"... this album is a stunningly diverse patchwork neatly woven inside a traditional framework ... 'I'm Okay' is a do-it-yourself masterpiece: a star that shines this brightly won't be a secret long." Xposur Magazine, April 2005
Angie Stevens delivers a time-warped trip through America's backroads, a melange of rhythms and sounds that tap into populist (as opposed to "pop") music past and present.
For anyone who grew up listening to music in the 50s and 60s, there will be a sense of familiarity. It echoes a time when elemental music was defining the essence of rock and country. Shades of slow swing ballads playing in 3/4 time on the jukebox at the local dive bar; Grand Ole Opry broadcasts crackling on the radio on a humid summer night; storytelling songs being shared on a porch in Appalachia; stripped down rhythms whomping against black-painted basement walls.
For listeners whose musical references are primarily contemporary, Stevens will take them away from heavily produced MTV fare and into a world of exposed emotions delivered with unadorned impact. Stevens's recorded work keeps it simple. Her live shows pack a visceral wallop.
"Life is my biggest influence. I write for the confused young girls who sit in their rooms and cry. I know what it's like to rise above the ashes and what it's like to endure the worst of life. The best part is that I've also endured the best. I take nothing for granted, and live each day with passion pouring into everything I do."
Stevens grew up in South Dakota. "I picked up a guitar when I was ten, fascinated by how something made of wood could understand my depressed brother more than any person I knew. I was drawn to it, but after he committed suicide the next year at age 21, I didn't go back to it until I was sixteen. I had his Fender Stratocaster (my mom gave away his acoustic, and we still kick ourselves for that) and I began to play to accompany my poetry. The words I wrote for the hard life I had lived. The words I wrote for him."
She headed to Minnesota for college, but didn't stay. "I was on my way to California to pursue my dreams, got sidetracked by a love affair, and there I was in Colorado."
She's done her turn as a solo artist playing the coffee house circuit, "but I really wanted to expand my sound so it could completely engulf all who listened." She formed her three-piece band in January 2005. They spent February in the studio. In March they released 'I'm Okay.' By April, invitations to play at high visibility events were rolling in and people were recommending her to industry reps locally and nationally.
In January 2006 she was named Emerging Artist of the Year by Hapi Skratch Entertainment and in March she was named Best Singer/Songwriter in Denver by Colorado's largest alt-weekly, Westword.
Additional reviews:
"I'm Okay is a colossal CD. ... Country, blues, rootsrock, bluegrass, and honky-tonk, Angie Stevens combines them into a lovely whole. She writes beautiful intimate songs which have a strong autobiographical character. ... Remember that name: Angie Stevens." ROOTSTIME, Belgium
"With a songwriting acumen that is stunning for a 25-year-old and a gorgeous, warm voice that seemingly can do anything, Stevens is an artist who earns fans on the first listen or show. Much of the attraction is her unflinching, bold songwriting. In Sleepwalking she describes a life of regret and lost opportunities 'Sleepwalking through this / clinging to this / since it's us and all we know . . . maybe if I was skinny and really pretty / you wouldn't leave me all alone.'" Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News, June 15, 2006
"Your album is like 'whoa'! Sounds great on the radio!" Michael McCartney, KEAO / KONI / KPMW / KTOH, Hawaii
"This Denver-based singer-songwriter's ballads are layered, carrying both the toe-tapping satisfaction and quiet melancholy with which life often socks us. ... Keep your ears open for some exceptionally tasty bass work and for Stevens' seasoned voice, which subtly captures the feeling that things are neither right nor wrong, but a wonderful mix of both." Jake Schroeder, 5280 Magazine, February 2006
"And though Stevens' sweet voice is as strong and clear as that of a Nashville diva, she's fighting the good fight, hewing closer to country's humble folk roots than its gussied-up modern spawn. ... [I'm Okay] sits comfortably alongside the work of a number of recent young traditionalists, such as Mindy Smith and Kasey Chambers. ... There is a very Western longing in several of Stevens' songs to head even yet further West to escape circumstance ... After releasing such an accomplished debut, hopefully Stevens will not act on this impulse to flee, and will keep entertaining local audiences for some years to come." Jenny Shank, New West Network, August 4, 2005
"... this is a really special statement of countrified western rock. A stirring testament to the notion that imperfection can be quite refreshing and brilliantly perfect." Chris K., Hapiskratch.net
"Angie is a wonderful singer. Her new CD, 'I'm Okay,' places her clear, confident voice squarely up front, which is a delight. ... Her 'folk-ish' background as a coffeehouse singer is apparent, but ... another dimension of her voice ... intrigues you with hints of Janis Joplin or maybe even a young Grace Slick." Ed Skibbe, Enfuse magazine
"...a stream of sound that is distinctly her own." Vail Daily News, March 28, 2006
Read more...