Steve Grady
LABEL: Starving Kids
'A vocal that really wears its heart on its sleeve.’ – Time Off
There’s certainly no shortage of singer/songwriters doing the rounds these does – but few hit you where it counts quite like Brisbane’s Steve Grady.
Like many of his contemporaries, Grady has over the years absorbed classic songwriters from likes of Neil Finn to Ryan Adams. But mimicking those that have gone before is not Grady’s style. When you listen to his songs, you can hear there’s something very personal going on. It’s a spiritual depth that could have something to do with his younger years on a mission in Papua New Guinea where Gospel music made its mark.
It’s not an easy thing to describe, but Grady says that with his songs, he’s looking beyond himself and talking about some of life’s grey areas. This is an artist certainly not scared of tackling the biggest, and sometimes most complex, issues.
“There’s definitely a spiritual element to a lot of the songs…even if it just seems like they’re about girls,” he offers.
Still, it was a case of young love turned sour that saw him move more and more towards the honest rawness of country and folk as a way to convey his thoughts through music. Not content to simply sit at home and pen tunes, Grady’s music comes alive on stage.
Since 2006, he has been a fixture of the Queensland music scene, first with the respected outfit Inntown and more recently as a solo artist backed by his band The Wild Pigeons. In that time he’s performed in the some of Brisbane’s best finest venues including The Globe, QPAC, and The Troubadour.
It’s his talent as a songwriter that’s earning him most accolades though. In both 2006 and 2008 he was named a finalist in the Q Song Awards – the State’s largest songwriting competition. In picking up the 2008 Q Song Emerging Artists Award, Grady was invited to spend the weekend working alongside some of the country’s best artists at the Applewood Songwriting retreat.
His tracks recorded over the weekend 'Never Goin’ Back' and 'Comfortable' have been included on the Applewood compilation release, now available for download worldwide.
April 2009 saw the release of Grady’s debut EP, Hotel Chelsea. Featuring solo tracks and songs with the band, the release will showcase the broad, dynamic scope of his music.
Proudly independent, he is producing and engineering the record largely on his own. But then you’d expect nothing less from an artist working so hard to follow his own path.
http://www.myspace.com/stevegradymusic