Treehouse Fire

Byline: Cathalena E. Burch
The passing last month of Tucson troubadour Travis Edmonson reminded a lot of people of Tucson's rich folk singer-songwriter tradition. --The genre has grown in popularity over the years since Edmonson, who put Tucson on the map as part of the popular 1950s-'60s duo Bud & Travis, returned home in the 1970s to continue his career as a soloist. Attendance at the Tucson Kitchen Musicians' annual Tucson Folk Festival numbers in the thousands, and artists come from throughout the United States to perform. --Today's folk music still has at its core a singer and a guitar, but the genre has grown with the times, incorporating contemporary pop elements and an almost indie rock sensibility. --There's also a refreshing energy coursing through live performances. Mostly gone are the days when folk music was defined solely by the performer sitting on the stage and strumming slow-tempo odes. --So just who are these people who make up Tucson's folk music scene? We're introducing you to a few who make their living one coffee shop, festival and backyard barbecue at a time. Stephen Budd Personal: He's 43 and a father of two, ages 5 and 7. …
- Arizona Daily Star

Article published September 17, 2009
Singer Stephen Budd in concert Friday night

Stephen Budd is coming home.

The Toledo native who is now a Tuscon-based singer-songwriter is back in town and will perform a free show tonight at 8 at Mulvaney's Bunker Irish Pub and Grub, 4945 Dorr St.

Budd was a member of the local '80s band Generra Pantera and he played numerous solo shows here throughout the 1990s.

His first release was 1995's “ghosttown,” and his new disc is called “Gathering Sky.” He'll be featuring the latter at tonight's show at the club.

Budd has recorded with the band Calexico and he recorded a portion of his new disc at the studio of Tim Story, a Toledo-based new-age pianist and musician.

He writes and performs in the Southwest with his band, Treehouse Fire, and his music is available at treehousefire.com, stephenbudd.com, myspace.com/stephenbuddsongs. He is the father of two and works as a psychotherapist in Tucson. - The Toledo Blade

PRESS RELEASE

for public release on July 12th, 2009


BIO for Singer/Songwriter STEPHEN BUDD - former Toledoan now based in Tucson, Arizona releasing his new CD in Toledo on September 17th, 2009.

Many grey, drizzly days in the flatlands of a medium-sized, rustbelt, working-class town influenced the songwriting of a young skateboarding, suburban, parochial-schooled boy named Stephen Budd.  He reflects now that his childhood and teen years were full of angst, rage and but also calm-thanks to having come to the US at sixth months old from Great Britain, the product of two well-educated, well-mannered medical professors/practitioners (his father a founding faculty member of the Medical College of Ohio, and his mother a practicing Pathologist (also at MCO)-both having grown up during WWII in blitz-stricken London.  Being the middle boy of three,with an eldest sister too-Stephen grew up a block from the University of Toledo's Field House where the kids of the neighborhood of Old Orchard and Barrington Drive listened to late 60's/early 70's concerts (the doors and windows of the venue were kept open to the whole campus) including the sounds of infamous stars the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.  Whether these summer evening soundtracks affected Stephen or not, he took his piano and later, guitar and bass guitar lessons quite seriously.  As a teen, Stephen attended & endured St. Francis DeSales H.S after a freshman year at St. John's and went on to play in hard rock bands like Urban Assault and Blitz before taking a different direction playing bass with his future best friend and best man's alternative/80's groundbreakers, Generra Pantera.  (That person being Jim Filipiak-now leader of the town's perhaps best known and favorite cover band, The Bridges).  After three or four years with "Generra", and having been the first band to rent rehearsal space at the Oliver House, and playing some great Party-In-The Park gigs, Stephen took advantage of an opportunity to study at Berklee School of Music in Boston in January 1987 and didn't move back to Toledo long-term again for four and a half years. (Though he did spend two summers back home, getting ahead in school by taking classes at UT and also working at Scharren Recording studios (where he had a summer internship in 1988 and helped to engineer a Damien album). During this time, Stephen also began recording his own songs in various styles.  He formed the group, The Border Patrol, that summer and recorded & gigged with them before returning to Boston. After graduating from Berklee in May 1990, Stephen returned to Northwest Ohio searching for his next step. At this time, the first Gulf War put his hopes of relocation to a Nashville starter job in doubts (hiring freeze across the music industry and recession-like economics similar to the present day). Instead, Stephen got a day job and began playing solo acoustic concerts 5 nites a week at places like Frankie's Inner City and The Ottawa Tavern, all the while developing songs for his first full-length recording, Ghosttown, which was released in late 1993.  On his off nights, Stephen could often be found listening to his friends' bands, the Flecks and a new version of Generra Pantera, whom he helped record & produce and journeyed with to Nashville for several showcases. He then put together another alternative band (Burnt Sienna) with several Toledo bar band veterans before relocating to Ann Arbor in late 1994.  Stephen continued graduate studies and working and playing music until in 1996, Stephen moved to Pittsburgh, PA to live closer to his fiance' (also Toledo-bred) and in 1997, they moved to Tucson, got married, and now live with their two young children.  When not in graduate school or changing diapers, Stephen continued to record his music culminating in another CD release and performances at folk festivals and coffeehouses in Arizona. His latest recording, entitled "Gathering Sky" is set for official release in Arizona on August 2nd at a CD release party at Hacienda del Sol.  This CD was recorded over 8 years with help from members of critically acclaimed band Calexico as well as drumming help from former Was (Not Was) drummer, Ron Pangborn. Stephen will be doing a cd release back home in Toledo, at the TO BE FINALIZED-, on Sept 17th, 2009 playing some songs before his old friend, Jeff Stewart, takes the stage. 
- multiple recipients, press release

Stephen is a singer/songwriter from Tucson who writes music that is part folk, part indie, and plays in two ways: solo acoustic artist ala coffeehouse and also band leader, with a band, Treehouse Fire (see treehousefire.com). He also writes electric guitar-based music and records it in his garage, but mixes it in a nice studio. Those recordings will be released soon, probably Fall ‘08,
but first…

The long awaited new cd, GATHERING SKY…
set to be released in April ‘08.
** Includes 14 songs written over the course of the last decade and recorded in a dusty basement in the winter in Detroit (burrrrrr!) and also Ann Arbor, Toledo, Madison and Tucson at full blown recording studios.

These are songs that Stephen performs solo when he plays coffeehouses and clubs and also when he performs with his group, Treehouse FIre.
(Listen to a live performance from Tucson Folk Fest@ www. treehousefire.com)

Guests on the cd included John Convertino and Joey Burns from Calexico, on several songs, including the single (if there really is such a thing anymore) “Brand New Man”. They also played on “Southwest of Here” as did Eric Peterson of Minneapolis (violin). On many of the other tracks, Shanti Foster played fiddle and Todd Hammes played percussion and/or drums. Many of the original drum tracks were recorded with Ron Pangborn (Matthew Sweet, Was Not Was), in his basement ADAT studio back in Detroit. In fact, one song, the title track, “End of the World (Gathering Sky), was recorded “through the mail” Ron was sent some basic acoustic demo tracks and he added drums to it, mailed it back and we finished the song back in Tucson at Subspace.

Sign up for our mailing list here, at the myspace site (www.myspace.com/stephenbuddsongs, or at www.treehousefire.com or www.stephenbudd.com)

Look forward to seeing you at the CD release here in Tucson in April.
- Self for LAST FM profile