Sat. Oct. 22   

 This year, Amos Lee had a July 4th unlike any other.
    The 33-year-old Philadelphian was invited to play a 15-minute set on the South Lawn at the White House in front of President Barack Obamacq and 1200 troops and military families. It was the third annual Salute to the Military USO Concert.
     “It was one of those surreal moments in life,” Lee said, on the phone from his hometown. “It was mind-boggling to be playing at the White House and hanging out inside, where every president has lived and walked around in their underwear.” 
    When Lee met Obama, he said his first thought was to ask, “’Does this seem surreal to you, too? When did this sink in that you’re the president of the United States and you’re living in the White House all of a sudden?’”
    So, what did Lee actually say?
    “I was totally tongue-tied,” Lee said, with a laugh. “He shook my hand and said, ‘Where you from?’ I said ‘Philly’ and he said, ‘Oh man, you guys have some good pitchers.’ Now I can talk about baseball for days and days and days. And I just kind of like nodded and walked away. I walked out of the room, going ‘Dammit, I just had a chance to talk baseball with the President! I know this team, I know what they’re all about.’ I’ve always been that way. I always think of the right thing to say 20 minutes later.”
   Aside from muffing his chance to talk Phillies with the President, it’s been a very good year for Lee. The soulful, blusey singer-songwriter’s fourth album, “Mission Bell,” entered the Billboard chart at No. 1 in January. He’s been touring steadily and plays his second Boston date of the year Saturday Oct. 22 at House of Blues with his seven-piece band.
     “It was definitely a surprise,” Lee says of the CD’s success. “We didn’t really have huge commercial aspirations for the record. You can’t plan to have that kind of stuff and you can’t expect it, but when it happens, enjoy it.”
   The album, produced by Calexico’s Joey Burns, features vocal collaborations with Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams and Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam, among others. Lee’s honeyed voice takes you through ruminative, mostly mellow songs that blend country, soul and rock. There’s joy in “Flower” and “Stay With Me,” more darkness and doubt in “Violin” and “Jesus.”
    “I know while I was writing it that it was a time of reflection,” Lee said. “For the other records, I didn’t’ really have a lot of time to sit around and think about what I was doing. It was more staying on the road and writing songs between shows and making the record as soon as you were off the last tour.”
    “This one, I thought out a little bit more and wanted to make sure the song cycle was a little bit tighter. And all the songs came from the same basic timeframe of my life. There’s a theme of figuring things out. You’re never going to have it all figured out, but just putting the pieces together, part of the puzzle.”
    Lee said the songs on “Mission Bell,” are, like most of his, drawn from a mix of what happens to him and what he sees.
    “There’s always some kind of 50/50 thing,” he said. “I obviously like to write stuff that I’m feeling and is about me, but I also find a lot of inspiration in other people’s stories - more so than mine for the most part. I like to observe people. I have a great deal of respect for people and the hardship that they face. I’m someone who’s been given a lot of love in my life and I try to view humanity with that same feeling.” (This story is an expanded version and variant of what ran Friday Oct. 21 in the Boston Herald, www.bostonherald.com.) The photo? That's of my niece Deborah Yarchun, me, Amos and my wife Roza taken at the Lowell Summer Music Series last year.
Pieta Brown opens. It’s an early show, doors at 7.  Tickets: $28-$40.

15 Lansdowne St., 888-693-2583 www.houseofblues.com