Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots’ was a six-piece dark gothic country band with mostly stringed instruments. According to a Munly fansite, the band was active between 2000 and 2006. However, there are concert videos on YouTube that were recorded in February 2007. They also made an appearance at Westword’s Denver Music Showcase in June 2007.
Besides Munly (vocals, banjo, guitar), the original ‘Lee Lewis Harlots’ were: Elin Palmer (violin, nyckelharpa, string arrangements), Frieda Stalheim (violin), and Rebecca Vera (cello). Paul Bradley (upright bass), and Jeff Linsenmaier (drums) were later additions. Jay Shewman replaced Paul Bradley on bass some time in 2007. Some members have also contributed backing vocals.
In July 2006, Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots was voted the best band in Colorado by over 100 music experts in the Denver Post Underground Music Poll.
Their only album, Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots, has received much critical acclaim. The original album was initially released in August 2004 through Alternative Tentacles. A combined CD/DVD double-album was released in October 2004 as a joint release between Alternative Tentacles and Smooch Records. It came with additional features such as: the original album in surround sound, three additional bonus tracks, lyrics read by Munly, and photos of the band. Of the three bonus tracks, only one is a previously unreleased Harlots track: “Rufus Wainwright, I’m Coming After You”. The album was re-released on vinyl in August 2013 through the label Pesanta Urfolk. It contained a booklet of lyrics and updated cover art by Benjamin A. Vierling.
They recorded a dark gothic country version of “Everyone Is Guilty #2” for the Smooch Records compilation album, Crossbreeding Begins At Home (2004). It would later become an ‘Auto Club’ song, released on Cipher in 2008.
“Amen Corner”, from their self-titled record, was featured on another Smooch Records compilation, Radio 1190: Local Shakedown, Vol. 2 (2004), and “Old Service Road” was featured on the Alternative Tentacles compilation album, Sonic Terror Surge 2007.
