All I ever wanted to do is play in a band.
As a young boy, I spent a lot of time listening to records and telling my Mom I wanted to play the guitar like my cousin Dave. Actually, some of you may know him.
Dave Constantino; and he had quite a bit of success early on with a band called "the Tweeds" and again later doing a 3 piece gig with
Billy Sheehan and Paul Varga in "Talas." So, it appears that my persistence paid off, because at age 7, my parents bought me my first guitar. I took lessons, practiced and played. My poor Mom…
There was a kid named John McLane who lived a couple streets over, and not only did he play several different instruments, but had a little stage set up in his basement for the neighborhood kids to play and watch. He called it "The White Elephant." Looking back, I'm sure that we all sounded terrible, but when you're from a little town outside of Erie Pennsylvania called "North East," let's just say that we weren't pooling from a lot of musicians. Really, it's hard to remember all of the details, but what I do know was that I loved it!
Fast forward to high school: I played in some local bands with friends, and like most musicians, I got my start playing dances and parties. Eventually, our band got a steady gig at a local bar on weekends the summer before my senior year. That same summer, John McLane was playing out with a guy that had worked for a company called
Young American Showcase. He encouraged me to audition. I did and got the gig! "Young American Showcase" had eight touring bands that played Rock and Roll shows at schools all over the US, Canada, and Mexico. Showcase was a Christian organization that taught young musicians to be great performers. The bands toured under the names "Free Fare" and "Freedom Jam." I'm sure a lot of you have seen Showcase bands out there. All of the musicians in Showcase bands were put through "boot camp," before hitting the road. Boot camp was a month of long, hard practice days taught by some of the greatest performers that focused on not only musicianship, but comedy, body movement, facial expression and crowd interaction. We all learned to play, perform, look and act like true professionals and the touring schedule was unlike any I've seen. It was not unusual to play three shows a day with long travel times in between. We had a customized vehicle to travel in, all brand new equipment with big name corporate sponsorship, and stage clothes by Michael Braun. His designs have been worn by Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, just to name a few. Showcase taught me countless performing and life lessons that I still carry with me today.
I left Showcase to start a band with a high school friend Jeff Hair called "Alexander," that included founding members;
Billy DenMead, Frank Pannell, and Eric Alexander. The band toured for 8 years and had a large following on the East coast.
Since the Alexander days, I have been doing a lot of writing and recording. Currently, I'm in the process of recording a new CD. You're going to love the new material!
Thanks for stopping by my page. I appreciate you taking the time to check it out. I'll be posting some demos as we go along for you to listen to and enjoy. If you have a minute or two, drop me a line and let me know what you think!
Steve
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