Album Notes

Steve Wells is well known throughout the region as a top professional musician and entertainer. Performing as Steve Wells Music, Steve and vocalist Chelsey Collins have delighted countless listeners at a wide variety of venues. One hallmark of Steve and Chelsey is their massive repertoire, representing all styles and eras.

Two years ago, Steve approached me with an idea for a recording project. He and Chelsey wanted to produce a recording not necessarily for commercial reasons, but mainly to showcase their love for quality songs with great melodies and classic lyrics. Not wanting to limit the material to songs already in the play list, they searched for songs that appealed to them as listeners as well as artists. This proved to be a daunting task. When the final selections were made, the recording proved to be a collection of music not unlike Steve and Chelsey, complex and diverse.

What started out as a simple piano and vocal recording evolved into a full-blown production with drums, bass, and keyboard orchestration. The heart and soul still remains the piano and vocal. Steve played his personal Yamaha acoustic piano on every song and we tried to showcase the piano as both accompanying and solo instrument. Chelsey captures the essence of the original interpretation while adding the nuance of her own style.

Although these songs were written over the course of several decades, Steve and Chelsey provide the continuity to seemingly unrelated music. We hope you enjoy listening to, as much as we did recording, “If We Try”.