The Steepwater Band are releasing another live album, a follow-up for their acclaimed 2010 in concert release Live at the Double Door. Live & Humble was recorded on April 20 at the Ace Bar in their hometown Chicago. It's the first album to feature TSB's current four-piece line-up. Guitarist Eric Saylors is the new kid on the block, but he blends in like he is been playing with the band for many years. Nice touch to put him and fellow guitarist Jeff Massey on two separate channels. By doing so the listener is smack in the middle of the mix, emulating the kind of sound your hope to hear when you have secured a good spot in the venue.
The band focused on tracks from the latest two studio albums Grace and Melody and CLAVA, and threw in the fan favorite Dance Me a Number from their 2006 album Revelation Sunday. They allow themselves to stretch the songs, like good ol' blues rock should be played. Come On Down gets a raunchiness that was only hinted at on the studio version. World Keeps Moving On is a heartfelt cry for help. The rhythm tandem Tod Bowers (bass) and Joe Winters (drums) have the kind of swing that seemed to have been lost forever after Creedence Clearwater Revival folded.
The band's current showcase song is the double-header Boom Boom / How Many More Times, which usually lasts fifteen minutes or more (they have crossed the 20 minutes mark quite a few times). The pairing of the John Lee Hookers and Led Zeppelin songs serves as as first set closer - the band usually plays two set shows lasting two-and-a-half hours or more. And that's the one thing that is missing from this in-your-face tight-as-fuck album. It should've been a double album. And there wre multiple cameras present filming the show. So far only All the Way to Nowhere made it to YouTube.
The Steepwater Band:
Tod Bowers: bass
Jeff Massey: vocals, guitar
Eric Saylors: guitar
Joe Winters: drums
Live & Humble will be released on Diamond Day Records on December 3 (CD and iTunes). Vinyl lovers can buy it on 2LP (early 2014). CD release party on November 29 at the Double Door in Chicago.
Tracks:- Remember the Taker
- Off the Rails
- At the Fall of the Day
- Come On Down
- Dance Me a Number
- High and Humble
- Meet Me In the Aftermath
- Boom Boom / How Many More Times
- My Back Pocket
- All the Way to Nowhere
- World Keeps Moving On
- 11/14 Barley's Taproom, Knoxville, TN
- 11/15 The High Watt, Nashville, TN
- 11/16 Summit City Lounge, Whitesburg, KY
- 11/19 Harlem Avenue Lounge, Berwyn, IL (Jeff Massey solo acoustic)
- 11/22 The Castle Theatre, Bloomington, IL (w/ Magic Box & Miles Nielsen)
- 11/23 Club Mississippi, Louisiana, MO
- 11/29 Double Door LIVE & HUMBLE release show, Chicago, IL (w/ The Muggs & Nick Moss)
- 11/30 Radio Radio Indianapolis, IN
- 12/13 Famous Dave's Blues Club, Minneapolis, MN
- 12/14 Frets, Green Bay, WI
- 12/20 Shakespeare's Pub, Kalamazoo, MI
- 12/27 Callahan's Music Hall, Auburn Hills, MI
- 02/20 Aguere Espacio Cultural Tenerife, La Laguna, Spain
- 02/22 Apolo 2, Barcelona, Spain
- 02/23 El Cafe del Teatre, Lleida, Spain
- 02/25 Sala Arena, Zaragoza, Spain
- 02/26 Sala La Muralla Baluarte Pamplona, Spain
- 02/27 Kafe Antzokia, Bilbao, Spain
- 02/28 Sala Kubik, Vitoria, Spain
- 03/01 Sala Acapulco, Gijon, Spain
- 03/02 Black Bird, Santander, Spain
- 03/04 Salason Cangas de Morrazos (Pontevedra), Spain
- 03/05 Mardi Gras, La Coruna, Spain
- 03/06 El Sol, Madrid, Spain
- 03/07 Loco Club, Valencia, Spain
- 03/08 Sala Garaje, Murcia, Spain
- 03/09 Louie Louie, Estepona, Spain
- 03/10 Supersonic, Cadiz, Spain