“This album really started with me and my friends getting together late at night, trying to recreate that ‘70s country feel of a classic Don Williams album,” he says. “I’d bring a bottle of Irish Whiskey, we’d listen to some records, then I’d pull out a song I’d written that fit that era. We’d all play it live, two or three times, and that was it. It really started out just for fun.”
– Stephen Simmons on his latest release, Hearsay
Last night I went to Haugesund to catch a concert with the singer/songwriter Stephen Simmons. He didn’t disappoint, it was a very nice evening out. We were too few, but we were very happy with the show.
I got to have a little chat with him, what a nice guy. I taped three of the songs on my camera and Stephen Simmons said I could post them here, but first a short bio from his website (in between some pictures from the concert):
Growing up in a small town in central Tennessee, Stephen Simmons kept his radio tuned to the country station, where the sounds of Don Williams and Waylon Jennings were never more than a few tunes away. Simmons treated those songwriters like school teachers, showing Simmons how to deliver a story, turn a phrase and pack a punch. By the time he released his debut album in 2004, though, Simmons had also learned how to rock.
Years later, Simmons has a few more roots-rock albums under his belt… as well as a new one, Hearsay, that doesn’t fall into the same category. Full of old-school twang and classic storytelling, it’s the sound of an artist getting back to his roots.
I prefer his country/folk tinged stuff to his more heartland rock. Here is a first taste, the wonderful I ain’t lonely (I’m just lonesome) from the new album Hearsay:
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