I’ve got new recordings backing up here – too many lovely things that need releasing into the wild. Next on the list is definitely the album with Mike Outram (now over 2 years over due!) but later this year, I’ll be putting out a recording taken from the two shows I did with Daniel Berkman in San Francisco in January. Continue reading “Brand New Music With Daniel Berkman”

Last month’s Bass Player magazine had a feature, written by the excellent Ed Friedland, about Looping. (great choice of writer for such an article – Ed’s played some amazing music himself using looping devices.)

Anyway, there’s a section within it about players that you need to check out, and first on the list is me 🙂 Hurrah!

here’s a link to the whole article

And here’s the quote about me:

“Several bassists have taken looping to new heights, and Steve Lawson (stevelawson.net) is certainly at the forefront of the scene. Steve has toured the world as a solo bassist for years, and has released a trove of CDs featuring his unique blend of musicianship and effect mastery. Steve says, “Looping has enabled me to soundtrack the inside of my head without outside interference. I would not be playing solo if it weren’t for looping—it’s as simple as that.” “

Which is nice 🙂

On occasion, I still come across people who are uncomfortable with the economics of ‘pay what you think it’s worth‘. Or ‘pay what you want‘. Or ‘name your price‘. Whichever way you want to describe it.

It’s not really that surprising – we’ve precious little precedent for a transaction like this, especially as it relates to ‘ubiquitous’ products like digital downloads of music. We’re used to things having a fixed price that somehow is marketed to us as representing the value of the thing, and then we choose to pay it or not. If things are available in lots of places then we shop around for the cheapest legal source. Continue reading “Grace And Gratitude & Behind Every Word, now £3 each”

Reviews and comments about my new album Believe In Peace are still coming in. This one cropped up on TalkBass.com from Michael Manring – Michael is probably my single biggest influence in becoming a solo bassist and has been deeply supportive of my music from the very start. In this instance, I sent him a download code for the album but he chose to pay for it anyway! Here’s what he said about it:

“What a beautiful recording! This is perhaps the best argument yet that the bass is a versatile, deeply expressive instrument and in the hands of a brilliant and visionary artist like Steve, is capable of making music of enormous emotional and musical depth. Please buy a copy and share it with your friends and family. I think they’ll thank you for it!”

In other Believe In Peace news, a track from it is featured on the latest Aural Innovations radio show, listenable/downloadable here. Jerry Kranitz who presents the show reviewed most of my early albums on his site, and has been a great supporter of my music over the years (he’s also featured in Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack book, if you’ve read that…)

here’s the album, listen, download, pay whatever you think it’s worth. I’ve got a LOT of new music that needs editing/mixing/mastering and it’s way easier to justify the time it takes if the music is making some money 🙂

Am back from California now, after my busiest trip there ever. Had a great time at NAMM, and a whole lot of wonderful shows, that resulted in about 6 hours of new improvised music that needs mixing and editing for future release. Yay!

I’ll write a full round-up in the next couple of days, but for now, here are two videos that have appeared in the last couple of weeks. Continue reading “Two new videos and some photos from California.”

For those that don’t know, NAMM is the National Association Of Music Merchants – the American trade body for those who make and sell stuff-to-do-with-music-that-isn’t-recordings. 

I’m back there this year, having missed the last two due to being busy being a dad. I’ve really missed it – having attended every year from 1999 – 2009, doing demos on behalf of the various companies whose equipment I was using at the time, finding out what’s new and catching up with the many amazing music-world friends that I only get to see once a year at NAMM or in California if I get to travel around afterwards.

So, anyway, if you’re going, it’d be great to meet up – feel free to send me a message. If we’re friends on Facebook, you can message me there, or tweet me, or email me or just keep an eye out for me around the MarkBass and Modulus booths.

See you there!