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From
a 2007 cover letter by friend and former Manager, Pat Emrind...
Born
in 1953, the second son
of an alcoholic, single mother; raised in Reno and Carson City, Nevada, he returned to his birthplace in Colorado at the age of thirteen.
Leaving home at the age of fifteen, he began
a course of experiences outside the mainstream of what most of us
understand as
“normal life”. He recalls
trying to
hitch-hike the country with his drum set and a bedroll –
determined not leave
his music behind.
Ultimately
his life led him
to Northern California, where he played piano in bars and
restaurants,
college music rooms, wherever he could find 88 keys and a willing
audience. Steven spent long nights
reading by candle and lamplight – educating himself deeply in
classic
literature, popular culture, history, the arts and sciences: living in lofts, old vans and for a time a
backwoods cabin on a hillside in West Marin County. He sat
at
the knees of the bay area stalwarts, in many genres and mediums –
The Grateful
Dead, Bobby Louise Hawkins, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Arthur Okimura,
Rosalie
Sorrels and many other American treasures and denizens of the region.
Steven
loved all forms of
music from his earliest years – listening to such disparate
influences as
Edward Grieg, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley and Scruggs & Flatt in
his
youngest days. Later, he and his brother
listened through the night on an old RCA radio to the Mexican
“outlaw” stations
out of Tijuana, broadcasting the Beatles, the Stones, all the surfer
and
doo-wop bands of that era and then the explosion of pop and rock music
from
the ‘60’s on. As life moved
forward,
Steven again returned to Colorado
and began playing in country bands, soloing in coffee houses and
building his
life with a home and family in a slightly more conventional mode than
his
younger years.
Songwriting
always held the
center of his creative life – and became the driving force behind
the popular
regional band Amethyst, which he fronted during the 80’s and in
the 90’s. In the mid
90’s life took a number of
challenging turns – battling the deaths of several close loved
ones, a
life-threatening pulmonary illness of his own and struggling to remain
a
person in recovery. Throughout these
times, he found himself once again re-inventing life and living. Steven began his life again with an improbable
recovery from his illness that left him having to learn to sing again
after
extended periods on steroidal medications, and having to regain lung
function
once thought to be irrecoverably lost. These
experiences became fuel for new levels of
introspection and
insight in his writing as themes of love and loss, hope and struggle,
transcendence and beauty became common threads in his songs.
Today,
Steven lives in Aurora, Colorado, where he continues to serve as a foster
care provider
to developmentally disabled adults in his home, lives with his four
rescued dogs
from Mexico, and carries on with voluntary efforts to
promote
literacy and animal welfare in Southern Mexico. He visits Mexico as often as possible where he works on these
projects
and spends time on remote beaches, SCUBA diving and experiencing life
in the
tropical forests there. All these
influences can be gleaned from his songs – bright, unique anthems
of love and
hope, challenge and redemption - a merging of diverse elements without
concern
for convention or trends. Sometimes
flawed and without technical “correctness”, sometimes
amazingly sophisticated
and proficient – he is unfailingly vulnerable, honest and
entirely himself. As always, he listens to
his own muses and
expresses himself with an open and shameless heart.
It's sincerely hoped
that you'll receive his offerings in kind.
-
Patrick Emrind, February 2007
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