Stevie Redstone’s never been one to slow things down, but taking a break
from the road proved to be just what the hard-touring L.A. songwriter
needed. The change of pace offered a chance to recharge and reflect, to
experiment and explore, and it resulted in the creative windfall that
led him to his spectacular debut, ‘Shot In The Dark.’ Recorded at Los
Angeles’ Valentine Studios with producer Nic Jodoin (BlackRebel
Motorcycle Club, Allah-Las), the album is an infectious slice of vintage
gold, a retro-tinged collection that feels both classic and modern at
once as it draws on everything from Motown and Stax to Britpop and
Laurel Canyon. Redstone’s songs burst with larger-than-life horns,
cinematic strings, and wall-of-sound production, tipping their cap to
George Martin and Phil Spector in their outsized ambition while still
managing to remain profoundly dynamic and intimate.
“I’ve always been a sucker for the big swooning harmonies and orchestral
instrumentation of stuff from the 60’s and 70’s,” explains Redstone. “I
think I just intuitively preferred music from that era because it was
made by human beings and not computers. It was all about the raw
performance.” Redstone’s passion for raw performance has guided him from
the start. His earliest childhood memories involve singing for family
and friends, and by the time he was in middle school, he was writing and
performing his own original material. In college, he launched his first
band, Redstone Hall, which recorded an EP with producer Dave Cobb (now a
household name for his GRAMMY-winning studio work with Chris Stapleton
and Jason Isbell) and played together for nearly a decade before
splitting up.
“It was scary to leave that group because when you’re in a band for a
long time, you become like a group of soldiers together,” says Redstone.
“You get used to the camaraderie and the support system. But at the
same time, I needed to move at my own pace and keep pushing myself, and I
believed in my music enough to take the leap to become a solo artist.”
Following his departure from the band, Redstone teamed back up with Cobb
to record an album under the name Steven Roth. The collection (one of
Cobb’s first sessions in Nashville) earned rave reviews and helped
Redstone land some seriously high profile gigs, including dates with The
Who at the Staples Center in L.A. and the Theater at Madison Square
Garden in New York, where Elvis Costello also joined the bill.
“To be asked to open up for [The Who] was quite a thrill,” Redstone said
in an interview at the time. “You work your whole life for something,
and then it happens, and it’s sort of tough to describe…It’s like how do
you describe jumping out of a plane and falling towards the Earth? Pure
adrenaline and joy.”
As exciting as it was to strike out on his own and perform with rock
royalty, Redstone was still hunting for something deeper, something more
personal and powerful, so, for the first time in years, he cleared his
calendar and forced himself to confront the big questions in his life:
Who was he? Where was he headed? What did he truly want?
“Taking a break from touring to focus on writing really changed
everything for me,” Redstone explains. “It was like this creative
rebirth.”
With rebirth came a rechristening to his current moniker (Stevie
Redstone is a play on the translation of his legal name) and a new, more
collaborative approach to his music. Redstone began teaming up with
writers he met in Nashville and LA for more than half a year of
intensive sessions, pursuing a sound inspired by those raw recordings
from the 60’s and 70’s that piqued his imagination and inspired his
artistic spirit since childhood. While the resulting songs certainly owe
a deep debt to those decades, they’re ultimately timeless, the work of
an artist unafraid to follow his muse wherever it may lead.
“I’ve never been very tuned into current trends, and I’m not
particularly interested in what’s popular at any given moment,” Redstone
explains. “All I care about is finding a way to express myself and
create something that I’m proud of.”
The record opens with the epic sweep of “Shot In The Dark,” a densely
orchestrated earworm all about taking chances and going after the things
you want in life. Hints of The Ronettes and The Beach Boys permeate the
tune, with Redstone’s velvety voice carving straight through solid
walls of strings and horns. The driving “Dance In The Rain” finds the
silver lining in hard times, while “The Real Me” celebrates the deep
bonds of lifelong friendship with tender piano and a soaring orchestra,
and the joyful “Surrender” channels old-school Detroit soul as it gives
in to the inevitability of love.
“I got married last year, and during the time I was writing this album,
we were in that last stretch of being boyfriend/girlfriend,” explains
Redstone. “I was working up the courage to take the next step and
falling deeper in love with her the whole time.”
Though much of the record is drawn from personal experience, Redstone
also looks outward here, tackling both cultural and political issues
with subtlety and nuance. The George Harrison-esque “Now” combats the
modern world’s constant barrage of negativity with a relentless
optimism, while “Shots Fired” recalls ‘Let It Bleed’ era Stones as it
castigates America’s epidemic of gun violence, and the unforgettable
album closer “Rivers In The Sky” was born from the southern California
drought. No matter the topic, Redstone ties it all together with
passionate, explosive performances tracked live in the studio and
straight to tape.
“As proud as I am of the record, I’m even more proud of the way these
songs will be performed onstage,” Redstone says. “The shows I play are
very high energy, totally rocking and rolling and danceable, but they’re
also really improvisational. I like to open the songs up and let the
band jam in a way that makes each concert totally different and unique.”
Redstone may have needed to leave the touring life behind in order to
make this album, but the road is now clearly calling to him once more,
and with ‘Shot in the Dark,’ he’s ready to answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment