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After a long battle with cancer, Steve passed away on October 7, 2009 at the age of 60. He was laid to rest at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. He will be greatly missed. He adored his many fans and friends.
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Born in the Clarksdale Housing Projects in Louisville, Kentucky, this soulful singing guitar virtuoso is one of today's most original recording and performing artists. While steeped in traditional rhythm and blues, Steve Ferguson's compositions and arrangements make his music truly his own, giving it a syncopation more common to New Orleans, with a Memphis inspired muddy river funk.
Ferguson says he has the right hand of a country player and the left hand of a blues player, resulting in a rural yet sophisticated style of guitar playing. His flat picking and finger pulling techniques give him a sound that must be seen as well as heard to be appreciated.
Ferguson's personal guitar influences were the likes of Lonnie Mack, James Burton, Robert Ward, Steve Cropper and Albert Collins, while his vocal inspiration came from 60's soul singers such as Otis Redding, Don Covay, Solomon Burke and Junior Walker.
In 1990, on a project initiated by Keith Richards, Ferguson collaborated with Chuck Berry's main man- rock'n blues piano legend, the late Johnnie Johnson on the Grammy nominated release Johnny B. Bad. Called in by producer Terry Adams to add guitar tracks, Ferguson's role quickly expanded from guitarist to writer-singer-guitarist. The completed recording contained four Ferguson tunes and two Ferguson vocals. His signature guitar bends show up on a total of seven cuts including "Blues 572" on which he trades solos with Eric Clapton.
The following year, Schoolkid's Records released Ferguson's first solo cd, Jack Salmon and Derby Sauce. It's here, on his own album where Ferguson really excels with his rhythmic brew of Creole-based roots music, combining gospel chord voicings, lightning fast picking, and flurries of Memphis-styled double stops. Ferguson's soulful voice and matchless guitar playing are only enhanced by an equally stunning band.
Enthused by the success of Jack Salmon and Derby Sauce, Schoolkid's Records released Ferguson's second solo cd, Mama-U-Seapa. Although a continuation in Creole diversity, Mama-U-Seapa possesses an element of mystery, not unlike that of Screaming Jay Hawkins or Dr. John. Mama-U-Seapa reveals a darker, feverish side of Ferguson, which can only be expressed through the nastiness of his trademark guitar and fiery soul of his voice. On various tracks, Steve is accompanied by his former colleagues, N.R.B.Q. and piano legend Johnnie Johnson, earning Mama-U-Seapa a 4-star rating in Guitar World Magazine and rave reviews throughout the music industry.
From the early days of N.R.B.Q. to his most recent recordings, Steve Ferguson has received overwhelming praise and acclaim, but to fully experience the excitement of Fergie's music, a live performance is a must. Perhaps a Ferguson concert is best described by David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine after he saw Ferguson perform at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, " Sometimes if you really want to party, you have to call in an expert... Steve Ferguson turned up at SxSW with his band of hard-bitten blues-rock gangsters, The Midwest Creole Ensemble, and smoked the crowd at Babe's with a set of hard, funky bed rock & roll.. .Ferguson fired off stinging Chuck Berryesque outbursts and hairpin blues turns on his Telecaster with a smoldering reprise of his old N.R.B.Q. showcase number, " Flat Foot Flewzy". 'My wife is a gourmet pastry chef, Ferguson announced,' and I've been doing this here thing for some forty years. We concluded that if I do the shakin' and she does the bakin', everything would be cool.' Now really can it get any better than that?"
Check out Steve Ferguson on his 2001 live release, Two Dollar No Holler essay24@AOL.com
ALSO! Check out this Jelly article...
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