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Joel Steven is a songwriter, performer, recording engineer, and multi-instrumentalist with proficiency in guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. At the age of 16, Joel hit the stage as a rock guitarist where his dynamic intensity as a live performer quickly gained him notoriety. By the age of 18, Joel was doing live shows across his home state of Michigan capturing the attention of his audiences with his electrifying stage presence and blistering yet bluesy guitar style often described as a cross between Jimmy Page and David Gilmore.

In 1986 Steven settled in Kalamazoo Michigan where he sought to hone his skills as a songwriter and lyricist by gaining a degree in creative writing. He attended Western Michigan University from 1986-1990 and graduated with a BA in English. His talent as a poet was refined, and his love of imagery began to make it’s way into his original songs, creating solid foundation where words and music reinforced one another.

“People always ask me if I use my degree in the real word. I smile and reply single day. The depth and into which I delved into the art of writing poetry and the understanding of the English language formed the basis of my skills as a lyricist, and I value this education above all of my other learning”.

While attending the University Steven continued to play live and became known as a prolific songwriter. He formed two original bands to showcase his music. The hard rocking ‘Mana Rule’ (1990-1994 and ‘Eel pie Island’ (1994-1995) both of which became known for Joel’s unyielding stage performances and edgy improvisational guitar riffs.

Wanting always to learn and grow musically, Steven moved to California in 1995 and began to explore the realm of audio engineering. Forever fascinated by musical arrangements and how instruments and tones work together, Joel pursued a career as a live sound engineer. When he wasn’t performing live, he was mixing night club and concert sound for prominent national bands such as Charlie Daniels Band, Iron Butterfly, Dread Zeppelin and Suicidal Tendencies “I absolutely loved mixing live sound. It taught me extremely valuable engineering skills that I would later come to cherish as I sought my lifelong dream of becoming artist in my own studio”

Following his dream Steven did just that. In 1999 he opened a small recording studio and established the indie label Octagon Records with the intention of writing and recording independent music that believed In. This was the start of Joel’s career as an independent recording artist. Since then he has released two albums pf original music, “North Coast” and “Fathomless”, as well as two albums of instrumental rock with the venerable keyboardist Paul Grove under the name “What Man Was”. Several songs form Joel’s CDs can be heard on MTV’s Real Word, Road Rules, Made, and Extreme Challenge as Well as two indie films, “Read White and you” and “Insomnia Century 21”

New Album "The dark After Dawn"

Powerful and true to life, The Dark After Dawn is a haunting journey into the mind of one man caught in a world of war, environmental destruction and financial ruin. The year is 2009.

The follow up to Joel Steven’s second release Fathomless, The Dark After Dawn was conceived and written in the troubled years of 2008 and 2009, a time when fear and uncertainty became the fabric of everyday life across our faltering world.

A conceptual collection of songs comparable in scope to great albums like Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and Sting’s “Ten Sumner’s Tales, The Dark After Dawn pulls the listener through deepening tunnels of hope and despair, where each song adds a new element to the tale, yet can still stand amazingly strong alone.

True to his form, Joel Steven’s the Dark After Dawn is remarkably diverse. From the crushing and sinister “Time to Bleed”, to the soaring acoustic guitar driven “Listen”, and on to the tongue-in-cheek sarcasm of “Assisted Suicide”, Steven’s songs reflect the winding pathways of human emotion and twisting moods of its narrator.

http://www.joelsteven.com Memebers

Joel Steven - Guitars, Vocals, Drums, words and music

Paul Grove - Keyboards and samples

Jon Brownpost - Bass Guitar