Steve Power

Artist Information

Biography

Based in Austin, Texas, Steve Power is a rock and Americana/roots music storyteller. Steve has been entertaining since his childhood in California where he sang duets with his mother for tips in San Diego restaurants. Since then he has: Criss-crossed the United States, hitching from coast to coast and border to border… played harmonica with John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters… sung with Joe Cocker… and stood as onstage bodyguard to Little Richard.

Surviving attempted shootings, car wrecks and various governments, Steve washed up on the friendly shores of Wales, a country with a rich musical heritiage. He fit right into this fertile pool of talent, playing with all the local legends, guys with track records that include the likes of Dave Edmunds, Bo Diddley, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, and many others.

His song “Money and Fun” was No.1 in the Alternative Country Chart and “Charlene” No.2 in the Cardiff Talent Chart. Voted Rhondda Valley Musician of the year in 1992, he also contributed music to the award winning Welsh language film “Boy Soldier’ and formed the nearly famous Sting Like a Bee, by consensus the best American/Welsh blues band ever. He even received accolades from Elwood Blues (just ask Dan!).

Arrivng in Austin, Steve continued his pattern of connecting with the best of the best, joining forces with former Joe Ely stalwart the truely legendary guitar slinger Jesse “Guitar”Taylor, recording the EP “Somewhere in Texas” and becoming an Austin Songwriters Group award winner with "You're Too Late I'm Gone."

In May, 2008 Steve released "Nothin' On The Radio/DiMaggio" an EP featuring Austin legends Warren Hood on fiddle, Casper Rawls on guitar, piano master Earl Poole Ball, Asleep At The Wheel's David Miller on bass, and Power regular Mark Leshner on drums.

Steve currently performs throughout Central Texas with Steve Power and His Loud Band

“You’ve got good songs. I mean really good songs. That’s why all those people came out.” –
Billy Joe Shaver – CMA Songwriter Hall of Fame

“Last night I reviewed the entire album from first note to last and find (Steve’s) songwritting skills & style on equal with all the greats. Will be airing on my shows...”
Eddie Russell – Outlaw for Peace Radio, Columbus TX

"I'm really impressed with this album. Not only, as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, is Steve an excellent songwriter (I particularly liked the tongue-in-cheek style of some of the lyrics) but he can also turn his hand vocally to any type of music from Rock to Blues to Gospel to Ballads ~ and he manages the transition between these different genres with the greatest of ease too! As an example of Americana/Alt-Country/Roots music, this CD is highly recommended…" - The Stillwater Times

“I’ve never heard of him.” – Jim Ed Norman, President, Warner Music/Nashville

Instrumentation

Steve Power-Vocals, Rhythm guitar, harmonica

Power performs solo, duo, or full band depending on the situation.

Band instrumentation: Bass, drums, guitar, and multi-instrumentalist ( dobro, mandolin, pedal steel).
The band line up is different depending on the situation and which country I'm in, but always includes top notch professionals such as: Colin Griffin (Van Morrison) Ian Lawrence (Steve Young-Shakin' Stevens), Pete Matheson (Ray Davies), Bob Watkins (Shakin' Stevens).

Discography

Sting Like a Bee - 1991 - self release
On a Mission from Jake - 1997- self release
Somewhere in Texas EP - 2004 - self release
The Journey - 2006 -Javelin Records
Nothin' On The Radio EP - 2010 -Javelin Records

Several tracks from both "The Journey" and "Nothin' On The Radio" are getting play from both broadcast and internet radio around the world.

Official Website

http://www.stevepower.us

Links

• MySpace

Audio

• Nothin On the Radio
  Listen   Download
• DiMaggio
  Listen   Download
• Money and Fun
  Listen   Download
• Flying My Way Home
  Listen   Download
• A Normal Man
  Listen   Download

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• A Rich Slice of Alt.Country/Americana [+ Show ]
  

  This excellent recording is a rich slice of Alt Country/Americana. Steve has a powerful melodic voca...This excellent recording is a rich slice of Alt Country/Americana. Steve has a powerful melodic vocal style ~ he's also a top-flight songwriter. I liked this album immediately as I found all the songs, arrangements and performances very accessible.
  
  "The Journey" opens with the pulsating "Money & Fun" a song that's powered along by Colin Griffin's thundering drums plus there's a blistering guitar break courtesy of Pete Matheson...
  
  Next up is the Motown-esque (think the late 60s early 70s golden Motown period) "They Don't Know About You" which is in style and feel a complete contrast to "Money & Fun" ~ Steve sings this track in a wonderfully relaxed style…
  Track 3, “Charlene” features more great guitar work from Pete Matheson and is a Bluesy piece. Steve delivers this song in an almost whispered conversational way ~ which suits the song’s story narrative as it draws the listener in to it’s tale of a loose woman…
  
  “Shadow Of A Doubt” is driven by Colin Edwards’ accomplished piano playing ~ this recording (for some reason) reminded me of Roy Orbison! “A Normal Man” is another Blues based track and features another spot-on laid back vocal performance from Steve…
  
  “Til We Kiss” is the first of two great duets between Steve and the excellent Taffy Stephens. There’s a great chorus to this track “So how long is it going to be, and who will start you or me, do we both resist? How long, how long ‘til we kiss?” ~ this song is sung with great passion by Steve & Taffy…
  
  “Running For The Border” has a hint of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant in Steve’s powerful wailing harmonica playing. This track fairly motors along and is no doubt a real crowd pleaser when played live…
  
  “Death Comes Creepin’” is underpinned by an almost hypnotic repeated acoustic guitar figure and features some really eerie lyrics ~ “What you gonna do when death come creepin’ what you gonna do when he creep in your room? Gonna stare in his eye gonna laugh him out of that room…”
  
  “Life Went And Happened” has a minimalist musical arrangement and is all the better for it. As an example each line is punctuated by Pete Matheson’s sublime yet sparse slide guitar work ~ a technique which beautifully underpins Steve’s vocal performance…
  
  “Boss’s Daughter” is a slightly risqué acoustic driven song that contains some of Steve’s best lyrics “Boss’s daughter sure look good to me but she’s kinda confusing it’s like this you see, said she’d be here at seven it’s a quarter past nine, my bet’s she’s travellin’ in another space and time…”
  
  “You’re Too Late, I’m Gone” is a full scale Blues workout while “The Journey” features the return of Taffy Stephens and has a Gospel tinge to it. There’s even a hint of that old traditional melody “Shenandoah” in some of Ian Lawrence’s dobro guitar work…
  
  Final track is a Countrified re-working of the classic “The House Of The Rising Sun” ~ I have to say that this is the best version of this song that I’ve ever heard + there’s superb guitar playing from Graham Williams and Ian Lawrence that really adds to the power of the arrangement…
  
  In conclusion, I’m really impressed with this album. Not only, as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, is Steve an excellent songwriter (I particularly liked the tongue-in-cheek style of some of the lyrics) but he can also turn his hand vocally to any type of music from Rock to Blues to Gospel to Ballads ~ and he manages the transition between these different genres with the greatest of ease too! As an example of Americana/Alt-Country/Roots music, this CD is highly recommended…
  
  

• Most Danceable [+ Show ]
  

  Most Danceable: A fast-paced, honky-tonk take by an American artist named Steve Power who spent year...Most Danceable: A fast-paced, honky-tonk take by an American artist named Steve Power who spent years playing in Great Britain. It’s a delightfully cheesy sendup of the Nashville Sound, and I mean that in the best way. Of hundreds of versions, Power’s rendition is one of my short-list favorites; as Melissa Swingle of the Moaners put it, it’s utterly inappropriate for the subject matter and, at the same time, absolutely perfect.
  
  Power, who counts Bill Monroe and Bruce Springsteen as equal influences, told me his version simply “came from the ether” one night years ago while playing at a rough-and-rowdy seaport bar in Cardiff, Wales. By the end of the night, “all that was left was the hard ladies,” he says, and the slow version wasn’t cutting it so he injected a bluegrass beat and sang in a major key instead of a minor one. It works wonderfully.
  
  “I used it for a long time as a closer and to separate the men from the boys in the band,” he says. “I always loved real country that rocked.” The recorded version, with Ian Lawrence on the pedal steel guitar and banjo, is unlike any other. With this song, that’s saying a lot. I’ve danced with my wife to it. It somehow manages to tell a sad story and leave you happy. "
  
  

• Bigtime in Belgium [+ Show ]
  

  "" 'The Journey' is an elegant collection of pure atmospheric moments, which from the spontaneously ..."" 'The Journey' is an elegant collection of pure atmospheric moments, which from the spontaneously opening rocker, "Money & Fun", until the final piece, The Animals traditional "House of The Rising Sun" in a completely different form, has you hooked. When Power somewhere halfway through picks up the harmonica in the superb roadhouse rocker "Running For The Border", the clouds before the moon disappear and slowly it becomes apparent that "The Journey" is so good that it is totally a treasured possession." - Translated from Flemish.

• An Excellent Album [+ Show ]
  

  "Steve has given us an excellent album full of music reminiscent of the glory days of the Byrds,..."Steve has given us an excellent album full of music reminiscent of the glory days of the Byrds, the Burritos, and the early Eagles - yet grounded in sounds that purists and Buddy Holly fans could easily identify with...."

Setlist

Sets are determined by venue and situation, anywhere from 1x30min to 3x45min. Below is a band set list for 1x90min with a balance of uptempo rockers and softer ballads. An acoustic solo list would of course be somewhat different.

Nothin' On The Radio
Somebody You Don't Know
Borderline Bar
Paradise
Running For The Border
Somewhere In Texas
DiMaggio
A Good Fool Is Hard To Find
Texas Bound
Blind Willie McTell

Basic Requirements

Calendar