steve biegner

From myspace.com/stevebiegner: By the time Steve Biegner was 15 he had played at the Iron Horse, played with Stephen Kellogg and the Nields, and was on his way to releasing a solo album which would be Manic Blue. He had started out playing tambourine and egg shaker in his older cousin's band Smokejumpers, and soon moved on to accompanying his cousin's piano playing with guitar, sometimes drums and lush harmonies. Steve started noticing that a lot of his songs were becoming the crowd favorites.

By the time Steve Biegner was 15 he had played at the Iron Horse, played with Stephen Kellogg and the Nields, and was on his way to releasing a solo album which would be Manic Blue. He had started out playing tambourine and egg shaker in his older cousin's band Smokejumpers, and soon moved on to accompanying his cousin's piano playing with guitar, sometimes drums and lush harmonies. Steve started noticing that a lot of his songs were becoming the crowd favorites. So when he turned 17 he released Manic Blue, some wintersoft basement songs that showcased his mature composition style and his soaring voice.

Steve played with Stephen Kellogg for a few shows at various colleges picking up fans along the way. He also played with the Nields after winning the title of Pioneer Valley Idol after singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and ultimately sealing the deal with his own song "Circle Song" which showcased Steve's impressive range, starting very low eventually soaring into a high, strong falsetto that made some sopranos jealous.

Steve spent a while playing shows and garnering some attention, then turned to writing again. He met up with Adam Bach and Brian Sloan who became his upright bassist and drummer respectively. Steve jumped at the chance to arrange for more than just his voice and guitar and piano. After months of rehearsing and playing out as a trio, Steve decided it was time to make a nice record.

In September of 2005, he went into the studio with Dave Chalfant and recorded several songs, 14 of which came out almost a year later on "As the Orchestra Swells (the lights go out)," the just-ripe fruits of his recording endeavors. Some songs are hushed and quiet - just Steve, a guitar, and a couple of room mics. Others, like the grand "Prodigal Son" are big, lush works that feature string quartets, banjos, baroque style vocal harmonies, and a wall of guitars.

His music is reminiscent of Jeff Buckley; Jump, Little Children; Bright Eyes; Sufjan Stevens; and Nick Drake. Steve is inspired by all of these artists as well as Radiohead, Bjork, Tom Waits, Regina Spektor, Igor Stravinski, Steve Reich, Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash, and many, many others.