In the 28 years since Steve Allen was born, he has fulfilled a personal, musical mythology--collaborating with the most respected professionals in gospel music, performing the Grand Ole Opry and buying the recording studio where he began as an intern in 1998.
Born in Worthington, the smallest incorporated town in West Virginia, Steve has recorded with more people than live in his hometown. Well, almost. Worthington is 2.2 square miles - Population 123. Its smaller than Wal-Mart.
Determined to maneuver his way into the music industry, this farmer's son moved to Nashville to attend Middle Tennessee State University in 1998. In October of that year, he heard Scott Fowler on a southern gospel radio station. Fowler was a member of the legendary gospel group, The Cathedral Quartet. Steve took a chance and called Fowler after the show to ask if he might intern for him at Square One Studio. The rest, as they say, is rock and roll history.
Steve's initial project at Square One Studio, when the Cathedral Quartet retired later that year, was as engineer for Fowler and Roger Bennett's new group, Legacy Five. Their critically acclaimed, nationally released, first album received two Dove nominations. Not bad for a first project.
Steve broke his teeth working on projects with a veritable who's who of Christian artists, including Bob Carlisle, Vestal Goodman, Gaither Vocal Band, Ernie Haase, The Isaacs, and The Old Friends Quartet. He had a studio in his home and opportunity was about to pound on his Smyrna, Tennessee door.
In August 2001, Carol Holtz from Square One Studio called and asked if he'd like to buy the studio. Steve had heard rumors that it may have been for sale almost a year before, but this was a bona fide dealno rumor. He made his move and in November of that year, he closed the deal and owned the first studio where he had worked. He revamped and upgraded the gear and has turned out a steady stream of first class projects with such notables as Mark Lowry, Kirk Cameron (from the 80s TV show Growing Pains), and Bob Carlisles Butterfly Kisses and Other Stories).
Before her untimely death, Vestal Goodman recorded at Square One Studio frequently. Steve recorded Vestal singing The Eastern Gate, an old classic of hers on December 15, 2003. Twelve days later, over the Christmas holiday, she died, while on vacation in Florida, just weeks away from completing a 25 song project with Stevea collection scheduled for release in late 2004. Vestals passing made the CNN news and Rolling Stone magazine. During her life, she was nominated for ten Grammy awards and won three. She was the first female Christian artist to win a Grammy and a Dove Award.
Since then, Steve has worked on several great gospel records with producer/songwriter Zane King, most notably Terry Terrells Back on My Feet CD. The title cut from that project received mainstream country radio airplay, which, again, is no mean feat. In July of 2005, Steve worked on the pilot for a TV show called Gospel Music at the River, at the River of Life Assembly of God in Smyrna, TN, starring country music giant George Jones. In May 2005, he engineered a Kirk Talley CD and video, which Talley said was the best product hed ever done. Talley appeared subsequently in a feature article in the August 2005 issue of GQ magazine.
Not only has Steve succeed in his career, he also fulfilled his personal goal of performing at the Grand Ole Opry when he played on Friday, September 9, 2005 with his friends in Legacy Five, from whom he bought his studio. He said it was a dream come true, which may be, but it seems dreams come true more often for those who work hard.