I was born in Brooklyn, New York but raised in Los Angeles. My mother had me take guitar lessons when I was about eight years old but I didn't know why.
A couple of Tuesday afternoons in a row some fella who looked like Mac Davis showed up in the living room and me and my brother would pass Mom's too-big-for-an-eight-year-old guitar back and forth, trying to do what "Mac" showed us. I was clueless.
It wasn't that I didn't like music—frankly, it had become the center of my universe around the time that my parents split up—I loved it. Maybe it was an escape from the reality of my broken home, maybe it was a captivating magic a kid could enjoy no matter his social situation. Either way, it was a constant in my life and I think it kept me sane. I just had not made the connection between guitar lessons and what I heard on the radio.
About four years later, I decided I wanted to take guitar lessons. Don't ask me why. One day at school, the teacher passed out these little catalogs of afterschool programs. Among them was a guitar class. It was practically the only thing I ever demanded of my mother. She worked and raised me and my brother by herself. Money was tight and I knew that but I came home from school, woke her up from her nap and told her I wanted those lessons. I went for eight weeks and I was on my way. I started writing songs almost before I could change chords properly.
So, that's the beginning. I won't bore you with an intimate rundown of my history but here's the short resumé:
After years of asking, hinting and doing my best to make my wishes known, my dad bought me an electric guitar.
Played in garage bands through junior high and high school. Learned to play songs by ear (listening a few seconds and then lifting the needle off the turntable and figuring out how to play what I heard). Wrote songs.
Played in better (and louder) garage bands during and (after dropping out of) college. Wrote songs.
Played in more bands, garage and otherwise, through my post-college life. Wrote songs.
Switched to drums for a few years but eventually went back to guitar. Wrote songs.
Began performing solo. Gigged around Los Angeles. Wrote songs.
Studied songwriting with renowned songwriter-teacher Harriet Schock. Gigged around Los Angeles. Wrote songs. Then re-wrote 'em.
Worked for several years with legendary (according to the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll) producer Nik Venet (Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Fred Neil, Bobby Darin). Gigged around Los Angeles, including a six-month stand (of Sunday nights) at the renowned Genghis Cantina with Venet's “Campfire Conspiracy” (a performing songwriter collective comprised of Venet students and protegés). Performed with the Venet-helmed "Songwriters in the Schools" program, which was sponsored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Continued writing songs.
Read Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones and did the writing exercises in it for a couple years. Amassed a stack of filled-up notebooks.
Harriet Schock quoted my lyrics in her book Becoming Remarkable (for songwriters and those who love songs).
Released CD with folk trio Shady Trees. Gigged around Los Angeles. Wrote songs.
Discovered vocal instructor Roger Love and finally learned to sing properly. (When I first started singing, I would literally begin to choke. Now I sing three-four hours at at time and I get up and do it again the next day, too--thank you Roger Love.)
My songs "Driveways" and "Traveling in an Old Car" have been featured or in regular rotation on the internet radio stations WJFN 99.7 (Long Island, New York), MVYradio's Local MusiCafe (www.mvyradio.com) and Songwriter's Network (www.musictogousa.com).
My song "One of the Two" was selected as a Top 10 Finalist in Mike Pinder's "Song Wars" songwriting contest.
My first CD, "Steven Neal Wagner" is now available.
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