Levi’s gospel-rich vocals have found their way forward in previous recordings, along with his church-inspired piano style, and has defined some of his best known songs. An East Tennessee native, Levi spent his youth mimicking the piano style of southern gospel music and idolizing men like Ray Charles who brought that sound to the mainstream. But Kreis (pronounced krice) confesses that everything he knows, he learned from one of Ray’s younger peers, Little Miss Dynamite, Brenda Lee. Traveling on her tour bus and studying her genius on stage and off, Kreis adopted Lee’s strong work ethic and classy reputation. But it was Brenda’s ability to have an audience in the palm of her hand that Kreis sought to make his own. By all accounts, Kreis succeeded. To this day Lee confesses, “I taught him everything he knows!”