Steve Robinson: News

Sunday Aug. 5 2007 at the the Brickhouse Brewery in Patchogue NY I was fortunate to win the Long Island Blues Society challenge. I will be representing the Long Island iBlues Society n the International Blues Challengein Memphis in January 2008. Thanks to everyone who came down on Sunday and to the LIBS and Brickhouse Brewery for sponsoring the event.

A new year. The dems are in power. Let's see if anything actually changes.
It was a great Christmas with my grandchildren; Santa came by on Christmas Eve to the wide eyed wonderment of Emma (age 4) Gianna (who will be three in just a few days) Aidan (who will be two later this month) and Matthew (who will be two in March). I wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year

The term “been there, done that” seems to have been made specifically for Mr. Steve Robinson, who has been involved in more professions than a small crowd combined. Though Steve personifies the term “Jack of All Trades”, it seems that his heart right now lies mainly in the field of music, where he surely must have tons to write about from the “hasn’t been dull” lifestyle his wife describes him as having. Ok, so the spirit is there, but what about the caliber of the songwriting? Well, before I can even listen to the music, I can’t help but notice that Mr. Robinson has recruited an all star band, of which all of the members have been involved in varying degrees of fame. Being the winner of the ISS Writer’s Choice award isn’t a bad thing either, especially considering that it was the first time Steve had ever entered the competition. With that, it’s time to see if the music is just as good as the back story.

With the plucking bend of guitar, “Mama’s Place” begins to play, a song with the appeal of a commercial jingle with the addition of substance. This guitar waddles around the tune, playing second only to Robinson’s vocals, detailing the “feels like home” vibe of wherever Mama’s place may be. The band is like a smooth drink on a hot day, everything is mixed exactly as it should sound. The deep precision of the bass, the country vibrato on Robinson’s voice, the punctuated percussion, it’s all there. He may have resided in Long Island his whole life, but Steve Robinson surely could make you think he was born and raised in the southern sun.

“Honeysuckle Breeze” is a throwback to the old time jazz/country standards with picturesque lyrics and a captivating chord progression. This is the type of song that I could see other musicians continually covering, ala classics such as “Ain’t Misbehavin” or “Summertime”. The song even metaphorically sways like a breeze, completely morphing its own subject matter. I wouldn’t be surprised if this were the tune that solidified Robinson as an ISS award winner. In fact I believe I’ve just listened to it about 5 or 6 times in a row without any thought of pushing the stop button. The structure is crafted in a way that keeps the interest strong for the listener around every turn.

With “Little Rock and Roller”, Robinson has a swing at some 12 bar blues, which I followed with “I Can See It In Your Eyes”, a tune with the component of western attitude combined with a 1950s slow dance vibe. Every song by Robinson and his band of rock stars seems to hold my interest with its unique twist on something that’s already familiar. It’s almost as if they knew that some of these styles have been long stale or out of commission, breathing fresh life into them as they stretched out their creative styles. The song “Son of the Night” only closes this assumption even further, with its touches of hard rock and 60’s Hammond organ.

So what’s my final though on Steve Robinson? Well, at first I must question why this band only has one award. With their blend of revitalization injected into familiar genres, Robinson simply cannot write a bad song. If you are into music AT ALL, you will definitely dig SR, as there is always an avenue of their sound to offer you an invitation into the rest of their catalogue. With wisdom, experience, and damn good musicianship, Steve Robinson and his band busts out the old record collection and hands out the unavoidable new product.

"Find My Baby Blues" hit the #1 spot for the week on Twang Cast Radio out of Austin Texas on June 26. Twang Cast is an Internet country music station. You can see the lsiting at http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=29481361&blogID=138126655&MyToken=e0f364ce-ae0e-4919-a392-ada0a65e3d0b

Getting some radio play in Europe. Three shows in Belgium featured songs from Back Roads over the last few weeks

Appeared on Rob Leonard's show Jan 29 2006 at 10:00 AM on WHPC 90.3 FM. Played live and recorded cuts from the CD Back Roads.

Join me at the Irish Cottage on Park Blvd. in Massapequa Park on March 17, 2006 for my third annual St. Patrick's Day gig. The place will be jumping. More details to come.

The family photos were taken by me - all three other photos were all taken by my good friend Sonja Lashua Fagan