Adam steffey - fantastic touring w/dan tyminski ba

[Carol Beaugard]

Last night I saw Adam Steffey play inside the Dan Tyminski Band at their CD release show at The Blender Theatre in NYC. #He was phenomenal!! #He's absolutely one of the best mando pickers on the planet - and an incredibly wonderful gentleman. They're touring and I hope you get a chance to see them. The new CD, 'Wheels' is out on Rounder - the band is Dan (lead vocals, guitar), Adam, Ron Stewart (banjo, fiddle), Justin Moore (fiddle, banjo, dobro) and Barry Bales (bass). Amazing!!!

[Treblemaker]

Definitely a killer band - saw them a couple weeks back at Grass Valley, CA Father's Day Fest.
Adam pick's the snot out of a mandolin and has "the voice of Satan." His singing voice is an ungodly sawtooth baritone set of pipes and alongside Dan's High Tenor it's a terrific vocal blend.

I'd also HIGHLY reccomend checking out Grasstowne with Alan Bibey on Mandolin - holy #### that guy can pick and with Dobroist Phil Ledbetter along for the ride (not to mention the rest of the band) it's pretty terrific stuff...

-Treblemaker
www.WorldWideTed.com

[TEE]

Carol- Thats Justin Moses not Moore.

I think Steffy should start his own band when Dan goes back with AKUS. He has a good stage presence and does a great job MCing. He seems to be a natural band leader. And he can pick a little too! I saw them last week.

[bradeinhorn]

wow-i was at the blender too. great night. that is a bad group of dudes.

[Carol Beaugard]

Duh - thanks for the correction - you're absolutely correct - that's Justin Moses! Great, great musician. That's funny I got his name wrong because Adam said on stage that people getting his name wrong and call him 'Jason', etc.

Adam is truly a great MC and vocalist on top of being a monster picker. I agree - he needs to be front and center and every band he's worked with is better for having him in their line-up, and if he ever started his own Adam Steffey band, I'd be the first on line to get a ticket!!

Glad to hear a fellow cafe visitor was there last night. It truly was a night to remember.

[Nolan]

Carol- Thats Justin Moses not Moore.

I think Steffy should start his own band when Dan goes back with AKUS. He has a good stage presence and does a great job MCing. He seems to be a natural band leader. And he can pick a little too! I saw them last week.
I don't know why but I tend to like super-pickers in the context of a band... not so much as the focus of it.. but who knows, might be really good.

[Bradley]

We played with them fellers a few weeks back and Wow...My hopes are that they tour together this year and come out and bust some good bluegrass with Alison:)

Steffey was playing the Daley with the block inlays when we played w/ Them for all inquiring minds

[Rick Crenshaw]

Steffey was playing the Daley with the block inlays when we played w/ Them for all inquiring minds

OK - I'm editing this after talking to Sim to reflect actual facts instead of my faulty memory.

I stated earlier that Sim had built two mandolins for Adam. That is incorrect. Sim built Adam's redburst Englemann topped mandolin#and Adam was very happy with it. #The other very similar redburst mandolin that is side bound was built for a mandolin player named Jesse Daniels. #The webmaster mixed up the photos of those two mandolins since they were so similar in appearance, thus you see a top bound and a side bound mandolin which are shown under 'Adam Steffey's Mandolin' photos. #BTW, Adam bought and paid for that mandolin according to Sim.

Now, regarding what I call the 'Hoss' Daley... I talked to Sim about that mandolin. Sim built his distressed 'Hoss' mandolin with Sam Bush in mind. #Apparently Sam is no stranger to the shop and Sim wanted Sam to use it for awhile and get some feedback. #Adam was at Sim's shop getting his redburst set up before heading to some out of town dates and began playing that distressed 'Hoss' model as he waited. #Adam told Sim he didn't think he could build a better sounding mandolin than his original one, but that he had done just that with the distressed mandolin. #Adam told Sim that Sam wasn't ever gonna play that mandolin so Sim let Adam take it for awhile and he's been picking it ever since. #Something tells me Adam's probably not gonna give it back either :-) #Adam still has his original one as far as I know but is currently enamored with the 'Hoss'. #

Another note - the distressed mando that Adam is playing now is Sitka topped. #So there goes my theory on Red Spruce, Englemann, Sitka spruce tones. #I guess it does depend on what the heck the builder does with it that counts!

[mandozilla]

"Adam still has his original one as far as I know but must be enamored with the 'Hoss'".

I saw Adam at Huch Finn's Jubilee on Fathers Day weekend. He was at a workshop where I believe he was playing that particular mando...nice sounding...of course the fact that it was Adam Steffey playing it may account for that too. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[bones12]

We just got back from hearing the DTB in Burlington, Vermont tonight and we saw a great concert. They were loosely on fire; Adam Steffey just has the touch. His Daley mentioned above was miked well and the sound was clear, The band, being near Dan Tyminski's hometown, was loose and having a big time. See them if they make it near your home. Doug in Vermont

[Rick Crenshaw]

I edited my post regarding the distressed Daley so if you want the actual facts on it, you'll have to reread my previous post.

[Ted Lehmann]

We saw the Dan Band at Jenny Brook a week ago. The band exceeded my expectations, as we had seen them at Merlefest, where they closed on a rainy day to many empty seats late on Sunday afternoon. On Friday at Jenny Brook they were loose and happy. I've seen Steffey before, but never when he seemed to be having as much fun as that night. Tyminski expressed some anxiety about performing before so many people he'd known for a lifetime. Many people there couldn't understand why a performer of his rank would be nervous at home. Regardless, they performed two great sets. - Ted

[mandopete]

So I just picked up a copy of Wheels and all I can say is that the recording is much better than what I saw back in January. #To the best of my recollection they did not play any of the material off of the recording at that time (although Dan said it was close to finished).

Are they playing stuff from the recording now?

[Ted Lehmann]

You bet! They're selling the album from the stage, and very effectively, too. Question: Once a new CD comes out and rises in the charts, shouldn't an artist begin working new material for the next recording into the act? I find that bands who obsessively feature their most recent recording become stilted in their performance, often losing their sense of creativity and improvisation so important to bluegrass music. When a band's performance becomes too predictable, perhaps they lose some of their allure. OTOH, we attend lots of events and see bands more often than some. - Ted

[mandopete]

I guess that's my point Ted. #When I saw the Dan Tyminski Band in January at the River City festival in Portland they were as predictable as all get out. #Predictable in that they sounded just like the Lonesome River Band, nothing like the recording.

And on a bit of a side note FWIW, I find Steffey's with playing with Tyminski great as usual, but a little less than inspired or as creative as what he had been doing with Mountain Heart. YMMV.