Artist InformationBiography
Steven Kalas
Here's a guy who once traded a Guild guitar for a car stereo. But that car stereo has long since been stolen. Now Steven keeps his guitars, plays them, writes songs and sings with his musician friends. One reviewer said, "Steven Kalas looks at life with a bit of a tilt a collision of humor, pathos, and celebration...a compelling performer." He's entertained folks from quiet coffee houses to parks, theatres, and concert halls.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Steven was graduated from Northern Arizona University with a B.S. in Psychology and earned his Masters in Theology at Southern Methodist University. He currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he works as a marriage and family counselor, bereavement specialist, and behavioral health consultant. Steven writes Human Matters, published Sundays and Tuesdays in the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Steven is a former Episcopal priest, turned therapist, free lance writer and published author. He does stand-up comedy, and travels nationally as a professional public speaker. His favorite hobby is songwriting and performing in the band PaperCymbal. His new album Lessons From the Dead is available on his website stevenkalas.com.
Steven is father to three sons: Jonathan, 16, Aaron, 14, and (what was he thinking?) Joseph, age 5. He is a rabid Phoenix Suns’ fan, a crazed Green Bay Packer fan, a Beatlemaniac, and owns DVD recordings of every known work of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. In his spare time he grows lettuce.
PaperCymbal
The name emerged one day in rehearsal when the band was laughing about people whose favorite pop group was the Patridge Family that the ultimate irony of our culture might be that you could REALLY LOVE a band that doesn't actually exist. We wondered if the producers had removed the cymbals from Tracy Patridge's tambourine and replaced them with faux paper cymbals so she wouldn't make a racket during filming.
PaperCymbal is...
Steven Kalas: Acoustic Guitar, Lead vocals
Temple Hall: Backing Vocals, Vocal Arrangements
Kirsten Keilty: Backing Vocals, Vocal Arrangements
David Braun: Waaay doesn't suck Lead Guitar
Andre Brunson: Bass Guitar, Dredlocks
Stacy Henry: Drums, forehead perspiration, taskmaster of excellence
Naldo Pasello: Cello
Dave Romero: Percussion, nice hat on stage
Lessons From the Dead was recorded at Digital Insight Studios, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Recording Engineer: Matt Szpyrka
Mastering: Matt Szpyrka
Taking all our money: Rob Devlin
Graphic Design: Catherine Dalinis
Photography: Jackie Robinson
Executive Producer: Jackie Robinson / Stavros Entertainment
THE MUSIC
Steven and his band, PaperCymbal play everything from driving pop-rock to tasty, acoustic folk guaranteed to hammer you with melody and take you apart with sheer poetry. Steven writes lyrics that are a gaping mirror into the human experience---extraordinary images of ordinary life.
You'll hear songs that are acoustic, folk laced pop, unique and eclectic; a combination of folk-rock and pop; a voice that's been compared with Cat Stevens and a style that morphs The Beatles, Jim Croce, James Taylor, Crosby Stills Nash, Paul Simon, Matchbox 20, Maroon 5, Rod Stewart and well...Steven Kalas.
If it's real, then art is about the risk of being wholly oneself. The journey is costly beyond imagining.
For me, Lessons From the Dead records a particularly intense leg of that journey. In the near two years since this CD project was begun, my entire life has burned down and begun again.
You will hear songs celebrating love, and songs witnessing the helpless, inexorable unraveling of love. There are songs holding on for dear life against the onslaught of darkness and stupidity, and songs which smile, celebrate, and laugh. If you find any of these songs kicking your ass, rest assured they were written to first kick my own.
Unless otherwise noted, you have only me to thank or blame for the lyrics and melodies you will hear on this album. But some credits are due:
An End to the One Man Band, co-authored with me by Paul Taylor and D.R Wilke, was inspired by the work and legacy of the late Wes Frensdorf, Episcopal Bishop of Nevada. The title song was conceived from a parable told in Belden Lane's book "The Solace of Fierce Landscapes." Here Inside the Crucible (with you) emerged from the work of marital therapists David Schnarch and Ruth Morehouse and David's book "Constructing the Sexual Crucible."
The melody and story of Mary Said was made possible by Temple Hall's writing and arrangement of simply the bitchinest guitar riff and cord changes I've ever heard. But I want to dedicate the song to the actual 'Mary.' La-la-LA-la, Lovely Linda. You are my treasured friend.
My favorite love song on the CD is also the most ironic: I Wonder If You Know. Turns out she did not know.
Paul Taylor composed the clever alliteration in the verses of You See Better, And Mr. Jack Paper is of course a sequel to Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton's song "Puff the Magic Dragon." That's their words and melody which appear in Jack's dream.
For me, the CD's most powerful and important song is True and Beautiful. It was inspired by a woman who was neither. But I owe her a paradoxical 'thank you' for the way her darkness forced me to face my own darkness, forced me to claim my highest truth, my deepest values, and the wholeness of myself. Only cost me a vocation, a course of anti-depressants, and my soul mate. I see you, Katharine.
PaperCymbal is Stacy, Andre, Temple, David, Kirsten, and me. The prodigious talents of my bandmates are overshadowed only by the value of their friendship.
That's it. See you on the other side.
-- Steven Kalas
CD Release Party - May 11, 2007
I want to extend a personal invitation for you to join us on Friday, May 11
as we celebrate the release of our 5th CD,
Lessons From the Dead,
at the Garage Ma Hall in Las Vegas. This will be a gathering of friends and fans
both new and old for an evening of hellos, goodbyes, great memories,
and a new future. Times are changing, as are dreams and goals, and this
could well be the last time PaperCymbal plays together in public.
It won’t be the same if you’re not there.
The Garage Ma Hall is a great place to gather with friends and listen to
music. You are welcome to bring your own refreshments: wine, great scotch
(does Steven have any friends that drink great Scotch?), or a cooler with
your favorite beer or soda. Munchies, if you want.
Take-out from Macaroni Grill. Or KFC.
Whatever makes you happy.
Invite friends. Teens and kids are welcome.
Our opening act is ZenLizard. Music begins at 6:00 p.m.
Garage Ma Hall is located at 6300 W. Tropical Pkwy, Las Vegas.
To get there, take I-95 Fwy north to Ann Road, right to Rainbow,
left to Tropical Pkwy, right to 6300 (on left/north side of street).
Parking on the street is ample.
Check out www.MySpace.com/Garage_Ma_Hall
If you prefer parking valet, then either bring your own valet,
or go to the valet at the Bellagio and walk (about 14 miles.)
Can’t wait to see you.
Steven
Please,
RSVP
with the number in your group to
PaperCymbal2@aol.com
THANKS!
If it's real, then art is about the risk of being wholly oneself. The journey is costly beyond imagining.
For me, "Lessons From the Dead" records a particularly intense leg of that journey. In the near two years since this CD project was begun, my entire life has burned down and begun again.
You will hear songs celebrating love, and songs witnessing the helpless, inexorable unraveling of love. There are songs holding on for dear life against the onslaught of darkness and stupidity, and songs which smile, celebrate, and laugh. If you find any of these songs kicking your ass, rest assured they were written to first kick my own.
* * * * * * *
NEWSPAPER COLUMN
Steven also writes two weekly columns in the Las Vegas Review Journal. Articles archived at:
http://www.HumanMatters.net
FEATURED ARTIST on RadioINDY.com
Link:
http://www.radioindy.com/jamroom/bands/1009/
RECENT LIVE PERFORMANCES
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ice House Lounge, City of Las Vegas First Friday Series Featured Artist at Frank Write Plaza, Nicholas J. Horn Theater / CCSN Performing Arts Center for Southern Nevada Community Concerts, Whitney Theater, Orleans Hotel in the Bourbon Street Lounge, Legends Lounge, Summerlin Trails, Starbucks, WorldFolk Showcases , CityLife Cafe, Cafe Copioh, Borders, Mermaid Cafe, Wilson's, The Boston, Money Plays, Brendan's Irish Pub in the Orleans Hotel, The Lift, Island Grill, The Tropics, Iowa Cafe, Roadrunner, Easy Does It, The Funk House,
Phoenix, Arizona
The Adobe Oven, Tempe Amphitheater, Coffee Plantations, Winchester Theater, Arizona Roadhouse, Backstage Bistro , Mustang Sally's
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
You'll hear songs that are acoustic, folk laced pop, unique and eclectic; a combination of folk-rock and pop; a voice that's been compared with Cat Stevens and a style that morphs Jerry Garcia, the Beatles, James Taylor, Crosby Stills Nash, Paul Simon, Matchbox 20, Maroon 5, Rod Stewart, Jim Croce and well...Steven Kalas.
He writes about relationships---the romantic, the ironic and sometimes the paradoxical.
Asked about his lyrics, he once told an interviewer, "Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. And while not everyone can, wants to or needs to do the examining that I do, it is certainly in my nature to explore the depths of the human experience, starting with my own.
This exploration reaches its zenith, for me, when I write. Songwriting is the most authentic voice I possess. You don't have to agree with what I say in a song, but you better believe that I believe it. And I think that's what people connect with: When I'm telling the truth, maybe it provides a window for them."
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BACKGROUND
PaperCymbal
The name emerged one day in rehearsal when the band was laughing about people whose favorite pop group was the Patridge Family — that the ultimate irony of our culture might be that you could REALLY LOVE a band that doesn't actually exist. We wondered if the producers had removed the cymbals from Tracy Patridge's tambourine and replaced them with faux paper cymbals so she wouldn't make a racket during filming.
Steven Kalas
Here's a guy who once traded a Guild guitar for a car stereo. But that car stereo has long since been stolen. Now Steven keeps his guitars, plays them, writes songs and sings with his musician friends. One reviewer said, "Steven Kalas looks at life with a bit of a tilt —a collision of humor, pathos, and celebration...a compelling performer." He's entertained folks from quiet coffee houses to parks, theatres, and concert halls. In his spare time he grows lettuce..
Instrumentation
Steven Kalas: -- Lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Dave Braun: -- Electric guitars, acoustic guitar, mandolin
Andre Brunson: -- Electric bass guitar
Stacy Henry: -- Drums
Temple Hall: -- Backing vocals, rhythm guitar
Kirsten Keilty: -- Backing vocals
Naldo Posella: -- Cello
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Alternate Ensemble (for smaller, possibly shorter duration venues and "Acoustic Singer/Songwriter" showcasing):
Steven Kalas: -- Lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Dave Braun -- Guitar
Temple Hall: -- Vocals, rhythm guitar
Andre Brunson: -- Electric bass guitar
Kirsten Keilty -- Vocals
Discography
STEVEN KALAS PUBLISHES FIRST BOOK and audio companion CD!!
HUMAN MATTERS is Steven's first book. Published by Stephen's Press it is a compilation of articles and essays from his two popular columns..."Wise and witty counsel on Relationships, parenting, grief and doing the right thing." It's available at www.HumanMatters.net.
The companion CD, "Steven Kalas Speaking Of Human Matters" features eleven of his personally narrated articles.
NEW RELEASE ! - - - "Lessons From the Dead"
Unless otherwise noted, you have only me to thank or blame for the lyrics and melodies you will hear on this album. But some credits are due:
An End to the One Man Band, co-authored with me by Paul Taylor and D.R Wilke, was inspired by the work and legacy of the late Wes Frensdorf, Episcopal Bishop of Nevada. The title song was conceived from a parable told in Belden Lane's book "The Solace of Fierce Landscapes." Here Inside the Crucible (with you) emerged from the work of marital therapists David Schnarch and Ruth Morehouse and David's book "Constructing the Sexual Crucible."
The melody and story of Mary Said was made possible by Temple Hall's writing and arrangement of simply the bitchinest guitar riff and cord changes I've ever heard. But I want to dedicate the song to the actual 'Mary.' La-la-LA-la, Lovely Linda. You are my treasured friend.
My favorite love song on the CD is also the most ironic: I Wonder If You Know. Turns out she did not know.
Paul Taylor composed the clever alliteration in the verses of You See Better, And Mr. Jack Paper is of course a sequel to Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton's song "Puff the Magic Dragon." That's their words and melody which appear in Jack's dream.
For me, the CD's most powerful and important song is True and Beautiful. It was inspired by a woman who was neither. But I owe her a paradoxical 'thank you' for the way her darkness forced me to face my own darkness, forced me to claim my highest truth, my deepest values, and the wholeness of myself. Only cost me a vocation, a course of anti-depressants, and my soul mate. I see you, Katharine.
PaperCymbal is Stacy, Andre, Temple, David, Kirsten, and me. The prodigious talents of my bandmates are overshadowed only by the value of their friendship.
That's it. See you on the other side.
-- Steven Kalas
-------
“Finally Here”
Produced by Steven Kalas at Digital Insight Studios
Released through Stavros Entertainment
Distributed by Stavros Entertainment, Las Vegas, NV
Released 20 April 2005
"Finally Here" was conceived on the day I decided to quit music altogether. My "I quit" speech was interrupted by a phone call from Fred Migiliore and Fast Forward Artist promotion. Fred invited himself into my life. Finally Here is the result of my accepting that invitation.
Fred changed my life. He was the missing ingredient. He promotes my career, yes – but more importantly he transFORMED my understanding of myself. For so long I was a man casting about in the musical universe, trying on styles and identities like so many suits off a rack. Fred helped me find a form, a place, a niche, and a real identity. What’s ‘finally here’ is me – one singer/songwriter instead of many.
Finally Here was recorded at Digital Insight recording studios in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was remixed and mastered at SoundWard Studios in Titusville, Florida by Mark Brasel and Fred Migliore. Together, they coaxed and shaped a quality of sound I had never before achieved. What’s ‘finally here’ is a Steven Kalas I had never heard before.
So give a listen. Buy my record. Tell your friends. Invite us play for you.
Until we meet,
Steven
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“Something to Say”
Produced by Ken Gold at Digital Insight Studios
Released through Standing In My Bathroom Records
Distributed by Stavros Entertainment, Las Vegas, NV 2002
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“PaperCymbal”
Produced by Rich Cheney, Road Company Music
Released through Standing In My Bathroom Records
Distributed by Oarfin Records, Minneapolis, MN 2000
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“Accidental Universe”
Produced by Steven Kalas and D. R. Wilke
Wide Range Productions Tempe, Arizona
Distributed by Stavros Entertainment, Las Vegas, NV,1999
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Online sales at:
www.CDBaby.com/kalas4
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“The Star”, EP
Produced by Ken Gold at Digital Insight Studios
Released through Stavros Entertainment
Distributed by FastForward Artist Promotions, Cocoa FL, 2003 and 2004
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Singles
A Different Kind of Hero
Lessons From the Dead
Mary Said
If Not For Teachers
Move Like Water
You See Better
Serenading Juliet
The Cat Song
Your Balloon
Just A Guy
Carpet Fragments
Accident
Links
| http://www.StevenKalas.com |