I was born and raised in the Northlands of Ontario Canada, where I grew up listening to my Grandfather sing the classics of Hank Williams and Ernest Tubb. I picked up a guitar at 17 and started playing in bands in highschool, we played the assemblies and dances and even played a bar across the border in Quebec in my senior year. The band was called THE JAZZ CHURCH, and our repertoire consisted mainly of cover songs from THE CURE, THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, THE PIXIES and the like. In college I played bass in a punk outfit called TIMMY LUPUS, which was made up mostly of buddies from my high school band, eventually taking over on vocals and writing a couple of songs. After finishing school I moved to Northern California where my journey as a singer/songwriter began. I bought a 4-track cassette recorder from a guy I waited tables with. In my room everynight I started recording, anything; covers, melodies, whatever, just practicing mainly...learning. The move away from my homeland hit me in a very spiritual way, I began writing songs that somehow had a connection with what I considered home. I played around Sonoma County as a solo artist and eventually put a band together called The Box Elders. During my time in the Bay area, I soaked in the live music seeing numerous concerts at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium and other great venues in San Francisco. I recorded a demo of songs with my band before moving to Nashville, Tn where I've been living for 8 years now. During my time in Nashville, I got a new incarnation of The Box Elders, have played numerous shows, recorded one full length acoustic cd in '01 called 'Where I Belong', an Ep in '03 (recorded live in studio), and am in the process of finishing up my first full length recording with THE BOX ELDERS, that should be finished by the end of '06. I've shared stages with the likes of Todd Snider, Whiskeytown, Blue Rodeo and Willie P. Bennett just to name a few. I feel my songwriting has really melted into something of its own, and I don't try to write in any particular style, I let the songs go where they want to go. Although every song leans towards a certain sound, I'm able to perform them in many different settings and styles. My music is a mixture of everything I've ever listened to or have subconciously absorbed over my lifetime, but probably the most recognizable influences would be roots, folk, rock and soul.Just a note to let everyone know that some of the folks who are my "friends" are actually my friends. Some of them are artists I admire or music I like, some of them just happen to find me and vice versa. Some of them I have absolutely no idea who they are, but am glad to have them on board.SPREAD THE WORD, SUPPORT THE CAUSE.
PEACE
Steve Benoit
You can pick up my cds at www.cdbaby.com.
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