Steve Balsamo (Jesus Christ Superstar, Eric Woolfson, The Storys). Don't forget to subscribe.
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- Опубліковано 20 січ 2023
- This is my conversation with Steve Balsamo. It took place on 1/21/23 from his home in the UK.
"a pure and beautiful voice" - Robert Plant
Born and raised in Swansea, UK, I started out singing in rock bands as a teenager before I came to the public's attention in the mid '90s by way of a beard, long hair and a loincloth (look here).
Signing to Columbia Records soon after the messiah complex wore off, I was molded into a poppy/rocky/folky/country-ish artist - nothing like covering all the bases - and made an album, All I Am. Despite the musical schizophrenia, I had a ton of fun travelling the world and writing lots of songs, and I even got to play live on Top Of The Pops (look here).
Along with 3 mates I formed a country rock band, The Storys, made 3 albums and toured the globe with the great and the good. You can check us out here.
I am part of an ongoing prog/electronica project with Rob Reed of Magenta called chimpanA. The first album upset Q Magazine so much that they declared it was 'drowning in a sea of pretentiousness'.
The recently released second album, The Empathy Machine arrived to some fantastic reviews, and you can listen to it here . You can see a very cool video for one of the songs, The Calling, here.
A little while ago I made an Americana/Country album with Rosalie Deighton, and you can find it here. In between these adventures, I got to write songs for lots of artists including Meatloaf (look here), Slash (look here), and Cliff (look here) worked with heroes Jon Lord of Deep Purple (look here), Eric Woolfson of The Alan Parsons Project (look here), and even gave a singing lesson to Robert Plant (hear that and many other name-dropping stories in this lovely interview).
Over the last few years, I've been recording a collection of old, new, borrowed and blue songs for a series of 4 EPs. Described as "country/Americana-tinged tracks of mature AOR influenced music" (thanks Lyric Magazine), I intend to use the EPs as a place to musically reflect on where I've been, see where I'm at, and get a loose direction as to where I'm going.
Words feature very heavily in this genre and I'm enjoying wrestling lyrics to the mat, trying to really get inside the songs. I'm digging deep to soul mine my truth right now, and I'm probably the happiest musically I've ever been!
While the world ground to a halt during the pandemic, my old Storys compadre Andy Collins and ace Liverpudlian song-smith Pete Riley got together every week on Zoom to put the world to rights. The Monday lunchtime sessions turned in songwriting jams, and quickly we had a bunch of sweet tunes.
We've decided to commit the songs to tape and Balsamo Collins Riley was born. We have an EP in the pipeline.
I am an American fan and just wanted to say that I have heard many different singers do Gethsemane and no one sings it as beautiful as you. I also love “Immortal”. A side note, I was visiting my daughter and family when they were living just outside London in 1993 or ‘97, can’t remember which and as we were shopping and sightseeing around the city, there were posters on the underground and around the city of Steve dressed as Jesus and walking through crowds of people, with some just walking by him and others looking at him with surprise. I thought it was a great poster.
I actually learned a few new things about Steve which to me is the sign of a great interview, well done 👏.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Steve gives me goosebumps when I hear him sing “Immortal” and “ Somewhere in the Audience” 🤍💫
Steve is unbelievable. I am glad you liked the interview.
@@Fairfaxcitymusic Great interview! Thank you 🙏
fab interview !
Thank you for this - I enjoyed it very much! There were three public performances of Poe at Abbey Road - the first two were "previews" and the third/final one was the actual premiere. I was fortunate enough to attend all three. I have nothing but respect for all involved in this amazing production - it was such a privilege to be there. Eric Woolfson will forever be missed, but I am grateful that he left us with so much music to treasure. ❤️
Glad you enjoyed it
This was great - loved it! ❤️
Glad you enjoyed it!