HIP CHECK: Who Exactly IS Seasick Steve?
Authenticity is a tricky thing in rock and roll. Image has ALWAYS mattered. Elvis didn’t wear that gold lame suit while driving his truck, did he? From David Bowie to David Johansen, Alice Cooper to Marilyn Manson, performers have always crafted personas to enhance their music.
Which brings us to Seasick Steve. Some claim he’s an authentic American hobo who rode the rails and taught himself the blues on a self-made, three-stringed electric guitar; others, that he is a San Francisco-soaked former hippy session player who cannily tapped into a pseudo-Robert Johnson myth for profit and gain. Fun and enticing stuff, indeed, but in the end, does it really matter? Steve is just the latest in a long line of musical personas. Let the controversy go and… just… listen.
“I STARTED OUT WITH NOTHIN’, AND I’VE STILL GOT MOST OF IT LEFT.”
— Seasick Steve
Though virtually unknown in America, Steve is a fabulous player who, by birthright or bluff, has concocted a musical style so unduplicated that not only is no one close, no one is even in his area code. The English press — as it is wont to do — has simultaneously embraced his sound and lambasted his conflicting backstories. Again, though, does it matter?
Origin story, smorigin story. At HipTherapyMusic.com what matters is that music rules the day. Close your eyes. Open your mind. Trust your ears. His stuff is AWESOME. “Summertime Boy” (below) took up permanent residence in my head the first time I heard it on Jools Holland’s TV show. Likewise with “Roy’s Gang.”
Seasick Steve’s not new but for American audiences he’s definitely worth getting to know. Image inconsistencies be damned. Rearrange your head and make room for him. He’s a ton of fun.
Close your eyes. Open your mind. Trust your ears.
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