Bands/Artists We Love – Steve Pilgrim





 


For the third act in this series of ten (in no particular order), we have our favorite troubadour, Mr. Steve Pilgrim.
Most of you know Steve as the drummer in Paul Weller’s band and I must confess that’s how I knew him at first too. It was Ben Gordelier who recommended I check out Steve’s albums and boy am I thankful he did. While I am a big fan of acoustic singer-songwriters, at our house Steve is the king in that genre. Keep Falling Down is one of those songs that can’t be absent from any playlist we make and my kids will sing it despite not speaking English yet.
It's such a contrast to see Steve bang the drums like the wildest of rock drummers and then to hear him singing these lovely lullabies with the sweetest of voices. But it’s not just that he’s a great singer and superbly talented multi-instrumentalist that does the trick for him, it’s the fact that he’s such a fantastic songwriter that makes him the complete package. He’s released 4 albums/1 live in studio record so far and they are all amazing. His lyrics are as powerful as his voice (and his drumming), just listen to his lyrics on “Explode The Sun” and you’ll see a talented wordsmith as good as the best of them.

After seeing Steve play with PW many times, we finally crossed of a big one on our gig bucket list when we saw him play his songs last july on our last trip. He played in a small bar in Edinburgh and you could hear a pin drop as everyone there knew we were fortunate to be there. I don’t think there’s anyone who’s heard his songs and didn’t become a fan, so if you’ve never heard Steve’s music please give it a listen and then share it with someone who hasn’t. If you’re already a fan, then make someone else’s life a little better and share the joy 😉

 I like all of Steve’s catalog but his album Pixels and Paper is my favorite and probably the starting point I would recommend for you to start with….believe me, after that one you’ll want to dig in more. I thought Pixels and Paper would be very hard to top but his following effort Morning Skies is right up there as well. Here’s a playlist of my favs, you can thank me later:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5abuTbkD7ifzI7TGCkEUaB?si=O02gG3j5R6Ohl1zSrfdqCw&fbclid=IwAR0aV8n0dV5lCEYlhqrecmKhg51IqMoLNiMkV2GwNaISCuXtRs9ITKuaRIk

Unfortunately his latest album “The Magic Strings Session” with the legend Danny Thompson is not available on Spotify (at least not here in Ecuador), but that one and his other releases are available at Bandcamp and I can’t recommend enough you checking them out:

https://stevepilgrim.bandcamp.com/album/steve-pilgrim-danny-thompson-the-magic-strings-session?fbclid=IwAR1O5YhEitP0GwaAuDHaWrU8j8yQV4GIi9C5ChaG0wutCoKZ5w9NuiQe1iw

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bands/Artists We Love – Michael Head/Shack

Image
  The penultimate act in this series of ten (in no particular order) is the great Michael Head, the man the NME once put on their cover naming him “Our Greatest Songwriter”….followed by “Do You Recognize him?”. And that is in a few words the story of Mick Head, a lost genius who is criminally underrated, not nearly as famous as he should be, but a cult hero to all of those who like me have been lucky enough to come across his music. Mick has had various incarnations during his career: The Pale Fountains in the 80’s, Shack in the 90’s and 00’s, The Strands for one magical album in the 90’s and this past decade it’s been Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band. I love all of his music, to me it’s all Mick Head really, but if I had to choose a favorite, it would be Shack and his new stuff with the Red Elastic Band. I discovered Mick’s music in 2013 after reading a Uncut Magazine newsletter in which its author praised his recently released EP Artorius Revisit
Read more

Bands/Artists We Love – The Rifles

Image
The Rifles have been one of my favorite bands ever since I stumbled upon the video for Local Boy online around the time their superb debut album No Love Lost was released. I remember hearing Local Boy for the first time and feeling an urgency to get their album, a feeling I could only compare to the same urgency I felt the first time I heard The Jam or The Clash. Most of my favorite artists and bands back then had been around for a while and I’ve gotten into them with (at least) a few albums already under their belt. That’s what made The Rifles so special for me, they (along with Arctic Monkeys) were the first new bands I discovered that I still listen to regularly today. I have waited anxiously for each of their releases and bought each of them on their release date. The Rifles’ biggest strength for me lies in the fact that their entire catalog is strong. They have no weak tracks, there’s no album of theirs where I want to skip a single track. It’s all gre
Read more

Favorite Albums of the Decade - 2010's

Image
After listening back to my favorite and most played albums of the past 10 years, I finally came up with my top 20 favorite albums of the 2010’s. Coming up with this list is much harder than I thought as 20 is too small a number for all the great records that have been produced in this past decade. I am not a music critic (hate that term actually) so I am not saying these are the best records of the decade (although I am pretty sure they are lol 😂 ), but these are my favorite records: 1-. Stone Foundation – Street Rituals: One of my all time favorite albums and without a doubt my album of the decade. My love for this band has been well documented, if we talk about current acts (by that I mean still active), Paul Weller is my favorite solo artist and Stone Foundation is my favorite band... and this album in my opinion sums up everything I love about SF: soulful, uplifting, makes you want to dance at times while at moments it will get you teary eyed...and t
Read more