Stephen Simmons profile picture

Stephen Simmons

Look Me In The Stars

About Me

Stephen Simmons was raised in the small town of Woodbury, Tennessee. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father held a factory job. In his family, they were the first generation that didn’t work the farm. Now a singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee, Stephen’s vision entails more than just reflections of rural America. The songs on his new recording, Something In Between, deal with existential realities that are familiar to country and city dwellers alike: redemption, heartbreak, hangovers and the loneliness of the road.Like Stephen’s previous records, The Superstore, Last Call and Drink Ring Jesus (which were compared to everyone from Johnny Cash to Ryan Adams), Something In Between combines virtuosic songcraft and musicianship with unparalleled artistic honesty. “Don’t Mind Me,” for example, turns a jaded eye toward the perils of drunken conversation and the frustrations of a barroom troubadour. “And don’t mind me,” he sings, “Just keep it moving along/ The last thing in this world that I need/ Is a bar full of yapping jaws/ And don’t mind me/ Man I’ll pay when I’m done/ Already owed everybody/ Before I ever begun.”Something in Between differs somewhat from Stephen’s previous work. If anything, the new recording focuses more on the microcosm of human relationships and less on the broader questions of faith and redemption that defined Last Call and Drink Ring Jesus. The title track, for instance, articulates the shifting emotions felt at different times during a relationship. In “We’ll See,” there’s a dark cloud hanging over a new connection. Then there’s the worn and weary lover and his collection of new scars in the rocker “New Scratches,” which is perhaps Stephen’s most confessional work to date.An all-star cast backs Stephen on Something In Between. Produced by Richard McLaurin (Maura O’Connell, Matthew Ryan) at David Briggs’ legendary House of David studio, the recording makes the most of that facility’s live-in-your-living-room sound. Joining Stephen and Richard are guitarist Joe McMahan (Allison Moorer, Kevin Gordon), steel guitar great Al Perkins (Crosby Stills & Nash, The Rolling Stones), fiddler Tammy Rogers (Reba McIntire, Trisha Yearwood), bassist Billy Mercer (Ryan Adams, Todd Snider) and drummer Ken Lewis (Holly Williams, Amy Grant). David Briggs himself plays on several tracks. The pianist, who’s best known for his long stint with Elvis Presley, has played on recordings by a virtual Who’s Who of pop and country, including Linda Ronstadt, Eric Clapton and Loretta Lynn.--Bio by: Paul V. Griffith I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 2/5/2005
Band Website: StephenSimmonsMusic.com
Band Members: Road Band (past & present) :GUITARS: Dave Coleman, Eric Fritsch, Jon Byrd, Mason Vickery; DRUMS: Paul Griffith, Tim Blankenship, Matt Crouse, Casey Sanders, Martin Lynds; BASS: Chop Blevins, Tim Marks, Alex Mccollough, Willy Domann.
Influences: Hank, Cannon County, Factories, Gravel Roads, The Boss, Geodes, Willow Trees, The Moon, Woody, It's A Wonderful Life, Waylon, Uncle Glenn, Danny O'Keefe, The Dividing Ridge, Mark Twain, Scars, Steinbeck, Turning Leaves, Cash, Locke Creek, Robert Frost, Slatten Acres, Splendor In The Grass, Don Williams, The Stones River, Four Roses, Uncle Dave Macon, John Dobbs Hollow, Jackson Browne, Carpenters, Don Northcutt, The Heart

Sounds Like: * "a singer-songwriter of marked depth and commitment, (he) recalls a more subdued Steve Earle, a more grounded Ryan Adams and any aggregation of three-named Texas troubadours you'd care to recall." -- Bill Friskics-Warren, THE NASHVILLE SCENE--* "Tennessee native raised in the Church of Christ amid an extended family of hellraisers, Simmons channels that mixed-up childhood into hard-hitting ballads that owe as much to Jay Farrar as they do The Man In Black. Drunk, sober, or somewhere in between, Simmon’s words ring true." -- Andrea Lisle, MOJO MUSIC MAGAZINE--

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Record Label: Locke Creek Records / Rounder Europe
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Benefit for Duane Jarvis & Chris Gaffney

BENEFIT FOR DUANE JARVIS & CHRIS GAFFNEY Music lost one of its soulful sons when Hacienda Brothers vocalist and accordion player Chris Gaffney succumbed to liver cancer in April. Hacienda co...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:33:00 PST

Best Horoscope ever ~ LEO ~ week of May 29th 2008

Ok, so I don't live my life by horoscopes, but every now and then Mr. Brezsny hits home for moi'.  And the last thing I read about my fellow Leo's was so cruel and unforgiving.  So this was ...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Wed, 28 May 2008 08:28:00 PST

WASHINGTON POST reviews Something In Between

WASHINGTON POST  Friday, February 8, 2008 Stephen Simmons isn't related to anyone famous, but he sounds so much like Steve Earle that they could be nephew and uncle. That's not a bad thing, for ...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:29:00 PST

"GOD IN MUSIC CITY" CD RELEASE SHOW ~ Jan. 12, 2008 at Vanderbilt University

GOD IN MUSIC CITY CD LAUNCH *The song "Devil's Work Is Never Done" from my record, Drink Ring Jesus, has been included on the upcoming compilation cd from professor Gregory Barz and Vanderbilt Univer...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Sun, 06 Jan 2008 08:34:00 PST

Europe Tour ~ Fall 2007

9.26.07 Fultson Manor School ~ Sittingbourne, UK Alex and I flew into Gatwick airport and drove to Sittingbourne, UK. We had a gig that first evening there at the Fulston Manor School. Once again, mak...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:17:00 PST

BIG APPLE BLOG ~ Knitting Factory / New York, NY 7.11.07

Knitting Factory ~ New York, NY 7.11.07 I got up at 4 am and called a cab for a ride to the Nashville airport. I was asleep before the plane took off and slept the whole way. The wheels touching down...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:40:00 PST

A week touring in the TX / OK floods ~ June 26 - 30th 2007

A week touring in the Texas-Oklahoma floods  /  June 26  30th 2007..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />   Rain Rain Rain I had flown into ..:namespa...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:10:00 PST

Europe Tour ~ Spring of 2007

  Europe Tour  Spring of 2007 After all the trouble I went through getting my passport, (which involved paying for two of them, paying for it to be expedited even though it took 2 months, 5 tri...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Wed, 04 Jul 2007 05:14:00 PST

2006 Shows ~ Were You There ? A few highlights.

2006 ~ Were You There? As 2006 wound down, as always, I became a little nostalgic.  And I realized how many of you guys I met out there on the road this year.  Anyways, here are a few highli...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Wed, 17 Jan 2007 06:43:00 PST

Drink Ring Jesus -reviews

AMERICAN SONGWRITER MAGAZINE   May/June 2006STEPHEN SIMMONS  Drink Ring JesusLocke Creek Records **** It was fitting that Stephen Simmons leave his second album threadbare.  The s...
Posted by Stephen Simmons on Mon, 15 May 2006 10:45:00 PST