Oliver Steck is a strange, wonderful, and incredibly talented musician. If you have seen him perform, you know what I mean!
I have no idea when these were posted (Fruhead.Com), but they are priceless:
The Coolest Man on Earth
I have never seen Oliver solo. I have never seen his band the Dysfunctionals or heard their music. He has no solo CDs. Yet he has to be on my list of favorite performers. I know him as Slaid Cleaves’ side man. He plays the accordion, trumpet, and Kazoo. He is not like anyone else on earth. You haven’t lived till you have heard his accordian solo on "You’re a Mean One Mr Grinch" or heard him lead the work gang on "Breakfast in Hell." He does perform solo so if you see a listing for Oliver Steck "master of the accordion" don’t miss him. Join Oliver’s Army
you, too, can join the army, for just a minimal fee
Rod Picott once said that he knew Slaid Cleaves had made it big when people started showing up to his shows wearing Tshirts with pictures of his sideman. That sideman, of course, is the amazing Oliver Steck, who’s lent his special brand of musical talent and total insanity to musicians all over. As far as I know, he’s worked mainly as a sideman, except when he was a member of Chicago-area band The Dysfunctionells -- the kind of band whose CDs are nowhere to be found, but if you mention them to local record store clerks, you become instantly cool in their eyes. The last we heard, Oliver was in California, taking vaudeville classes and learning how to get pies in the face and fall down a lot. It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out. I consider it an honor and a privilege to be a founding member of Oliver’s Army, and to have actually taken his place in "Breakfast in Hell" (with Gordon and Shelly) at the Tin Angel. And I can’t wait til he takes us all back home on the mothership.
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Oliver performing with Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies
"Sugar""When the Little Red Roses Get the Blues for You"
