Spokane Bound. Issue #60

Last week's show at HOTWIRE COFFEE was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed trying out some new songs to a crowd of regular show attendees and locals wondering who was infiltrating their local spot. TJ SHERRILL opened the night, and he and I closed the evening with a song we wrote on tour last year called, "Mexican Jail". It's a little song that could be compared to the INDIGO GIRLS stylistically and features traded off verses about stumbling across the border and getting captured by Federales. If it's true when they say to write what you know, then we have no business playing this song but in the few times we've played it it always gets a good reaction. Unfortunately, we didn't have the awkwardness of sharing the same mic. "So close I can hear you breathin'...."

Last week I re-read a script that was sent to me by new friend Todd Downing who is a local director. The script is for a film called "Duo" that follows the adventures of two friends over a weekend. I don't want to say more about it (not my thing), but was happy to be asked to be involved in some way with the soundtrack of the film. This will be new territory for me and a good challenge considering I'm in a bit of a new song rut this past week with other stuff on my mind...




In that category would be the fact that I am in the process of hiring a new publicist. Until now, most of my promotion has been self-contained so I thought it was time to let a professional out of the gates and see what happens. In talking to them I found we had a lot of the same visions and that is always a good thing. More on this as it develops...

Attention Spokane Friends! I'll be making the trip over the pass to perform this Saturday, August 6th at CATERINA WINERY. This was originally a full band trip, but do some current personnel changes going on in KS HQ I'll be performing acoustic and and will be joined by my lead guitarist Matt creating textures and animal sounds. It's only my 2nd appearance in Spokane in the past year and I'm really ready to come back. Check my website for details!




If you haven't gone to see THE DARK KNIGHT yet...DO IT!!! Amazing film that takes it's subject matter seriously (Batman), and treats the genre with the respect that it deserves. And amazing work of art that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves a good movie in general. I'm usually not a fan of symphonic driven movie soundtracks, but once you see it you have to respect how much the sounds complement the visuals throughout. Hans Zimmer is the man.


"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villian."
-Harvey Dent


-KS

2 x 4. Issue #59

Hey! Last week I released a new single, "VOUCH FOR ME", and the feedback I've received sounds like people are really feeling it. That's makes me happy, and if you don't already have your copy you can receive your MP3 download by joining the email list! Moving on...

This Friday (7/25) I will be performing at HOTWIRE COFFEE in Shoreline as part of their summer concert series with TJ SHERRILL opening. The Show is FREE, starts at 7:30, and is ALL-AGES. HOTWIRE now serves beer and wine (still family-friendly) as well as the usual coffee house staples so come thirsty. It's been a while since my last acoustic show (other than my last minute one a few weeks ago), and I'm looking forward to stripping down songs off of SONGS FROM THE ORANGE ROOM, new songs, and a choice cover. So choice in fact, I thought it might be kinda fun if readers of this blog picked it for me since I'm feeling a little indecisive. If you care about this sort of thing, vote which song I'll play on Friday via the widget to the right. I'm in an 80's mood this week if that helps you understand what I'm going for here...

Last week I had a meeting with TECHNOGREEK (see blog sidebar) regarding our project that revolves around music and how it can blend with comics/geek/pop-culture. More about this as we get closer to some sort of a final product, but we left the meeting feeling energized about the possibility of doing something that could be pretty original in it's application. We all know few things are these days, so the more we move forward the more it feels like lightning in a bottle. More on this later...




I was able to indulge my inner EN VOGUE fantasy other day at my good friend Joe Malek's B-Day outing with some Karaoke. After seeing a woman perform a Roberta Flack song with one the most soulful voices I have heard a while, I asked her to join me and had an interpretation of "Free Your Mind". It was AWESOME, and got that much closer to my early 90's R&B cover band.


The Wifey and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary at IMPANEMA in downtown Seattle and rolled (not walked) out of there in a meat coma. Technogreek referred us, and it truly was different than any dinner I have ever been too. For those of you who need a little more info before heading out, here you go...

You are greeted at the door by a woman with incredibly bleached highlights and welcomed by the sweet smell of grilled meats. She asks you if you've been there, and it will ask you three more times before you can read through her strong Brazilian accent leaving you feeling even more white than you did before. After being seated, you are given a card to keep at your table which has different colored sides from which to signal your meat-bearing waiters. On one side is the color green which will tells them, "Bring on the meats"! The other side is a red warning, "Stop or I've going to lose my meats right here". The ONLY reason that would happen is if you over-indulge in their 16 meat selection (That's what she said?) as one-by-one skewers are brought to your table every few minutes impaling Wild Boar, Filet Mignon (and every kind of steak imaginable), Bacon Wrapped Turkey, Sausage, Chicken, and many others to satisfy the most carnivorous appetite. I can't remember ever feeling so full (meat intoxication), and make sure if you go you are starving to make it fully worth the visit (kinda pricey). Delicious!


This week also comes with a public service announcement...MAKE CAMPING RESERVATIONS AHEAD OF TIME. That is unless you want to spend 9 hours driving around north Washington looking for a campsite only to return home the shamed warrior. The Wifey and I decided to further celebrate our anniversary by going camping...next time planning ahead a little more. Not all bad though, we got up early Saturday on a quest to find a site by heading down I-90 for a few hours that turned out to be just right after bathing in "Deep Woods" Cutter. Oh, it burns...it burns...

Have a good week!

KS

New Single, "VOUCH FOR ME". Issue #58

This week I'm releasing my brand new single, "Vouch For Me". It was co-produced by myself and Matt Edington (COLLIDER, FORCEFIELDS), with cover art and photography by Joshua Stearns.

The song will only be available for FREE download by joining my mailing list via my official site, www.kylestevensmusic.com (your email will not be shared, nor will you be receiving anything other than KS/COLLIDER happenings, show updates, and newsletters!). If you aren't on the mailing list, head over to my site and follow the link instructions. Once KS HQ receives the info, you'll receive the MP3 via email!

Stylistically, it's a bit of a departure for me from the norm and that's one of the reasons I'm very excited about this release. I wholeheartedly encourage you to share it with friends, and please send them this way if they would like to receive a download as well.

Thank YOU for listening and spreading KS music!

-KS

Atari. Issue #57

Last weekend my old friend Dylan Atari flew up from San Fransisco to stay with me and visit for a week. Dylan was the bass player for my longtime band LAYMANS TERMS (who some of you may or may not know), and we basically grew up together by starting LT when we were 13.
We continued to kill our inner ear cells in practice rooms all over Seattle until we disbanded in 2004.

After LT broke up, there was the the "post breakup weirdness" that occurs anytime a long-term relationship ends (anyone who tells you a band isn't a marriage is lying), and Dylan moved to SF to attend the ART INSTITUTE where he now studies Video Game Animation and Design. Dylan and I talk regularly about music, art, the quarter life crisis, and how things have changed so much in the music industry in just the 4-years since LT split. There was no iTunes, Myspace, Facebook, or any of the other music blogs that now help bands (like myself and COLLIDER) reach their audiences in ways that we never could. We sometimes wonder how those tools could have helped LT had the band continued for a few years longer, and though we'll never know, it's interesting to speculate how things would have helped if at all.



In the short time following LT's break-up, any reminiscing of LT felt heavy and loaded with years of baggage that looking back needed to settle with time before the good could rise to the top. This past week though we had a blast watching a few old live songs on VHS, skipping through demos, and talking about the crazy musical adventures together that defined our late teens and early 20's. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to play with Dylan again at a COLLIDER practice as Mark (Bass) was out of town and invited to him to fill the slot for the night. My uncle has played with a few of the same guys his entire musical life (35 years), and has often told me that when you play with some people for so long there is a innate musical connection that forms. It was obvious to me that we still have that after playing for so long, and years later I'm thankful that continues to exist with he and Matt Edington being two of my closest friends.




The night ended not too unlike how we started playing together; with us getting as far into covers of SMASHING PUMPKINS, PEARL JAM, and LIVE as we could and my voice going out from my horrible Billy Corgan impression. That's what's it's all about...





I'm really excited to announce that next week I'll have a brand new 2008 Summer-Single available for download via my site. The song is called "Vouch For Me" and I think you'll like it...see you in a week!

-KS