Stevi Marie is a gifted young songwriter living in Portland, OR whose Americana rock music and exciting live performances are lifting her up as one of the area's most popular up and coming artists. With vocals reminiscent of Rosanne Cash, great trumpet chops, and tasty guitar licks, she has fused the best of 70's and 80's rock and country music with a modern songwriting sensibility. Her cross-generational sound is resonating with listeners of all ages.
With an eye for classic guitars, a quick wit, and a passion for making music, Stevi Marie breaks the mold of today's typical young artist. Drawing from greats like Mary Chapin Carpenter & Bruce Springsteen, her songs speak out on many different levels- sometimes politically, sometimes as an advocate for women, but always as a conscious woman coming of age in today's world. As versatile a musician as she is a songwriter, Stevi not only sings, plays trumpet and guitar, but also plays the bass, and drums. All this combined with a confident, vibrant presence and Stevi Marie will draw even the most shy listener into the fray.
In October of 2006, "Stevi Marie & Jackson Road" performed at one of the Northwest's most historic venues, "The Aladdin Theatre". The event was a success and the show was packed. The band featured Matt Burnett on piano, Jason Barlow on lead guitar and fiddle, Greg Jackson on bass and vocals, Jason Lusk on drums, and Paul Brainard on pedal steel. It was a blast!!!
In Jan. of 2006 Stevi and her band, "Stevi Marie & Jackson Road", placed 3rd out of 200 bands in a National Battle of the Bands competition held in Las Vegas, NV. In 2005 she was a finalist in the Oregon Symphony Songwriting Contest. She has also received airplay in the U.K., and received national attention on the syndicated radio station, "The Backporch Show".
Stevi Marie Spaulding grew up in the rural Oregon logging town of Scappoose and always had an affinity for music. When she was young she would use her time between chores and chopping wood to practice trumpet and write songs. In high school she was selected as one of ten trumpet players in the state to travel Europe in an elite chamber orchestra. At 17 Stevi was performing her own material in local cafes & coffee shops. She also sang and played in jazz, symphonic, and orchestral groups throughout her college years at Southern Oregon University and Willamette University. Today she has grown to be one of the Northwest's most active performers.
In October 2002 at the ripe age of 22, Stevi went to Nashville to follow her lifelong dream of being a songwriter. After six weeks in Nashville she had to return home. Before boarding a plane, she pitched a few songs to the head publisher at Curb Records, played the world famous Bluebird Cafe, and got a brief taste for the career she always dreamed of. So when she came back to Oregon, she recruited some of the finest musicians in Portland, formed "Stevi Marie & Jackson Road", and began shedding her material. As fate would have it, she ran into the owner of Kinnaman Road Records, who offered to fund an album of all original material.
Her goal is to be a full-time performer, writer, and producer. This year, 2007, will mark year two+ since the record has been released. Stevi is currently writing new songs for her upcoming CD to be co-produced by Miss Marie, Matt Burnett, and Greg Jackson. The CD will feature Stevi's band, including Jason Barlow on lead guitar and fiddle and some of Portland's finest musicians.
The Debut Record
I Thought I Told You beams with personality, capturing the unique retro rock sound of Portland songstress Stevi Marie. A project that took over a year to complete, the album is packed with salient melodies, strong songwriting, and interesting instrumental arrangements.
The albums 12 tunes were recorded under the guidance of producer Gary Ogan at Crossroads Studio in Vancouver, WA and mastered at world renown Marcussen Mastering (Counting Crows, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, The Rolling Stones) in Los Angeles. "We recorded most of the tracks live with a five piece band and no click track and they really came alive," comments Ogan, whose work on the 1977 Leon & Mary Russell album, Make Love to the Music earned him national recognition as a writer and producer. "I think the whole record stands up song by song." Varied in style and feel, it fluidly moves through up tempo rockers, country two steps, vaulting ballads, and bluesy shuffles all tied together by a string that is carefully hidden in Ogan's production.
I Thought I Told You is packed with a car load of great Portland musicians both young and old. Anthony Jones (drums), Jeff Leonard (bass), Fred Stickley (Hammond B-3, piano), Roby Edwards (alto sax), Tracy Klas (vocals), and Greg Jackson (guitar, vocals) to name a few. Ogan contributed several tracks on drums and vocals while Stevi Marie plays electric guitar on most of the albums tracks and trumpet on four of them. Her edgy yet earnest vocals drive each song home and lend authenticity to the lyrics, always coming across as familiar, comfortable, and real. On the tune "Growing Up," she demonstrates the full range of her musicality, playing all the instruments including drums, Wurlitzer organ, slide guitar, and bass guitar.
I Thought I Told You, was released in September of 2004. Stevi Marie has been touring and playing heavily. She performs on the road solo, as a duo, and with her band, "Jackson Road" in an effort to soak up even more support throughout the Northwest. At a mere 25 Stevi Marie is a young songwriter and performer with a great first effort and a bright future ahead of her.
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