Hello folks, my name is Stephen Rhodes. I have for you here an album that I'm very proud of, a project that I have put a lot of time, effort, and money into. It was recorded, mixed and mastered at Songwriter's Recording Studio in Knoxville, TN. It consists of eight original compositions and two covers: "Winin' Boy Blues", by Jelly Roll Morton, and "Louis Collins", by Mississippi John Hurt. There is some country blues on the CD, a few ballads, two acoustic guitar instrumentals, a couple of rock and roll songs, including one about cave men! I play all the guitars on the album, harmonica, and I sing the lead vocal on all tracks. I also have piano, drums, bass, tuba, and violin on the project, creating a professional sounding CD that I sincerely believe people will enjoy.
My early influences are definitely hard rock, rock and roll, and blues. Bob Dylan and Neil Young are probably my biggest influences in the rock singer-songwriter category. When I was a teen, I was into the usual 1970's big acts such as Led Zeppelin, Areosmith, Bachman Turner Overdrive, ect. I also started listening to John Prine, Jelly Roll Morton, Doc Watson and other country blues artists.
I started writing songs as a teenager, and have been writing at a fairly steady clip ever since. I am not a prolific songwriter; they simply come out of me at a rate of three or four songs every couple of months or so. I have found that forcing songs out of myself doesn't really work for me. I have a tendency to write humorous songs and sad songs!
I moved to Knoxville in 2000, and have been performing at small venues around town since that time. At present I am performing as a duo with my friend Barbara Hawley, who plays piano, guitar, and sings. She is a great musician and songwriter, and she provides the piano work on Going Home. She also played piano on my first CD Stephen Rhodes.
Well, that's about all I can think of to say about myself. I hope you give a listen to my CD. You can click on the first two minutes of every song and listen for free. Then, if you like it, you can help an independent artist out! Thanks for listening.
Read more...