Hobo to Major Label Artist: The Saga of Seasick Steve

by Staff.

Adopting the nickname Seasick Steve is a relatively recent development for the 60-something guitar-playing, blues-singing, Steven Gene Wold. So are: winning the 2007 Mojo Award for Best Breakthough Act; appearing at major blues and music festivals around the world; performing at Royal Albert Hall (October 1, 2008); and having his third studio album, I Started Out With Nothin' and I Still Got Most of It Left (2008), released by major label Warner International (the vinyl edition is from Bronzerat Records). Technically though, I Started Out With Nothin' is his third studio album only if you consider his kitchen a studio since that's where he recorded his second album, Dog House Music, in 2006 after suffering a massive heartattack following the release of his first album with the Level Devils, Cheap (2004, Deadskunk Records).

2009 hasn't been too shabby either. Seasick Steve was nominated for a Brit Award in the International Solo Male Artist category; was the subject of the BBC Four documentary Seasick Steve: Bringing It All Back Home, which first aired in January of 2009; and has upcoming performances scheduled at: Where The Action Is Festival (Sweden, June 12), Provinssirock Festival (Finland, June 14), Hard Rock Calling Festival (London, June 27), Rock Werchter Festival (Belgium, July 5), T in the Park (Scotland, July 12), All Points West (New Jersey, July 31), Electric Picnic Festival (Ireland, September 4), and Bestival Festival (Isle of Wright, September 12).

Been a long road to the Royal Albert Hall for Wold, a path that's included stints as hobo, busker, farm and migrant worker, carnie, and cowboy. In the BBC documentary, Wold remarked about his career, "Hobos are people who move around looking for work, tramps are people who move around but don't look for work, and bums are people who don't move and don't work. I've been all three."

In 2008, filmmakers Chryde and Vincent Moon shot two shorts (Part 1 and Part 2) with Seasick Steve in Paris for La Blogotheque, which serve as an excellent introduction to the man and his music.

Related Links
Seasick Steve Website
Seasick Steve Part 1 and Part 2 on La Blogotheque
Seasick Steve on YouTube

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