almoststeve

Q: What is your style of music?
     A: "Rock & Roll"
Q: Who are your favorite historical figures?
   A: William Wallace & Harriet Tubman
Q: What are your musical influences?
    A: "Everybody"
Q: What are your favorite foods?
     J: Pork tenderloin & potatoes au gratin
     B: Wild Wings' food
Q: What are your favorite venues to play?
   J: House of Blues
     B: The Reef, Music Farm
Q: What is your guilty pleasure?
   J: Crown Royal
     B: Cuervo
Q: What are your favorite CDs/Records?
    A: "Grace"--Jeff Buckley
Q: What is your favorite beverage?
    J: Mello Yello, Milk
     B: Cuervo
Q: How long have you performed in this area?
     A: 4 years
Q: What are your favorite things about the
     Charleston area?
    J: Beach & natural environment
     B: charlestonrocks.com (we did NOT make
          him say that!)
Q: What is your favorite song to perform?
     A: "Automatic"
Q: What is the origin of your name?
   A: Apparently they were trying to think of
          the worst possible band name
Q: Who does most of the writing for originals?
     A: Jeff



	It all started with some ice cream. This past summer, Julie & I were at the Ben & Jerry�s stand on IOP, when we asked the guy working at the stand for some insight on the Charleston music scene. He was really helpful and suggested that we see �Almost Steve� at the Portside. Unfortunately, it was a Wednesday night in July, and it was too late for us and our 9 to 5-working selves to stay up and actually enjoy ourselves. So when we saw that Almost Steve was playing this weekend, we knew we had to go see �em. They�ve come highly recommended several times, so we figured we�d be missing out if we didn�t get out to see them. We were not disappointed. The guys informed us that they were using old equipment the night we saw them. If anything, it probably just made the sound more raw and pared down�which sounded great to us! Drums, bass, 2 guitarists, and layered vocals added up to a really original sound. For a minute I was reminded of Dave Matthews, then�The Big Wu, then�Hootie�then�.I realized that this music was utterly uncategorical. (I like to make up words). All at once jammy, funky, gritty, & melodic, this music is hard to generalize, but easy to enjoy. These guys definitely have a loyal following, having been a part of the Charleston music scene for 4 years, and their music is highly danceable; solo or duo (as we noticed a couple dancing swing-ish-ly). Jeff�s vocals are raw, gritty, and intense, whereas Bill�s vocals are deep and smooth. It�s a cool combination of sounds. They have a CD out as well (Green Vegas Super City) and it's great...I absolutely love the first song ("One Day Life," I believe)--I dance around like a happy little elf everytime I listen to it.I All in all, Almost Steve provides some very unique, original music. These guys obviously put a lot of hard work into their music, even though they look like they don�t even break a sweat on stage. As hard as I�ve tried, words just don�t describe it. You�ll just have to go check it out for yourselves. **Notables: --We ran into the Ben & Jerry�s guy while at Wild Wings (he�s also a teacher), and he actually remembered us from the summer (although he seemed a bit confused) --Almost Steve will be going into the studio soon to begin work on their new CD SS