Ted Stevens and the Third Rail

Sharing with Ted Stevens

By Kevin Gibson

Ted Stevens likes to share. That's not always easy for an only child – or so the cliché goes – but he insists music should be a shared experience. His point is that when he plays a show, he doesn't want to play to people as much he hopes to interact with them, with music as the basis for the interaction.

"The work that I make is about sharing with people," said Stevens, a Louisville-based songwriter whose album Waiting came out earlier this year, first as an independent and then on SonaBLAST! Records. "That's what we enjoy when we play, is building up that dialogue with an audience and sharing the music.

Ted Stevens
Photo By Alexandra Masterson
Pictures
"The thing that attracted me to pop and rock music as kid was the sense that these songs could be about me or people I know or things that were going on. You could have a terrible day and turn on a song and it's saying everything you want to say about [your bad day]."

And like many of us, Stevens found solace, even friendship, in music at an early age.

"As an only child, I think I felt it was someone I could talk to, only it was records," he said. "I think I wanted to share and to communicate. To varying degrees we all kind of go through the same stuff. Maybe we don't know it all the time. A good song can kind of show you those threads, show you those ties.

To do that, he said, is to play your songs in front of other people, and in the process to "give yourself away and see what you get back.

"I'm not talking about applause," Stevens said. "I'm talking about something you may not see right away."

And so it is when Stevens starts talking about music. This is a guy whose passion for his craft is evident around the clock – he truly seems to eat, drink and sleep music. His formal training came at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. (The institution has since been renamed the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. "Makes me sound like I should have a sash and a hat," Stevens said.)

Of course, getting picked up by SonaBLAST!, which lists Ben Sollee and Peter Searcy in its stable of talent, is evidence that Stevens is sharing something good. Check out his videos for "Sally's Alright" and "You Got Away," and what you'll see is a young musician who is brimming with desire and energy.

Hey, music is supposed to be fun. That isn't lost on Stevens – or his bandmates.

"Playing with Ted has been a lot of fun," said Kirk Kiefer, Stevens' bassist. The two met via overlapping musical projects at Downtown Recording Studio, and he agreed to play some shows backing Ted, more or less as a hired gun.

"When I initially signed on, I'd never met him and figured I'd just be playing what was on the recordings he had already cut," Kiefer said. "But once we discovered our shared love for Springsteen, Wings and 'Seinfeld,' we became friends and things became more collaborative."

Stevens and his new band, including Kiefer and drummer Tony Gantt, have been playing plenty of shows around town and are hoping to start booking more out of town. Stevens also got the chance to open for Webb Wilder in the fall, which fits his plan – to be seen and heard by as many new eyes and ears as possible. A new album is in the works, and Stevens wants to keep gaining momentum.

THE SCOTTISH INFLUENCE
Stevens went to school for a specific reason. OK, a couple of reasons – obviously, he wanted a degree, and indeed, he earned a Bachelor of Arts Honors in Contemporary Performance Practice. "It's in a drawer somewhere," he said.

"I really went over there to learn how to consciously make art," he explained. "When you start writing [songs] you sort of do it unconsciously; you start throwing stuff out there and hope something sticks. Every four songs you get a good song; every five shows you have a good show. I wanted to expand my toolbox. ... I wanted to really explore what I was doing as an artist and understand it, do it consciously."

And it was also while studying in Glasgow that he wrote and recorded the tracks for Waiting. He estimates that 90 percent of the album was done there in his home studio, with the final touches being added at Downtown upon his return.

He said his experience in Glasgow was positive in large part because the curriculum wasn't centered on grades, but rather focused on creation.

"You didn't get your grades until months after you were done with whatever piece of performance you were creating," he said, "and you really didn't care. What I learned is the attempt is the most important part. To have the courage to make that attempt."

Stevens said that even if an attempt to create something fails, it should be considered a "glorious failure."

"That's what was important," he said. "To understand what I had been experimenting with in high school and trying to make sense of it. Just because I have a degree doesn't mean I know anything, but I have the ability to ref - Louisville Music News

Sharing with Ted Stevens

By Kevin Gibson

Ted Stevens likes to share. That's not always easy for an only child – or so the cliché goes – but he insists music should be a shared experience. His point is that when he plays a show, he doesn't want to play to people as much he hopes to interact with them, with music as the basis for the interaction.

"The work that I make is about sharing with people," said Stevens, a Louisville-based songwriter whose album Waiting came out earlier this year, first as an independent and then on SonaBLAST! Records. "That's what we enjoy when we play, is building up that dialogue with an audience and sharing the music.

Ted Stevens
Photo By Alexandra Masterson
Pictures
"The thing that attracted me to pop and rock music as kid was the sense that these songs could be about me or people I know or things that were going on. You could have a terrible day and turn on a song and it's saying everything you want to say about [your bad day]."

And like many of us, Stevens found solace, even friendship, in music at an early age.

"As an only child, I think I felt it was someone I could talk to, only it was records," he said. "I think I wanted to share and to communicate. To varying degrees we all kind of go through the same stuff. Maybe we don't know it all the time. A good song can kind of show you those threads, show you those ties.

To do that, he said, is to play your songs in front of other people, and in the process to "give yourself away and see what you get back.

"I'm not talking about applause," Stevens said. "I'm talking about something you may not see right away."

And so it is when Stevens starts talking about music. This is a guy whose passion for his craft is evident around the clock – he truly seems to eat, drink and sleep music. His formal training came at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. (The institution has since been renamed the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. "Makes me sound like I should have a sash and a hat," Stevens said.)

Of course, getting picked up by SonaBLAST!, which lists Ben Sollee and Peter Searcy in its stable of talent, is evidence that Stevens is sharing something good. Check out his videos for "Sally's Alright" and "You Got Away," and what you'll see is a young musician who is brimming with desire and energy.

Hey, music is supposed to be fun. That isn't lost on Stevens – or his bandmates.

"Playing with Ted has been a lot of fun," said Kirk Kiefer, Stevens' bassist. The two met via overlapping musical projects at Downtown Recording Studio, and he agreed to play some shows backing Ted, more or less as a hired gun.

"When I initially signed on, I'd never met him and figured I'd just be playing what was on the recordings he had already cut," Kiefer said. "But once we discovered our shared love for Springsteen, Wings and 'Seinfeld,' we became friends and things became more collaborative."

Stevens and his new band, including Kiefer and drummer Tony Gantt, have been playing plenty of shows around town and are hoping to start booking more out of town. Stevens also got the chance to open for Webb Wilder in the fall, which fits his plan – to be seen and heard by as many new eyes and ears as possible. A new album is in the works, and Stevens wants to keep gaining momentum.

THE SCOTTISH INFLUENCE
Stevens went to school for a specific reason. OK, a couple of reasons – obviously, he wanted a degree, and indeed, he earned a Bachelor of Arts Honors in Contemporary Performance Practice. "It's in a drawer somewhere," he said.

"I really went over there to learn how to consciously make art," he explained. "When you start writing [songs] you sort of do it unconsciously; you start throwing stuff out there and hope something sticks. Every four songs you get a good song; every five shows you have a good show. I wanted to expand my toolbox. ... I wanted to really explore what I was doing as an artist and understand it, do it consciously."

And it was also while studying in Glasgow that he wrote and recorded the tracks for Waiting. He estimates that 90 percent of the album was done there in his home studio, with the final touches being added at Downtown upon his return.

He said his experience in Glasgow was positive in large part because the curriculum wasn't centered on grades, but rather focused on creation.

"You didn't get your grades until months after you were done with whatever piece of performance you were creating," he said, "and you really didn't care. What I learned is the attempt is the most important part. To have the courage to make that attempt."

Stevens said that even if an attempt to create something fails, it should be considered a "glorious failure."

"That's what was important," he said. "To understand what I had been experimenting with in high school and trying to make sense of it. Just because I have a degree doesn't mean I know anything, but I have the ability to ref - Louisville Music News