Joseph Christian Wiles

Joseph Christian Wiles, 73, passed away on Sunday, October 20, 2024 at Ohio Hospice of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio following a short illness. Born February 17, 1951 in Huntington WV, Joe moved to Oakwood, OH with his family in 1961. He attended Oakwood City Schools, and following graduation from Oakwood High School in 1969, he attended Ohio University where he received his BA in Liberal Studies in 1973.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents, V. Kirk Wiles and Barbara Scherr Wiles Thomas, his stepfather, Alexander Brast Thomas, and his older sister, Juliette Kirkpatrick Wiles. He is survived by his sister, Lisa Wiles Raser of Oakwood, OH, brother, Kirk (Carole) Wiles of Huntsville, AL, his daughter, Hannah Calhoun of Oakwood, OH, and his nephews John (Ingrid) Gorrell, Chris (Janene) Gorrell, Patrick (Aeriel) Wiles, and Philip Wiles.

Many people who knew Joe called him by his stage name, Sleepy Joe Lee. As the youngest of four siblings in a musical household, Joe knew he wanted to be a musician at an early age. His early recollection was that his brother brought home the Ray Charles album, What’d I Say, and the dye was cast. Then, when his older sister taught him a few chords on her guitar, he commandeered his brother’s guitar and taught himself to play. He played in several bands in high school and college and after college graduation he made a stab as a sound engineer. Joe soon realized he wanted to be on “the other side of the glass,” and following a stint with a local blues band as well as playing solo gigs, he put together a recording session. However, caring for his aging parents along with a near-fatal bout with pneumonia that resulted in kidney failure put the project on hold. A subsequent diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis meant not touching a guitar for over two years.

After keyboard player Jimmy D. Rogers covered a couple of Sleepy Joe Lee tunes and a California band, Ray and the Detonators, included eight Sleepy Joe Lee tunes on one of their CDs, Joe was inspired to revisit the tracks that would eventually yield the long delayed debut CD, Free Air, in 2010 with Sleepy Joe Lee on lead guitar and vocals. Joe’s creativity as a singer, songwriter and guitar player was evident from the beginning. Not only did he write his own songs, but he also wrote adaptations of others. Shortly after Free Air debuted, Sleepy Joe’s rock arrangement of “Every Now and Then,” Queen Ida Guillory’s zydeco tune, was included on the German magazine, Wasser-Prawde, Download Sampler 3 compilation. 

In 2016, Sleepy Joe Lee released his second CD, Open Late, on his own AaRD Records label which included a rendition of Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done.” This CD was a collaboration with musician, arranger, sound engineer Phil Mehaffey in which the two played all the parts with the exception of three tunes off the earlier Free Air CD. All tracks were laid down at Mahaffey’s Cyberteknics Creative Recording studio using the custom Electrodyne board that Mehaffey acquired from Philadelphia’s iconic Sigma Sound Studio.

Sleepy Joe’s music style has been referred to as “roots rock,” retro country rock, blues and “blues infused rock.” Whatever you want to call it, the music is lively, original, and from the heart. Sleepy Joe’s memory will live on in his music.

A memorial service to honor Sleepy Joe will be held on Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 12:00PM with a reception to follow at Routsong Funeral Home, 2100 E. Stroop Road, Kettering, OH 45429.