Check out this cd from Dave Steen & Jailhouse tattoo!

 

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Liner notes … added in 2024.

Math was never my strong suit in school.  But sometime in the year 2012 I made the not-very-difficult computation that it had been a good 25 years since I’d written a song, start to finish, trying only to please myself & tickle only my own artistic sensibilities.  Not a terribly important discovery in the context of the continued survival of mankind, but creative people think about such things. 

I realized I’d been writing exclusively for other artists for all that time.  I’d enjoyed some thrilling moments (and continue to) having others record & release my work – Billboard chart appearances, seeing albums nominated for Grammys that contained my songs, national television performances of songs I’d written /co-written (see bio), plus the occasionally interesting royalty check.  

I had no intention of putting all that aside permanently, but in 2012 I felt strongly that I needed a Silkwood shower, a palette cleanse, a “reset” to recharge my creative battery, as it were. I had reached one of those “crossroads” things that people talk about and I pretty badly needed a break from the restrictions – lyrically, musically, and thematically – of trying to appeal to other artists, their producers, and their record companies (not to mention their husbands or wives, band members, drinking buddies … you get the picture) .

So I issued myself the challenge of putting together a band and writing, arranging & recording an album’s worth of diverse, colorful songs meant only to please & entertain ME.  I even vowed to write horn arrangements for everything – a demanding task if you don’t have an education in such things (I don’t), and something I hadn’t done since the 1970’s. 

After much deliberation – followed by months of procrastination – I finally green-lighted my own project and threw myself into it.  It was completely exhausting but also extremely liberating and big fun.   The final product was a Whitman’s sampler of blues, R&B, TexMex, Latin, Louisiana, Memphis, NYC, and more. The songs reflected my musical tastes and influences, spiced up with my own lyrical fantasies – and without worrying about whether or not anybody else would ever want to record them.

The album was finally released in 2015.  Regarding sales, well, there’s an old joke which you have to say out loud for it to have its effect: “My last album was a million seller.  I still have a million of ‘em in my cellar.” 

But, seeing an eventual review in legendary DownBeat magazine refer to the songs as “… a cache of little gems” was a welcome reward for my hundreds of hours of gutbusting work. And, in 2024, seeing Coco Montoya’s hot, raw cover of “I Was Wrong” open his “Writing On The Wall” album & go directly into heavy rotation on SiriusXM’s “B.B. King’s Bluesville” channel was certainly a thrill, somewhat of a surprise, and another dose of validation.  

I hope you'll give a listen to “Town Full Of Secrets.” - Dave Steen

You can find the album on Amazon Music Unlimited and many other streaming locations, or go old-school and actually buy a physical copy!