Hailing from the ever-creative pacific northwest, singer/songwriter Steven W. Young is a solo acoustic performer who in collaboration with his Portland based backing band and others has recorded and released a diverse catalog of music that has been well received by listeners on streaming services and at his live shows. “I have to emphasize the W,” he begins. “There are a ton of Steve Youngs in music, so I need to differentiate myself, especially from the one who wrote ‘Seven Bridges Road’ - most famously recorded by The Eagles!”

Young grew up as an only child on a farm in the northwest corner of Kansas. “There were 18 people in my graduating high school class, and we were 100 miles away from the nearest shopping mall or McDonalds!”

This made music a sanctuary for Young, whose earliest memory as a young child was humming along with the sounds of his grandfather shifting gears in the family pickup truck. “I had some amazing music teachers who not only taught with passion, but also put a big emphasis on performance,” he adds “All through high school we toured other communities playing schools, churches, and other venues in jazz ensembles, choirs, quartets, and even marching bands. The band teacher had so much clout that if you played both in band and on the football team, you had to go to the sidelines before the game (in your football uniform), grab your instrument, and play the national anthem before the coin toss.”

That education would inspire a lifelong passion for Young, who attended college on a photography scholarship but inevitably found himself spending most of his time playing gigs. “I fronted a few bands playing bass or guitar, but usually I was the support musician in the background helping to make the artist look and sound good via skills I’ve learned — musical and technical. This was the case through moves from Kansas to Arizona where I kept busy with multiple projects ranging from playing bass and singing in an original Irish rock band to backing multiple singer/songwriters both live and in the studio.”

Asked to characterize his music, Young reflects, “The songs I write, record, and perform are best described rock ’n’ but with a dash of country influence. Americana is a widely used descriptor these days, and I love so many artists of this genre, however, my songs are more likely to fall into a similar category with artists like Steve Earle, Dave Alvin, Jason Isbell, Son Volt, Reckless Kelly and American Aquarium.” But his biggest inspiration is perhaps the late John Prine. “I absolutely love his lyrical word flow and ear for melody. My songs draw a lot of inspiration from his work even if the style is quite different. When I’m stuck with writer’s block, I always think ‘WWJPD’ — what would John Prine do?”

Is there anything this jack-of-many trades can’t do himself? “I can play a lot of instruments, but not drums,” he laughs. “I can come up with a song arrangement on guitar and work out vocal bits, but when I sit down with a great drummer (and fortunately I have several to collaborate with), the song almost always comes together quickly. Thankfully, technology has also advanced in the last decade with tools like VST drum plug-ins.  Since it functions within my recording software, I can quickly find a rhythm and sound that inspires and compliments the song idea. I then place that same, single beat in the program timeline for four to five minutes until I work out the basic arrangement of the song, then I work it backwards to replace drum sections for choruses, bridges, or solos. That gets me to the point of having a very usable demo to share with my band.”

Looking back on his live work, he reminisces, “There have been a lot of memorable performances, but a couple years ago I got to play a large festival in front of several thousand people with a full band including my best friend and college roommate on drums performing a set of my songs, and ones he had collaborated on. Pure joy. It doesn’t matter if the show is solo acoustic or with the full band, or if the crowd is five or 5,000, when one of my songs connects to someone’s soul, I’ve done my job as a storyteller. My goal is to keep pushing every day to become a better songwriter and performer.