Singing with The Thunderbirds
Theater for the New City
New York, NY
Back at it - such a good time!
Post-gig with friends at Le Grenier on H Street in Washington D.C. - French set covers/original: Jacques Dutronc, Serge Gainsbourg, Edith Piaf, Michel Fugain, etc. Many thanks to Andrew McCallum for sitting in on Mandolin and Bass!
Memorial Day set at Mercury. Pretty uneventful, to be honest. No sloppy groupies at this show, unfortunately. But, always happy to play the spot. It's one of my fav. small venues in the world. And... def one of the best sounding -
French tribute , "Je t'aime, Paris," in honor of lives lost in Paris bombing.
Rob Mastrianni and Vin Scialla join.
Caffe Vivaldi, New York, NY
NXNE Music and Art Festival
at Czehoski with Olivier Paré-Labrosse
Toronto, ONT
Showcase in France at the "Pop-In,"
Rue Amelot, Paris, FR
"Where the Wild Things Are".
NYC reunion gig at Anyway Café. Esteban Reichberg on drums, Amit Savyon on Bass, Rob Mastrianni on guitars/electric sitar. Microphone engineering by Esteban!
Solo show at Mercury Lounge. Opening for Maybe The Welders, The Dye, and Grease Biratella
French set for Bastille Day
"Ma Petite Shoe"
Baltimore, MD
WNYU interview with Rachel A. G. Gilman. MONDO NYC Festival 2016 feature.
Writer's retreat these days! Also, some nice Spotify playlists and more reviews from YabYum, The Revue, Lost in The Manor (London, UK), Velvety (Madrid, ES), That New Jam, and Barrygruff (Dublin, IRE).
My favs:
"...Fitted with sweet licks, addicting riffs, ballsy swagger and a stomping beat and groove, this is a sumptuous slice of retro rock ‘n roll cool. The confidence and ambition of both the arrangement and song, makes for an irresistible three-minutes of stellar songwriting and rock and roll."
- Barrygruff - Dublin, Ireland
"Kevin McWha Steele’s new single, “Les Choses Sont Pas Si Simples”, might sound like it’s coming to you straight from a Parisian cafe, but channels Serge Gainsbourg straight into Brooklyn..."
- YabYum West - Phoenix, AZ
"(Front Page News) I'm a huge fan of rock 'n roll and I think you do it well..."
-Lost in The Manor - London, UK
CBGB Music Festival
With Rob Mastrianni, Vin Scialla
Bowery Electric, NYC
Benefit event at Angel Orensanz Foundation to help soundproof the space and raise funds for the StummerJam. Opening for Paul Collins from "The Beat"!
Independence Day fun @
Mercury Lounge! Great sound - crystal clear! Ray Mazza joins on drums
The BEAT goes on! Headlining Mercury Lounge in late November 2016. Rob Mastrianni joins on guitars, electric sitar, Vin Scialla on drums. Good times!
Playing Maury Dickson's custom made 3-String Slide guitar at Tea Lounge, Baltimore, MD
Gig at Le Grenier on H Street mentioned in Washington Post in article, "Here's how to celebrate Bastille Day in D.C." -
"Live music from Kevin McWha Steele, who ranges from French chansons to glam rock
Northside Music Festival showcase at Pete's Candy Store in W'burg, Brooklyn. Nice set to a beautiful listening room. Dig!
Spencer Chakedis, Esteban Reichberg, Amit Savyon join
Opening night at Montauk Music Festival. Nice gig at Montauk Beach House. Beautiful grounds, nice folks. They really liked the French tunes.
Playing Montauk Music Festival with band. 4th consecutive year for us. Here rocking at Shagwong. Cramped as ever. Love this place!
Four hours of singing with the Thunderbirds at "Drums Along the Hudson" event in Inwood Park.
Pictured here with friends
Louis Mofsie and Rob Mastrianni
Flyer for Seton Hill French Fair 2014
St. Mary's Park
Baltimore, MD
All French Set (originals and covers)
Single "Front Page News," off of new album, "The Nightly Howl." Recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, TN. Additional recording, mixing, mastering by flezaDoza at Brooklyn Native Studios, Brooklyn, NY
Cover art:
"The Clamerous Owl" by Brenton Steele ©1968
Backing vocal, 8-course Lute feature on Rueben Butchart's "Nameless and Awake: Eight Poems by John William Carroll" created in residence at Robert Wilson's "Watermill Center"
Solo show at Salzy in Brooklyn, NY. Billing with Wolfe Glass -
French/English originals
"You still play that thing?" -Elvis Costello in the village today. He remembered when I did a lute set for he and wife, Diana Krall (and my family) at the Tea Salon on 20th and 5th Ave. back in the day -
Singing backing vox on Devyl Nelly's latest album in Hoboken, NJ
Educational gig at Pratt Street Library in Baltimore, MD - Lute, Guitar, Charango, 3-string Slide
Manhattan Inn Summer Series
With Lee Marvin, Patrick Tully, Ravish Momin
Manhattan Inn, Brooklyn, NY
Sofar Sounds Microshow at WMA in Greenpoint Brooklyn
in association with Northside Music Festival 2017.
Rob Mastrianni and Vin Scialla join -
Lunch with guitarist Gary Lucas in the west village. Discussing possible co-tour of France in honor of the 20th anniversary of Jeff Buckley's death. I'd be singing songs off of "Grace" and a couple other
co-writes Gary did with Jeff - an honor.
CultureFix Residency
With Lee Marvin, Patrick Tully, Ravish Momin
CultureFix, New York, NY
Mercury Lounge Christmas Show!
Rob Mastrianni, Pete List, The Devyl Nellys, Wolfe Glass join
Kevin McWha Steele - Guitar, Vox
Rob Mastrianni - Guitar, Electric Sitar
Vin Scialla - Drums
Photo credit: Nicole Mago
Mercury Lounge, September 1, 2016
Kevin McWha Steele - Vox, Guitar
Esteban Reichberg - Drums
Amit Savyon - Bass
Rob Mastrianni - Guitars
Photo credit: Jay Lineberry
Nice review from Santa Rosa Records!
"...Kevin's vocals are smooth as steel and just as the gentle strumming in "Les Choses Sont Pas Si Simples" lulls one to sleep, the percussion bursts onto the stage making for an arousing work of art..."
"Rock For Light," Hurricane Sandy Relief Benefit. Jesse Malin, Vernon Reid, Kyp Malone, etc.
With James Tefler, Esteban Reichberg
Bowery Electric, NYC
Sag Harbor American Music Festival with Spencer Chakedis on lead guitar and Esteban Reichberg on drums
Year 5, Montauk Music Festival.
Six solo gigs. My fav. was Salivar's!
Chillin' on the green here with Winston Irie
Montauk, NY
Mercury Lounge residency continues. Esteban Reichberg joins on drums, Amit Savyon on bass.
Make Music New York Festival 2016
First year. Three gigs. Fav. was here at Malt and Mold on the LES. NYC poet Puma Perl and musician Cynthia Ross came to check it out. Very cool!
Sitting in with Amar Sundy at Le Q-G
Rue Oberkampf, Paris, FR
Year 3, Montauk Music Festival.
La Maisonette, Sag Harbor
Photo credit: Christopher Charveriat
45th Birthday Show at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 2. With:
Neel Murgai - Sitar
Vin Scialla - Drums (Kit, Urdu, Daf)
Katie Down - Crystal Bowls, Drum, Flutes
Rob Mastrianni - Guitar, Electric Sitar
Louis Mofsie and The Thunderbirds (not pictured here) - Drum
Full Sail recording residency
Orlando, FL
Jeff Buckley Tribute, curated by
Gary Lucas and Road Recovery
With flezaDoza, Andrew Potenza
Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY
Gigging at famed "Au Café de Paris,"
old Edith Piaf (among others!) haunt
Paris, FR
Caffe Vivaldi
With Rob Mastrianni, Vin Scialla
Caffe Vivaldi, NYC
NXNE Music and Art Festival pre-show with Olivier Paré-Labrosse
Toronto, ONT
Pianos Residency
With Spencer Chakedis and
Esteban Reichberg
Lower East Side, NYC
Awarded artist's residency at ArtKlub in New Orleans, LA. Using time to research French (Creole, Acadian, Haitian, French colonial, etc.) /English song forms and poems written 300 yrs. earlier to present for New Orleans Tricentennial celebrations happening now -
GLAMLUTE
Gig playing under an alias today in Baltimore, MD. I do this to keep my chops up and to avoid over-booking under my real name. Here at Light Street Branch in Baltimore, MD.
8-Course Lute (Jacob Van De Geest), Cig Box Guitars and Acoustic Guitar.
French/English originals. Baroque covers/ originals. Great time!
Second single release, French original "Les Choses Sont Pas Si Simples," off of new album, "The Nightly Howl." Recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, TN. Additional recording, mixing, mastering by flezaDoza at Brooklyn Native Studios, Brooklyn, NY
Headlining Mercury Lounge with band,
The Nightly Howl.
Photo credit: Jay Lineberry
With Rob Mastrianni, post Theater for the New City show with Louis Mofsie and The Thunderbirds
"McWha at Café Wha?" curated event
With "The Nightly Howl," Puma Pearl, Michael Hickens, etc.
Café Wha?, NYC
Reading of recent hardcover release of my book, "The 12 Alchemists & Other Poems" ©2017. Music accompaniment by Rob and Vin at Dixon Place in the LES.
"I am the artful dodger
With horns and cleft feet
I whisper sin discreetly
The night's golden treat
What time shall we meet?"
- from "Dr. Johann Georg Faust"