Steve Allain

Providence folk singer Steve Allain’s previous full length album, thirteen, contains some pretty intimate lyrics on the opener “My Father’s Only Son”: “Our hands were shadowed by the dirt/we pulled the life out of the ground just to re-seed her.”

Like most musicians and fans, Steve’s love of music started early on at home. He grew up in a house filled with the sounds of George Jones, Hank Williams and Elvis Presley. When his grandmother died he inherited her collection of vintage doo-wop and Chubby Checker. Later, when his family moved to New Brunswick, Canada his cousins, aunts and uncles would play and sing at family gatherings and young Steve would record hours of it and listen back later on. “This is when the seeds got planted in my head,” he says.

Steve tends to shy away from straight storytelling in his songs, leaning more towards stream of consciousness or “aural collage” as he calls it. On “Good For You,” he paints a striking vignette: “Behind the wheel of an old junked car/Filter what you say to me/I’ve got a secret.” And later on: “The sun bears down like sinner’s guilt.” Lately Steve has been trying more storytelling songs with fictional characters and events. “It’s always interesting to challenge yourself as a songwriter and try new approaches so you don’t fall into repetitive predictability.”

A highlight of Steve Allain’s impressive country folk is his incredible guitar playing. Great finger-picked runs and gently plucked chords and patterns underscore a stark simplicity in many of his songs; he makes it look easy but it most assuredly is not. Take the album closer, the gorgeous “Nocturne no.1,” a beautiful example of cascading classical guitar work like none other I’ve heard from a local musician.

This year Steve has embarked on a new project. Not content with simply writing and recording the traditional full length album, with its long gestation and recording period and even longer gaps between releases, Steve has decided to record and release several singles throughout 2013 in an homage to the old singles he grew up with, complete with “A” and “B” sides. The first of these is “Evergreen” backed with “The Sea.” “Evergreen” is a bittersweet love letter to New England winters and the heartbreak they inevitably precipitate. Its most telling line is, “You and me well we could live together side by side/together for awhile.” It’s a nice little take on the impermanence of love, which sometimes changes with the seasons. “The Sea” takes things in an even darker direction with curious passages like, “We are your lepers who write all the great songs...” and “Don’t bury all of me, leave some for the sea.” The two songs form an absolutely beautiful couplet; I hope to hear more of these singles as they’re released throughout the year.

Steve Allain can be found at the Saturday Songwriter Sessions, which he hosts biweekly at The Brooklyn Coffee and Tea House. His previous albums, the current single and future singles can be purchased at steveallain.com.

Providence Monthly - Eric Smith February 18, 2013
- Providence Monthly

Providence folk singer Steve Allain’s previous full length album, thirteen, contains some pretty intimate lyrics on the opener “My Father’s Only Son”: “Our hands were shadowed by the dirt/we pulled the life out of the ground just to re-seed her.”

Like most musicians and fans, Steve’s love of music started early on at home. He grew up in a house filled with the sounds of George Jones, Hank Williams and Elvis Presley. When his grandmother died he inherited her collection of vintage doo-wop and Chubby Checker. Later, when his family moved to New Brunswick, Canada his cousins, aunts and uncles would play and sing at family gatherings and young Steve would record hours of it and listen back later on. “This is when the seeds got planted in my head,” he says.

Steve tends to shy away from straight storytelling in his songs, leaning more towards stream of consciousness or “aural collage” as he calls it. On “Good For You,” he paints a striking vignette: “Behind the wheel of an old junked car/Filter what you say to me/I’ve got a secret.” And later on: “The sun bears down like sinner’s guilt.” Lately Steve has been trying more storytelling songs with fictional characters and events. “It’s always interesting to challenge yourself as a songwriter and try new approaches so you don’t fall into repetitive predictability.”

A highlight of Steve Allain’s impressive country folk is his incredible guitar playing. Great finger-picked runs and gently plucked chords and patterns underscore a stark simplicity in many of his songs; he makes it look easy but it most assuredly is not. Take the album closer, the gorgeous “Nocturne no.1,” a beautiful example of cascading classical guitar work like none other I’ve heard from a local musician.

This year Steve has embarked on a new project. Not content with simply writing and recording the traditional full length album, with its long gestation and recording period and even longer gaps between releases, Steve has decided to record and release several singles throughout 2013 in an homage to the old singles he grew up with, complete with “A” and “B” sides. The first of these is “Evergreen” backed with “The Sea.” “Evergreen” is a bittersweet love letter to New England winters and the heartbreak they inevitably precipitate. Its most telling line is, “You and me well we could live together side by side/together for awhile.” It’s a nice little take on the impermanence of love, which sometimes changes with the seasons. “The Sea” takes things in an even darker direction with curious passages like, “We are your lepers who write all the great songs...” and “Don’t bury all of me, leave some for the sea.” The two songs form an absolutely beautiful couplet; I hope to hear more of these singles as they’re released throughout the year.

Steve Allain can be found at the Saturday Songwriter Sessions, which he hosts biweekly at The Brooklyn Coffee and Tea House. His previous albums, the current single and future singles can be purchased at steveallain.com.

Providence Monthly - Eric Smith February 18, 2013
- Providence Monthly

North Providence’s singer-songwriter Steve Allain offers a lot of tender themes and flinty acoustic music on his new CD Thirteen. His themes are a roadmap of the human heart and his acoustic and electric sounds are the warm vibes that pull you into these tales. His rangy unique, emotive timbre projects a huge amount of feeling with only the slightest changes in dynamics and tempo.

“My Father’s Only Son” is Allain’s recollection of his father as a hearty but distant soul who met life’s challenges head on but wasn’t the most affectionate or attentive dad. Allain’s earthy, gritty delivery on vocals and acoustic guitar make this one a personal treasure. The longing in the look back comes to emotive life through Allain’s persistent strum, haunting background coo, and Brian Minisce’s edgy lead guitar phrase.

Allain’s “Good For You” is packed with feeling, his rippling acoustic guitar notes feel like a warm hand gently reaching out to pull the listener safely on board with him. Kate Jone’s backing vocal adds an extra touch of emotional layering with this second vocal texture.

“Spare Change” begins with a story about learning to swim for the first time during an emergency of falling off a boat. This sense of sink or swim on your own becomes a metaphor for a person who is overlooked by another. Allain’s forlorn vocal makes you envision his isolation from the person who takes him for granted. The acoustic and electric guitars weave the underlying emotion with brittle beauty and edgy self-restraint, making you feel his sense of being used only when he’s needed.

The chirpy, assertive up tempo number, “Crooked Shed” features Allain’s winsome near-belt approach in an endearing and entertaining light. He needs to get things off his chest and he ventilates to a rollicking, bumpy beat.

“Trouble And Heartache” gets a boost, once again, from his friend Kate Jones on co-lead vocal. Allain’s midi-sequenced cello accompaniment turns this whole number into a moody reflection, and the way the vocalists take turns baring their souls makes for one fulsome, heart rending number.

“My Days With You” features some of Allain’s nimblest guitar picking on this CD. He creates a feisty melodic backbone for his earthy, gritty vocal to swing and sway over. It’s his contrasts of flowing vocal phrase over sudden, spiky guitar notes that give weight here.

“Corner” features more of Allain’s nifty guitar work. He has ear catching chords shuffling coolly around. His voice gets feistier over his crackling guitars, almost shout-singing, and the song tackles his urgent need to find some urgency in his life.

“Dirty Little Town” is a quaint ditty about the secret sins of a small town. Allain plucks the melody at his own sweet time and the gentle unfurl is quite welcoming. His gritty chords etch themselves in the listener’s imagination, and his flinty vocal resonates with heart, soul, earnestness, allowing him to connect with his listeners on a deeply personal level.

“If Only (I Had Know)” is another to feature the silky timbre of co-lead vocalist Kate Jones. She makes this appearance as winsome as her previous ones. Her lovely lace of a voice creates the perfect contrast to Allain’s steely vocal. Allain’s acoustic guitar notes go on like a seamless work of art, those brittle notes each hitting their emotional target in their persistent tone. You don’t ever want this song to end.

“See No Evil” features longtime Rhode Island musician Bill Pratt who shows up to offer his mandolin and dobra picking skills, augmenting Allan’s impeccably clean, wholesome style. Both players flesh out this tune with vibrant melodic meaningfulness. Guitarist, Brian Minisce, chimes in with his icy cool electric edginess. After they weave this electric-acoustic texture, Allain offers another of his haunting vocals, the kind that echo in your imagination when you can really feel, in his voice, the man behind his lyrics.

Allain climbs up a mountain of hearty guitar chords on “To Love” while he and Jones take turns singing on this deep, moody reflection on a struggling relationship. Both singers sound anxious and angsty listing their gripes over a dark, sonorous, cello melody. It all comes together in a thickly woven cloth of thematic meaning: lonesome people baring their souls to one another inside the cold vacuum of a loveless home. It shows that there can still be beauty in the artistic rendering even when the topic is entirely sad.

Allain closes out with his technically challenging “Nocturne no 1,” a dark cry in the wilderness complete with an interval of crisp, forlorn acoustic guitar notes forming their intricate expression of pain. This tune eventually runs into some eerie, well-produced sound effects that make me wonder if Allain grew up listening to Pink Floyd before he caught the chill vibe and became an acoustic solo singer-songwriter act.

Steve Allain creates vibrant acoustic sounds and vocals and plunges into matters of the heart wi - Bill Copeland Music News

North Providence’s singer-songwriter Steve Allain offers a lot of tender themes and flinty acoustic music on his new CD Thirteen. His themes are a roadmap of the human heart and his acoustic and electric sounds are the warm vibes that pull you into these tales. His rangy unique, emotive timbre projects a huge amount of feeling with only the slightest changes in dynamics and tempo.

“My Father’s Only Son” is Allain’s recollection of his father as a hearty but distant soul who met life’s challenges head on but wasn’t the most affectionate or attentive dad. Allain’s earthy, gritty delivery on vocals and acoustic guitar make this one a personal treasure. The longing in the look back comes to emotive life through Allain’s persistent strum, haunting background coo, and Brian Minisce’s edgy lead guitar phrase.

Allain’s “Good For You” is packed with feeling, his rippling acoustic guitar notes feel like a warm hand gently reaching out to pull the listener safely on board with him. Kate Jone’s backing vocal adds an extra touch of emotional layering with this second vocal texture.

“Spare Change” begins with a story about learning to swim for the first time during an emergency of falling off a boat. This sense of sink or swim on your own becomes a metaphor for a person who is overlooked by another. Allain’s forlorn vocal makes you envision his isolation from the person who takes him for granted. The acoustic and electric guitars weave the underlying emotion with brittle beauty and edgy self-restraint, making you feel his sense of being used only when he’s needed.

The chirpy, assertive up tempo number, “Crooked Shed” features Allain’s winsome near-belt approach in an endearing and entertaining light. He needs to get things off his chest and he ventilates to a rollicking, bumpy beat.

“Trouble And Heartache” gets a boost, once again, from his friend Kate Jones on co-lead vocal. Allain’s midi-sequenced cello accompaniment turns this whole number into a moody reflection, and the way the vocalists take turns baring their souls makes for one fulsome, heart rending number.

“My Days With You” features some of Allain’s nimblest guitar picking on this CD. He creates a feisty melodic backbone for his earthy, gritty vocal to swing and sway over. It’s his contrasts of flowing vocal phrase over sudden, spiky guitar notes that give weight here.

“Corner” features more of Allain’s nifty guitar work. He has ear catching chords shuffling coolly around. His voice gets feistier over his crackling guitars, almost shout-singing, and the song tackles his urgent need to find some urgency in his life.

“Dirty Little Town” is a quaint ditty about the secret sins of a small town. Allain plucks the melody at his own sweet time and the gentle unfurl is quite welcoming. His gritty chords etch themselves in the listener’s imagination, and his flinty vocal resonates with heart, soul, earnestness, allowing him to connect with his listeners on a deeply personal level.

“If Only (I Had Know)” is another to feature the silky timbre of co-lead vocalist Kate Jones. She makes this appearance as winsome as her previous ones. Her lovely lace of a voice creates the perfect contrast to Allain’s steely vocal. Allain’s acoustic guitar notes go on like a seamless work of art, those brittle notes each hitting their emotional target in their persistent tone. You don’t ever want this song to end.

“See No Evil” features longtime Rhode Island musician Bill Pratt who shows up to offer his mandolin and dobra picking skills, augmenting Allan’s impeccably clean, wholesome style. Both players flesh out this tune with vibrant melodic meaningfulness. Guitarist, Brian Minisce, chimes in with his icy cool electric edginess. After they weave this electric-acoustic texture, Allain offers another of his haunting vocals, the kind that echo in your imagination when you can really feel, in his voice, the man behind his lyrics.

Allain climbs up a mountain of hearty guitar chords on “To Love” while he and Jones take turns singing on this deep, moody reflection on a struggling relationship. Both singers sound anxious and angsty listing their gripes over a dark, sonorous, cello melody. It all comes together in a thickly woven cloth of thematic meaning: lonesome people baring their souls to one another inside the cold vacuum of a loveless home. It shows that there can still be beauty in the artistic rendering even when the topic is entirely sad.

Allain closes out with his technically challenging “Nocturne no 1,” a dark cry in the wilderness complete with an interval of crisp, forlorn acoustic guitar notes forming their intricate expression of pain. This tune eventually runs into some eerie, well-produced sound effects that make me wonder if Allain grew up listening to Pink Floyd before he caught the chill vibe and became an acoustic solo singer-songwriter act.

Steve Allain creates vibrant acoustic sounds and vocals and plunges into matters of the heart wi - Bill Copeland Music News

Veteran singer-songwriter Steve Allain has amassed an impressive resume over the years since his childhood days growing up in Marlborough, Massachusetts. He didn't start playing guitar until he was 18, and eventually graduated from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, followed by a Bachelor's degree (as a classical guitar performance major), then earned his Master's degree in music composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Luckily for us, Allain moved here six years ago and two years later he rediscovered his passion for songwriting when he joined the Rhode Island Songwriters Association (he now resides in Barrington). Allain's new debut album Thirteen ($9.99 at cdbaby.com and iTunes) is a well-crafted recording that cuts across acoustic blues, country, and folk genres (or "Progressive Folk," as catalogued by cdbaby.com), with introspective lyrics of family, love, loss, and war.
"I've always been a songwriter at heart, but it wasn't until I moved to Rhode Island that I returned to, and have focused on, songwriting again," Allain acknowledged earlier this week.
And he has earned the respect of many notable peers, which was evident from the bill at Allain's CD release show last week at Local 121, where the Sugar Honey Iced Tea and Becky Chace opened. On the new album, Chace Band guitarist Brian Minisce provides additional six-string action, and Sugar Honey vocalist Kate Jones is a stunning harmony partner.
"Steve draws upon many different styles seamlessly," said Minisce. "He's one of the best guitar players around and a truly positive force in the local music scene."
Chace also offered her thoughts via email. "Steve Allain is a thoughtful, crafty songwriter with a whole lot of depth, and I absolutely love his new album."
The burly and bearded card-carrying RISA mainstay (Allain hosts the group's biweekly Saturday Songwriter Series at the Brooklyn Tea & Coffee House) will stay busy this summer with shows booked in Jamestown, Newport, and Coventry (check steveallain.com for dates), and this weekend he will join a stacked roster of acoustic talent at the Locals as part of "This Is Providence: An Original Music Showcase." He also has a slot at the Artists' Exchange Music Fest in Cranston on Saturday, June 25 (with 30 acts on three stages over two days; Allain will perform around 3 pm).
Allain graduated from a French high school in Canada (his last name is pronounced Ah-Lane), and revisits moments past with his dad (who passed away 15 years ago) on the opening track, "My Father's Only Son," instantly peeling back the memories with a touching, stinging line: "We sat for hours but said nothing, and watched the swallows build their mud homes while ignoring our own walls that were eroding." Allain's background pays off with varied styles along the 12 cuts here (wait for the passing helicopter attack following "Nocturne No 1" for a thirteenth track Allain calls "La Guerre"), as he cheekily picks up the pace on "Crooked Shed" ("Pleased to meet you, I'm a mess/Let me teach you my success") and presents a pair of bluesy, back-porch strummers with "Corner" and "Dirty Little Town." On "See No Evil," he calls for the wars to end ("Now, imagine if you were there, dead bodies strewn everywhere . . . There are no angels here, only empty shelves and fear"). And Allain and Jones make for a phenomenal pairing on four outstanding tracks: "Good For You," "Trouble and Heartache," "If Only (I Had Known)," and "To Love." (I would welcome an entire album by this vocally-gifted duo). "I'm very, very lucky to know and have so many talented friends in Providence," said Allain. "There is a ridiculous amount of incredibly talented acoustic singer-songwriters in our area, and to be part of this scene right now is pretty special." - Providence Phoenix

Veteran singer-songwriter Steve Allain has amassed an impressive resume over the years since his childhood days growing up in Marlborough, Massachusetts. He didn't start playing guitar until he was 18, and eventually graduated from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, followed by a Bachelor's degree (as a classical guitar performance major), then earned his Master's degree in music composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Luckily for us, Allain moved here six years ago and two years later he rediscovered his passion for songwriting when he joined the Rhode Island Songwriters Association (he now resides in Barrington). Allain's new debut album Thirteen ($9.99 at cdbaby.com and iTunes) is a well-crafted recording that cuts across acoustic blues, country, and folk genres (or "Progressive Folk," as catalogued by cdbaby.com), with introspective lyrics of family, love, loss, and war.
"I've always been a songwriter at heart, but it wasn't until I moved to Rhode Island that I returned to, and have focused on, songwriting again," Allain acknowledged earlier this week.
And he has earned the respect of many notable peers, which was evident from the bill at Allain's CD release show last week at Local 121, where the Sugar Honey Iced Tea and Becky Chace opened. On the new album, Chace Band guitarist Brian Minisce provides additional six-string action, and Sugar Honey vocalist Kate Jones is a stunning harmony partner.
"Steve draws upon many different styles seamlessly," said Minisce. "He's one of the best guitar players around and a truly positive force in the local music scene."
Chace also offered her thoughts via email. "Steve Allain is a thoughtful, crafty songwriter with a whole lot of depth, and I absolutely love his new album."
The burly and bearded card-carrying RISA mainstay (Allain hosts the group's biweekly Saturday Songwriter Series at the Brooklyn Tea & Coffee House) will stay busy this summer with shows booked in Jamestown, Newport, and Coventry (check steveallain.com for dates), and this weekend he will join a stacked roster of acoustic talent at the Locals as part of "This Is Providence: An Original Music Showcase." He also has a slot at the Artists' Exchange Music Fest in Cranston on Saturday, June 25 (with 30 acts on three stages over two days; Allain will perform around 3 pm).
Allain graduated from a French high school in Canada (his last name is pronounced Ah-Lane), and revisits moments past with his dad (who passed away 15 years ago) on the opening track, "My Father's Only Son," instantly peeling back the memories with a touching, stinging line: "We sat for hours but said nothing, and watched the swallows build their mud homes while ignoring our own walls that were eroding." Allain's background pays off with varied styles along the 12 cuts here (wait for the passing helicopter attack following "Nocturne No 1" for a thirteenth track Allain calls "La Guerre"), as he cheekily picks up the pace on "Crooked Shed" ("Pleased to meet you, I'm a mess/Let me teach you my success") and presents a pair of bluesy, back-porch strummers with "Corner" and "Dirty Little Town." On "See No Evil," he calls for the wars to end ("Now, imagine if you were there, dead bodies strewn everywhere . . . There are no angels here, only empty shelves and fear"). And Allain and Jones make for a phenomenal pairing on four outstanding tracks: "Good For You," "Trouble and Heartache," "If Only (I Had Known)," and "To Love." (I would welcome an entire album by this vocally-gifted duo). "I'm very, very lucky to know and have so many talented friends in Providence," said Allain. "There is a ridiculous amount of incredibly talented acoustic singer-songwriters in our area, and to be part of this scene right now is pretty special." - Providence Phoenix

"thirteen contains 12 original Allain comps featuring Steve’s soulful vocals and skilled finger picking on guitar". "Lots of good stuff etched into the shiny silver CD including “My Father’s Only Son,” “Spare Change” and “Dirty Little Town.” - Motif Magazine