Brandon Gauthier approached his online search for a band partner with the practicality of a Craigslist veteran. His priority heading into a public meet-up with Ross Krutsinger, then still a stranger, was simply to avoid getting stabbed.

In his wildest dreams, though, Gauthier hoped to find a compatible musician “interested in jamming,” writing original songs and playing rock covers. He longed to breathe fresh air into a talent he’d honed privately for years, cloistered in the music room at the Derryfield School where he works as the Manchester private school’s director of global education.

That’s when lightning struck.

In September of 2023, the men’s first encounter turned into a spontaneous Tom Petty tribute at Livingston Park, drawing a mesmerized crowd like crumbs to sidewalk ants. LEE & DR. G was born. Since then, the genre-blending band, which bills itself as “stunningly live,” has brought its electrifying performances to music venues across New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It is becoming a New Hampshire cultural export to keep your eyes — and ears — on.

In fact, Krutsinger, the other half of LEE & DR. G, has a local highway exit sign to thank for his stage name: Lee Durham. That fact and the curious discovery that Krutsinger had toured on a cruise ship during his decades-long music career were both, until recently, news to his bandmate. The band and its members have a relatively short history together but that reality has never hindered their craft. Each practice and long-haul drive to the next gig strengthens the bond of friendship that’s come to underpin Gauthier and Krutsinger’s musical partnership, which has been seamless and complementary from the start.

With band originals, Gauthier composes riffs and shapes their themes; Krutsinger writes lyrics. While Krutsinger said Gauthier’s “technical experience dwarfs” his own, he can play by feel. Whereas Gauthier prefers listening to heavier psychedelic rock, Krutsinger’s more of a funk, jazz and R&B man.

Together, Lee and Dr. G broaden one another’s musical awareness, and so far, their experiment has worked.

Already, they’ve written 12 original songs, like Baby Wants Me Gone, the ballad of a scorned traveler trying desperately “to turn this love train around.” They regularly perform eight of these compositions live and they’re currently scoping out studios where they hope to record an LP by the end of 2025. On stage they adapt head-banging classics from musical influences as diverse as Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Police and John Coltrane. Last summer, they played the Bank of New Hampshire stage during the Granite State Blues Challenge. This August, they’re booked for the Londonderry Annual Blues Festival.

With each gig, the project builds momentum. Krutsinger, whose previous music career gave him experience playing in 10 bands at once, six times a week and teaching as many as 40 students, knows that an album simply “captures a snapshot in time of the music. A song is never finished, it just gets released.” The real metric for LEE & DR. G’s accelerating success is the audience reaction.

“If someone comes up to you after the gig and they’re like ‘wow,’ that’s what we’re after,” Gauthier said.

None of their success comes effortlessly.

Gauthier and Krutsinger, an intellectual property attorney in Manchester, both work day jobs and have families to care for. A refrain often repeated in Gauthier’s home, “Don’t wake the baby,” has even made it into one of LEE & DR. G’s songs.

“When you’re exceptionally busy, it forces you to be exceptionally efficient with the time you have,” said Gauthier. “When we’re together, we’ve both worked all day, but we’re hyper-focused on LEE & DR. G.”

The secret ingredient responsible for keeping the band alive is what both Gauthier and Krutsinger describe as their “shared intensity,” a commitment Gauthier encapsulated, saying, “I think we’re pretty good, but we want to be great.”

LEE & DR. G’s next gig is on Friday, April 18, at Ledge Brewing in Intervale. For more information about upcoming shows, visit www.leedrg.co.

Rebeca Pereira can be reached at rpereira@cmonitor.com