Lee Totten
Street Sounds
Downtown Hartford
September 17, 2026
I was certain that Lee Totten’s outdoor performance in downtown Hartford was going to be canceled. Turns out I was half right.
A sporadic mist was falling when Totten began his hour-long set on the corner of Main Street and Asylum Avenue. That didn’t stop a few people from gathering around the blue tent protecting the electronics from the elements.
Totten himself barely acknowledged the weather. He was too busy telling us the story of how the Bay County criminal justice system helped him write the song “Panama City”:
Well I stood there in place, not sure what I’d done
Did she think I had meth or maybe a gun?
Turns out anywhere in Florida, those two things are just fine
But a drink on the beach is a serious crime
His storytelling style is inspired by the music he grew up with from artists such as Arlo Guthrie, Todd Snider and Jimmy Buffett. While Totten described his songs as “depressing,” I don’t think that’s quite right. Totten’s music is more of a reckoning with the totality of life.
Events that occur in our daily lives can be humorous, frustrating, dangerous, boring, ludicrous, and hopeful, all at the same time. Totten can disarm the audience with his musical approach, then broach all of those feelings through his storytelling.
The result isn’t catharsis, but more of a “Yeah, it be like that” kind of feeling. There’s a ton of value in that, in hearing someone tell a story that doesn’t end in triumphant victory or heartbreaking loss. The vast majority of our lives can be summed up with “That was kinda funny” or “That kinda sucked.” Or both, honestly. It sucks to get put on probation for drinking on a beach, but it’s also kind of funny.
The concert itself is the perfect example. Friends, I love my job, but I wouldn’t be doing it in the rain if I didn’t have people who rely on me. It be like that sometimes. But my reward for enduring the vicissitudes of life was the chance to enjoy an awesome concert.
Well, half of an awesome concert. You can see organizer Chip McCabe (one of the hardest working people in Hartford, by the way) call off the rest of the show, as by the end of Totten’s awesome tribute to Jimmy Buffet, I was the only person left enduring the rain.
A great time under less than ideal circumstances is the essence of Lee Totten’s music. He would say that while we only got half a concert, at least we got the good half. His love of story and the humor that radiates from him can brighten up even the grayest of days– but it can’t stop the rain.
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Jamil goes to check out the salsa social before summer ends.
