Short Biography
After nearly half a century spent in obscurity, Seasick Steve -- with one electrifying performance on Jools Holland's Hootenanny, New Years Eve 2007 -- burst on to the UK scene.
Four years and four Jools Holland shows later, plus guest spots on Jonathan Ross, Top Gear, and many more; performances at nearly every major UK festival, including 3 barnstorming main stage Glastonbury appearances, and rockign shows at V Festival, Reading & Leeds, Hard Rock Calling, Latitude Restival, and major European festivals like Rock Werchter and Pukkelpop; plus over one million records sold; all serve to firmly establish Seasick Steve as a real star.
All of this without a radio hit...
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Short Biography
After nearly half a century spent in obscurity, Seasick Steve -- with one electrifying performance on Jools Holland's Hootenanny, New Years Eve 2007 -- burst on to the UK scene.
Four years and four Jools Holland shows later, plus guest spots on Jonathan Ross, Top Gear, and many more; performances at nearly every major UK festival, including 3 barnstorming main stage Glastonbury appearances, and rockign shows at V Festival, Reading & Leeds, Hard Rock Calling, Latitude Restival, and major European festivals like Rock Werchter and Pukkelpop; plus over one million records sold; all serve to firmly establish Seasick Steve as a real star.
All of this without a radio hit or playlist, just a battered 3-string guitar, a one-string Diddley Bo' (a piece of 2x4 wood with a string nailed to it) and a collection of other cheap and interesting instruments that some would just about call "firewood", plus the Mississippi Drum Machine (a wooden box with some carpet on top, and a Mississippi license plate on the front).
With these, Seasick Steve has sold out such venues as London's historic Royal Albert Hall, the Hammersmith Apollo, Brixton O2 Academy, and many more.
There are no fancy frills in his records, no light shows on stage, no backing tapes, no auto-tune, no whistles OR bells... just some get-down, go-for-it, foot-stomping, real... live... music.
As far as we can figure, this hasn't ever really happened before -- a guy, way past his apparent sell-by date, who has never been famous, suddenly garnering so much attention and success, not just with the older crowds, but equally as much with the young hip festival and concert goers -- this is history.
In-depth Biography
Like T-Model Ford, Seasick Steve (aka Steve Wold) began recording his own music much later in life than other musicians. A storytelling singer reviving traditional country blues, Wold spent his childhood in California, but left home at 14. As a hobo, he traveled for several years, jumping trains and working odd jobs. After drifting around the U.S. and Europe, he finally ended up in Norway. Aside from his respectable musical background (which includes recording early Modest Mouse, appearing on BBC television, and playing with John Lee Hooker), Wold is also noted for his unusual custom-made stringed instruments. By the time he was in his sixties, he'd finally released some official material. His first solo album, Doghouse Music, out in late 2006, was performed almost entirely by Wold. Another record, Cheap, was recorded with the Swedish rhythm section the Level Devils. An amorous seven-track Valentine’s Day EP called Songs for Elisabeth (six of the cuts were culled from previous releases) arrived in 2010. With a rustic and at time almost punk blues approach to his material, Wold increasingly merged country blues trance boogie with a street holler voice that makes Tom Waits seem like a mainstream crooner, and the best of his songs carry a hard-earned wisdom that can only come from living on the street one block over from the edge of civility. He released the stark and powerful You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks in 2011. ~ Kenyon Hopkin & Steve Leggett, Rovi
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