Ted Stevens is all about connecting with an audience, and not just through a few clicks on Facebook or some other impersonal online social media.
“I’m interested in making work that deals with the things that connect us,” Stevens says, “and the things that are between us. I want to share in the common human experience, because, to varying degrees, we all go through the same things in life. I want to share those things with an audience.”
Stevens is wasting no time in getting in touch with that audience. Since returning to the US last summer after four years of living in Glasgow, Scotland, Stevens has already released the explosive single “Into the Black,” a follow-up single and accompanying video for the balls-out-strut of “Sally’s Alright,” and is getting ready for the release of his first full-length, Waiting.
This drive and dedication is inherent in every facet of Stevens’ work. Each step of the way, from writing the song, to recording, to releasing and promoting, is just as important as the other. “Everything I do is about making sure the songs are presented in the best possible way, so that they have a chance to be heard and shared with an audience,” Stevens say. “To that end I try to keep an eye on that song’s life beyond the writing and recording.”
However, splitting his time between two countries made this process slightly more complicated. “A lot of these songs were started in my home studio in Scotland. I’d record the basic tracks and ideas, then take it back to Kentucky to finish,” says Stevens. “It took a long time to do but in the end I think it was worth it because each country I was in, and their surroundings, affected the life of the songs as they developed.”
After putting together a formidable live band, Stevens is gaining praise for his electrifying live performances and garnering heavy airplay throughout the Midwest. Despite the intelligence and urgency of the music, the live Ted Stevens experience has almost nothing to do with a tidy arrangement, and instead finds its roots in that bygone era when musicians didn’t just hunch over their instruments for 55 minutes, but tried to give the audience a show. “I’ve never been a guy that just wears his jeans onstage, that’s for sure,” Stevens says.
