Chris Stevens
Peoria, Illinois, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2012
Music
Press
Blues & Beyond
Review by R. Mark Rhodes | Posted: Tuesday, March 12, 2013 6:00 am
Paragould Daily Press
Paragould, AR
“Blues & Beyond”
Jimi Hendrix once said “Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel”, and there are many musicians out there who fall into this trap. However Chris Stevens is not one of them. His new album “Blues & Beyond” is a mixture of original and cover acoustic blues that you can feel all the way down to your soul.
“Blues & Beyond” is self-produced by Stevens, who resides in Illinois. He is a singer, songwriter and gun for hire guitar player. Being a career musician he carves out a living as a studio musician and playing gigs all across Illinois. Before venturing out on his own he co-founded the Blues trio Liar’s Dice which had limited success.
The entire album is acoustic and is composed of acoustic chord progressions with bluesy solos over the progressions. There are no drums or bass on the album. I assume Stevens plays both the lead and rhythm parts, as well as, sings.
Track two is a cover of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You” that was originally made famous by Muddy Waters and has been covered by everyone from Etta James to the Rolling Stones. This is the first of two tracks on the album that has lyrics, the other being track nine, a cover of Charles "Chas"Segar and William "Big Bill"Broonzy’s “Key to the Highway.” Here again this is a song that has been covered by numerous artists including two of the three kings of blues, B.B. and Albert.
The third cover on the album is track eight, a cover of Peter Green’s “Black Magic Women”, first recorded by Fleetwood Mac, but made famous by Carlos Santana. Steven’s version is an instrumental acoustic version and I really enjoy the slow smooth tempo of the song.
The rest of the album is comprised of original material. All the tracks are acoustic blues with the lead guitar noodling over an acoustic chord progression. The songs are filled with your quintessential 12 bar blues and shuffle patterns. They are all slow and mellow and have a relaxing feel.
I really liked this album. All the songs have a slow melodious groove that is perfect to put on while entertaining, relaxing or playing in the background while working. If you are a fan of the blues you will want this for your collection. If you are not a blues fan you should still check out this album as I think you will immediately become a convert. I wish the packaging had been better but money is probably an issue considering the fact of not having a major label behind him. “Blues & Beyond” gets a ‘B’ - Paragould Daily Press
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Chris embraces the challenge of both crafting and covering songs with a focus on melody blended with the flair of skilled musicianship.
Chris has played on EVERY primary festival stage in central Illinois including: Budweiser Illinois Blues Festival, Miller Lite Illinois Blues Fest, Budweiser Grand Nationals, Summer Camp, Taste of Peoria and a stint as the guitar player for the touring cast of Hairspray at the Peoria Civic Center.
Chris co-founded the successful Blues-Rock trio, LIAR’S DICE. He co-wrote, played the guitars and sang on the self-titled album. The album contained the song “Don’t Change the Answer” which climbed to #2 on KSYM-FM in San Antonio, Texas. The song also reached #4 on WWVU-FM in Charleston, West Virginia. Two other songs on the album, a cover of the Ides of March “Vehicle” and another original song “Like-A-Roller” both climbed to #5 on WERG-FM in Erie, Pennsylvania.
“I got your CD a couple days ago and I like it very much. Your songs are great and will fit in well. I picked four songs for Delta Boogie Radio.”
Larry “Hairy Larry” Reyl, Brookland, AR
Years of playing ‘cover songs’ and learning the signature licks of Eric Clapton, Freddie King, Carlos Santana, Duane Allman, Buddy Guy and many others help Chris bring a passionate, improvisational style of guitar and vocals to the studio and live performance stage.
The latest CD—Flavors—from soul-slinging guitarist—vocalist—songwriter, Chris “Stinger” Stevens, the corn-belt kid from Illinois, cooks a simmering stew: one pound of CLASSIC HITS with a huge helping of TODAY.
Band Members
Links
