukebox Nashville’s music director?

Lee T. Baker: My dad played guitar around the house when I was younger. I got interested, and that led me to play a lot in church as a kid. I ended up in a few garage bands, figuring out music for years in high school and college. Then started working at churches as a creative director, music director, and worship pastor at different levels for 20 years. I played regularly while also working with gear companies as a side man for certain events outside my normal job. Then I started a firm where I coach and consult for creative firms and independent creatives. That meant I ended up working with a lot of artists in that realm, and even started doing a lot of music for TV and film. A film director friend of mine in Atlanta was shooting McCown's first couple of music videos and had me play in them.

I met Max and his management, and we hit it off. A few months later, they were putting together a live band, and he asked me if I wanted to be involved. I said yes, and here we are almost 300 shows later. The first full band show was in May 2024. I started just playing guitar for Max, and now I’ve been the music director for the last year or so.
02

What goes into directing a Red Bull Jukebox performance

As a music director, you have to make sure the whole show is running seamlessly. How has your deep music knowledge allowed you to be able to do that?

You want to make sure that, first and foremost, it’s about the artist. The artist has to be comfortable, and they have to feel the music. Is the music arranged and the band playing in a way that inspires the artist? We're fortunate to work with great monitor engineers and people on the production side who make that stuff work.

But as a band and an MD, our main focus is whether the artist is digging what we’re doing. Do they like how the songs are developed? Are they cool with the dynamic? Are they cool with the instrumentation? Sometimes we try to replicate exactly what happens on the record because that's what the artists like. Sometimes they want the live show to be different. So, you’re trying to take energy from the song and translate that through the tools you have live. Our band that plays with Max every night are pros. They're amazing. The house band at the Red Bull Jukebox event is top-tier industry pros.

Any examples of how you’ve translated a record live using your extensive knowledge of gear?

Max has a song we play every night called “World Change Me.” That song has a few layers of instruments on it that we were like, “How do we replicate this live?” One of the instruments on it was a 12-string guitar. But we needed a little bit more energy than just a 12-string acoustic guitar. So I ran that acoustic guitar through a direct-in source like a normal acoustic guitar. But I'm also routing it through amps and using a different routing pathway than I normally would. It gave the song the right energy.

03

How fan voting shapes the Red Bull Jukebox setlist

Lee T. Baker prepares fan-voted songs for Red Bull Jukebox

Lee T. Baker prepares fan-voted songs for Red Bull Jukebox

© Courtesy of Lee T. Baker

Quotation
We may find out what we're playing right when you guys find out live in the room
Lee T. Baker

What were some custom versions of songs fans were able to choose from?

Playing songs with a string quartet, with some horns, they also get to choose live in the room between something from Max’s older catalog of his first album and stuff like that. We may find out what we’re playing right when you guys find it out live in the room.

04

Preparing Max McCown, Cassidy Daniels and Kameron Marlowe

You’ve spent a lot of time with Max’s music before becoming the music director of this event. What has it been like working with Cassidy and Kameron?

Before this, I had heard a little bit of Kameron's music. I hadn't heard any of Cassidy's music before this event. Cassidy's record is amazing. Kameron's music is amazing. Working with them has been seamless. They're professionals. They've provided all sorts of resources, clarity and real vision for what songs they want to do and things they want to do that night. I’m stoked to play these songs.

05

Building a one-night-only Red Bull Jukebox Nashville setlist

Have you already come up with the setlists for the shows?

Yeah, the setlists are really close, except maybe for a couple of the songs voted by fans. We’ll be prepared for whatever the fans vote on. So far, the setlist development has been great. We're really excited about it. We'll have some rehearsal leading up that week to the event. Now, we’re just finalizing that sort of stuff and then creating all the resources that the band and the production staff will need.

People are buying tickets for this event, and there are songs they definitely want to hear. So, we’re going to do “Better Me For You (Brown Eyes)” and “A Lot More Free” from Max’s side. All three acts have new records. We've got a lot that we want to accomplish in the setlist, but the goal of the night is to create an event that is something that, if you want to experience it, you better be there because we'll do songs that night that may never be done that exact way ever again. That's the theme of the setlist and the show.

Part of this story

Red Bull Jukebox

Max McNown headlines Red Bull Jukebox Nashville on November 7, 2026, a one-night-only country music concert where fans vote on songs, performance styles, and surprise moments.

United StatesThe Pinnacle, United States
View Event Info
Music