Seasick Steve…
And now some music again for a change…=)
My friend showed me Steve few weeks ago and I immediately became a fan, fan of music and the personality behind – this is a man with a history=)
Steven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, (born 1941) is an American blues musician. He plays (mostly personalized) guitars, and sings, usually about his early life doing casual work.
When asked about his nickname, Wold has said: “because it’s just true: I always get seasick.” When he was ill on a ferry in Norway, later in his life, a friend began playfully using the name and, despite Wold not rising to it for a while, it stuck.
Wold was born in Oakland, California, USA. When he was four years old, his parents split up. His father played boogie-woogie piano and at five or six years old, Wold tried to learn but could not. At age eight, he learned to play the guitar (he later found out that it was blues) from K. C. Douglas, who worked at his grandfather’s garage. Douglas wrote the song “Mercury Blues” and used to play with Tommy Johnson. Wold left home at 13 to avoid abuse at the hands of his stepfather, and lived rough and on the road in Tennessee, Mississippi and elsewhere, until 1973. He would travel long distances by hopping freight trains, looking for work as a farm labourer or in other seasonal jobs, often living as a hobo. At various times, Wold worked as a carnie, cowboy and a migrant worker.
Of this time he once said:
“Hobos are people who move around looking for work, tramps are people who move around but don’t look for work, and bums are people who don’t move and don’t work. I’ve been all three”
In the 1960s, he started touring and performing with fellow blues musicians, and had friends in the music scene including Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell. Since then, he has worked, on and off, as a session musicianand studio engineer. In the late 1980s, while living in Olympia, near Seattle, he worked with many indie label artists. Kurt Cobain was a friend.
His debut solo album, Dog House Music was released by Bronzerat Records on November 26, 2006, after he was championed by an old friend, Joe Cushley, DJ on the Ballin’ The Jack blues show on London radio station Resonance FM.
Wold toured early in 2008, playing in various venues and festivals in the UK. He was joined on stage by drummer Dan Magnusson. KT Tunstall also dueted with Wold at one concert (Astoria, London, January 24, 2008). Wold also played many other festivals throughout the world in 2008, including Fuji Rock in Japan, East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival in Australia (also in April 2008), and Roskilde in Denmark.
Wold’s major-label debut, I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left was recorded with Dan Magnusson on drums, was released by Warner Music on September 29, 2008, and features Ruby Turner and Nick Cave’s Grinderman.
On January 3, 2010, Seasick Steve appeared on the popular BBC motoring show Top Gear as the Star In A Reasonably Priced Car. He was the last star to drive in the blue Chevrolet Lacetti.
In February 2010, Seasick Steve was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist for the second consecutive year.
In February 2011, Seasick Steve signed to Play It Again Sam to release his new album with the exception of the US, where it will be released on Third Man Records. Subsequently his new album You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks was released on his new labels and it was announced that former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones had played on the new album, and performed alongside Seasick Steve to promote it. This has caused some to believe that he will tour with Steve as a part of his backing band, joining his current drummer Dan. John Paul Jones did indeed appear onstage to play with Steve at the Isle of Wight 2011 festival and on the main stage of Rock Werchter 2011.
In July 2011, Seasick Steve played on stage with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters & John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin (both of whom are members of the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures) at Milton Keynes National Bowl in front of a sold-out audience of 65,000.
In August 2011, Seasick Steve played at Reading and Leeds Festival, and the Fairport Cropredy Convention, sharing the stage with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.
Wold has problems putting down roots in one place, and he and his wife have lived in 59 houses to date. They currently live in Norway and the UK. One of Wold’s sons, Didrik, is an illustrator who is responsible for designing all of Steve’s album artwork, merchandise, print ads, and websites. His youngest son, Paul Martin Wold, played drums on Dog House Music and first made a guest appearance with him on percussion/drums at the Astoria in January 2008 and has since performed with Seasick Steve frequently, playing washboard, shakers, tambourine, floor tom and occasionally guitar. He also works as Steve’s guitar-tech. Paul Martin Wold, aka Wishful Thinking released his debut album ‘A Waste of Time Well Spent’ on November 2, 2009 and showcased a selection from the album whilst touring the UK with Seasick Steve.
Find Seasick Steve on his page, Facebook, MySpace, Youtube. Get his music on Amazon and iTunes.
And here’s his music, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do!=)
Sincerely,
S.