Seasick Steve
Encyclopedia
Steven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, (born 1941) is an American blues
musician
. He plays (mostly personalized) guitars, and sings, usually about his early life doing casual work.
, California
, USA. When he was four years old, his parents split up. His father played boogie-woogie piano and at five or six years old, Wold tried to learn but could not. At age eight, he learned to play the guitar (he later found out that it was blues) from K. C. Douglas
, who worked at his grandfather's garage. Douglas wrote the song "Mercury Blues
" and used to play with Tommy Johnson. Wold left home at 13 to avoid abuse at the hands of his stepfather, and lived rough and on the road in Tennessee, Mississippi and elsewhere, until 1973. He would travel long distances by hopping freight trains, looking for work as a farm labourer or in other seasonal jobs, often living as a hobo
. At various times, Wold worked as a carnie, cowboy
and a migrant worker
.
Of this time he once said:
and Joni Mitchell
. Since then, he has worked, on and off, as a session musician
and studio engineer. In the late 1980s, while living in Olympia
, near Seattle, he worked with many indie label artists. Kurt Cobain
was a friend. In the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf of May 31, 2011 Steve denied this, saying (in translation): "Just like everybody else I saw him pass by in the street and said hello to him. That doesn't make us friends, does it?". Regarding his 'friendship' with Janis Joplin (same source): "We both lived in San Fransisco in the sixties. Period". In the 1990s he continued to work as a recording engineer and producer, producing several releases by Modest Mouse
including their 1996 debut album This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About
.
At one time, living in Paris
, Wold made his living busking
, mostly on the metro
. After moving to Norway in 2001, Wold released his first album, entitled Cheap
, recorded with The Level Devils (Jo Husmo on stand-up bass and Kai Christoffersen on drums) as his rhythm section. His debut solo album, Dog House Music
was released by Bronzerat Records
on 26 November 2006, after he was championed by an old friend, Joe Cushley, DJ on the Ballin' The Jack blues show on London radio station Resonance FM
.
's 'Annual Hootenanny' BBC TV show (broadcast on New Year's Eve
2006) where he performed a live rendition of "Dog House Boogie" on the 'Three String Trance Wonder' and the 'Mississippi Drum Machine' (see below). After that show his popularity exploded in Britain, as he explained in an interview:
He was well received in the UK, winning the 2007
MOJO Award
for Best Breakthrough Act and going on to appear at major UK festivals such as Reading, Leeds
and Glastonbury
. In 2007 he played more UK festivals than any other artist.
Wold toured early in 2008, playing in various venues and festivals in the UK. He was joined on stage by drummer Dan Magnusson. KT Tunstall
also dueted with Wold at one concert (Astoria, London, 24 January 2008). Wold also played many other festivals throughout the world in 2008, including Fuji Rock in Japan, East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival
in Australia (also in April 2008), and Roskilde
in Denmark.
Wold's major-label debut, I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left
was recorded with Dan Magnusson on drums, was released by Warner Music on 29 September 2008 and features Ruby Turner
and Nick Cave
's Grinderman
.
He has toured the UK extensively since 2007 being supported by Duke Garwood, Gemma Ray
, The Sugars, Billie the Vision and the Dancers
in January 2008, Amy LaVere
in October 2008 ( Melody Nelson
at the Brighton Dome on 7 October) and Joe Gideon & The Shark in January 2009. His tours in October 2008 and January 2009 were all sold out and included performances at the Royal Albert Hall
, The Edinburgh Queens Hall, the Grand Opera House
in Belfast, the Apollo
in Manchester, the City Hall
in Newcastle and the London Hammersmith Apollo
.
In 2009, Wold was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist, That same year, BBC Four
broadcast a documentary of Wold visiting the southern USA entitled Seasick Steve: Bringing It All Back Home. On 21 January, Wold hosted "Folk America: Hollerers, Stompers and Old Time Ramblers" at the Barbican
in London, a show that was also televised and shown with the documentary on BBC Four as part of a series tracing American roots music.
Seasick Steve participated on Australian television show Spicks and Specks in April 2009, wearing a beaten up John Deere cap. Wold admitted to having enough money to finally buy a model 60 John Deere Tractor, and joked that he could now really hold up traffic, a reference to the joke of his 51 Chevy
breaking down at a music festival and requiring a push from members of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós
.
In an interview with an Australian magazine, Seasick Steve attributes much of his unlikely success to his cheap and weather-beaten guitar, 'The Trance Wonder' and reveals the guitar’s mojo might come from supernatural sources.
“I got it from Sherman, who is a friend of mine down in Mississippi
, who had bought it down at a Goodwill
store. When we were down there last time he says to me, ‘I didn’t tell you when you bought it off me, but that guitar used to be haunted’. I say, ‘What are you talking about, Sherman?’. He says, ‘There’s 50 solid citizens here in Como
who’ll tell you this guitar is haunted. It’s the darnedest thing – we’d leave it over in the potato barn and we’d come back in and it would be moved. You’d put it down somewhere and the next morning you’d come back and it would have moved. When you took that guitar the ghost in the barn left’. He told me this not very long ago and I said to him, ‘Sherman! Why didn’t you tell me this before?’ and he said, ‘Well the ghost was gone – I didn’t want it around here no more!’”
On 3 January 2010, Seasick Steve appeared on the popular BBC
motoring show Top Gear as the Star In A Reasonably Priced Car. He was the last star to drive in the blue Chevrolet Lacetti.
In February 2010, Seasick Steve was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist for the second consecutive year.
In 2010, Seasick Steve made numerous festival appearances throughout the summer, including the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, the main stage at V Festival
, the main stage at the Hop Farm Festival
and many more.
In February 2011, Seasick Steve signed to Play It Again Sam
to release his new album with the exception of the US, where it will be released on Third Man Records
. Subsequently his new album You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks was released on his new labels and it was announced that former Led Zeppelin
bassist John Paul Jones
had played on the new album, and appeared to promote the new album and thus performing with the duo. This has caused some to believe that he will tour with Steve as a part of his backing band, joining his current drummer Dan - something Seasick Steve confirmed had (and may) happen at a few performances. John Paul Jones did indeed appear onstage to play with Steve at the Isle of Wight 2011 festival and on the main stage of Rock Werchter 2011.
In July 2011, Seasick Steve played on stage with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters & John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin at Milton Keynes National Bowl in front of a sold out audience of 65,000.
In August 2011, Seasick Steve played at Reading and Leeds Festival, and the Fairport Cropredy Convention, sharing the stage with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.
On August 20, 2011, Seasick Steve finished his European festival season of 2011 with a show on the Lowlands Festival
in Biddinghuizen, The Netherlands
, he replied, "I get sick on boats, that's it!" On Top Gear, when asked about his name, Wold replied "Well, I guess I just don't like boats!"
and the UK.
One of Wold's sons, Didrik, is an illustrator who is responsible for designing all of Steve's album artwork, merchandise, print ads, and websites. His youngest son, Paul Martin Wold, played drums on Dog House Music and first made a guest appearance with him on percussion/drums at the Astoria in January, 2008 and has since performed with Seasick Steve frequently, playing washboard, shakers, tambourine, floor tom and occasionally guitar. He also works as Steve's guitar-tech. Paul Martin Wold, aka Wishful Thinking will be releasing his debut album 'A Waste of Time Well Spent' on November 2, 2009 and will showcase a selection from the album whilst touring the UK with Seasick Steve.
Former members, as 'The Level Devils'
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. He plays (mostly personalized) guitars, and sings, usually about his early life doing casual work.
Childhood and early life
Wold was born in OaklandOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA. When he was four years old, his parents split up. His father played boogie-woogie piano and at five or six years old, Wold tried to learn but could not. At age eight, he learned to play the guitar (he later found out that it was blues) from K. C. Douglas
K. C. Douglas
K. C. Douglas was an American blues singer and guitarist.-Career:Born in Sharon, Mississippi, Douglas was a rural blues stylist in the San Francisco/Oakland area of California. Douglas was influenced by Tommy Johnson, whose "Canned Heat Blues" he adapted on his album, Big Road Blues...
, who worked at his grandfather's garage. Douglas wrote the song "Mercury Blues
Mercury Blues
"Mercury Blues" is the title of song written by K. C. Douglas and Robert Geddins in 1949. The song, originally titled "Mercury Boogie," pays homage to the American automobile, which ended production in 2010....
" and used to play with Tommy Johnson. Wold left home at 13 to avoid abuse at the hands of his stepfather, and lived rough and on the road in Tennessee, Mississippi and elsewhere, until 1973. He would travel long distances by hopping freight trains, looking for work as a farm labourer or in other seasonal jobs, often living as a hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
. At various times, Wold worked as a carnie, cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
and a migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
.
Of this time he once said:
Adult life and early musical career
In the 1960s, he started touring and performing with fellow blues musicians, and had friends in the music scene including Janis JoplinJanis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
and Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
. Since then, he has worked, on and off, as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
and studio engineer. In the late 1980s, while living in Olympia
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
, near Seattle, he worked with many indie label artists. Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
was a friend. In the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf of May 31, 2011 Steve denied this, saying (in translation): "Just like everybody else I saw him pass by in the street and said hello to him. That doesn't make us friends, does it?". Regarding his 'friendship' with Janis Joplin (same source): "We both lived in San Fransisco in the sixties. Period". In the 1990s he continued to work as a recording engineer and producer, producing several releases by Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
including their 1996 debut album This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About
This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About
-Vinyl edition bonus tracks:-Modest Mouse:*Isaac Brock - guitar and vocals *Jeremiah Green - drums *Eric Judy - bass -Additional Musicians:...
.
At one time, living in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Wold made his living busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
, mostly on the metro
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
. After moving to Norway in 2001, Wold released his first album, entitled Cheap
Cheap (album)
Cheap is the debut album from Seasick Steve. It consists of songs by him and his Swedish band The Level Devils, and also two stories from his life as a hobo.The Level Devils consisted at this time of Kai Christoffersen playing the drums and Jo Husmo bass...
, recorded with The Level Devils (Jo Husmo on stand-up bass and Kai Christoffersen on drums) as his rhythm section. His debut solo album, Dog House Music
Dog House Music
Dog House Music is the second album by Seasick Steve, and his first as a solo artist. It was released on 27 November 2006; however pre-release CDs were available for sale to members of mailing list....
was released by Bronzerat Records
Bronzerat Records
Bronzerat Records are a UK based Record label. The label was created in 2006 to release music by singer songwriter Gemma Ray . The label then signed Seasick Steve who went on to sell hundreds of thousands of records in the UK and Europe and played on...
on 26 November 2006, after he was championed by an old friend, Joe Cushley, DJ on the Ballin' The Jack blues show on London radio station Resonance FM
Resonance FM
Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station run by the London Musicians' Collective .The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and over 300 volunteer technical and production staff.Until September 2007, ResonanceFM...
.
Breakthrough and subsequent career
Wold made his first UK television appearance on Jools HollandJools Holland
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
's 'Annual Hootenanny' BBC TV show (broadcast on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
2006) where he performed a live rendition of "Dog House Boogie" on the 'Three String Trance Wonder' and the 'Mississippi Drum Machine' (see below). After that show his popularity exploded in Britain, as he explained in an interview:
He was well received in the UK, winning the 2007
2007 MOJO Awards
The 2007 MOJO Honours List Winners were announced at a ceremony at The Brewery in London, England on June 18, 2007.-Nominees:Complete list of nominees :*Album of the Year**Amy Winehouse - Back to Black**Bob Dylan - Modern Times...
MOJO Award
MOJO Awards
The MOJO Awards is an awards ceremony that began in 2004 by Mojo, a popular music magazine published monthly by Bauer in the United Kingdom...
for Best Breakthrough Act and going on to appear at major UK festivals such as Reading, Leeds
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...
and Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
. In 2007 he played more UK festivals than any other artist.
Wold toured early in 2008, playing in various venues and festivals in the UK. He was joined on stage by drummer Dan Magnusson. KT Tunstall
KT Tunstall
Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist from St Andrews, Scotland. She broke into the public eye with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland...
also dueted with Wold at one concert (Astoria, London, 24 January 2008). Wold also played many other festivals throughout the world in 2008, including Fuji Rock in Japan, East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival
East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival
The East Coast International Blues & Roots Music Festival, also known as Byron Bay Bluesfest, is an annual music festival held for five days over the Easter long weekend at Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia...
in Australia (also in April 2008), and Roskilde
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
in Denmark.
Wold's major-label debut, I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left
I Started Out With Nothin and i Still Got Most of it Left
I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left is the third album by Seasick Steve. It was released on 29 September 2008. It entered the UK album chart at number 9 on 6 October 2008. The album is his first on the record label Warner Bros...
was recorded with Dan Magnusson on drums, was released by Warner Music on 29 September 2008 and features Ruby Turner
Ruby Turner
Ruby Turner is a British R&B and soul singer, songwriter and actress. In 1967, she relocated with her family to Handsworth, Birmingham, England when she was nine years old...
and Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
's Grinderman
Grinderman
Grinderman is an alternative rock band formed by Nick Cave , Warren Ellis , Martyn P. Casey and Jim Sclavunos in London, United Kingdom in 2006...
.
He has toured the UK extensively since 2007 being supported by Duke Garwood, Gemma Ray
Gemma ray
Gemma Ray is a Singer-songwriter from Basildon, Essex. Her music is frequently described as Pop- Noir, though her music is hard to set in any one genre; she considers herself primarily describes herself as a torch singer who can't help writing pop songs...
, The Sugars, Billie the Vision and the Dancers
Billie the Vision and the Dancers
Billie the Vision & the Dancers is a Swedish indie band with roots in Malmö, Blekinge, Dalarna and Argentina. The band recorded the first album I Was So Unpopular in School and Now They're Giving Me This Beautiful Bicycle in the spring of 2004. They produce their albums through the company Love...
in January 2008, Amy LaVere
Amy LaVere
Amy LaVere is an American singer, songwriter, upright bass player and actress based in Memphis, TN. Her music is classified as Americana, combining a blend of classic country, gypsy jazz, and southern soul...
in October 2008 ( Melody Nelson
Melody Nelson
Melody Nelson is the fictional subject of a concept album, Histoire de Melody Nelson, by French musician Serge Gainsbourg.Similar in concept to, if not based on, the infamous Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita, the plot of the album concerns the protagonist's brief relationship with a teenage English...
at the Brighton Dome on 7 October) and Joe Gideon & The Shark in January 2009. His tours in October 2008 and January 2009 were all sold out and included performances at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, The Edinburgh Queens Hall, the Grand Opera House
Grand Opera House (Belfast)
The Grand Opera House is a theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by the most prolific theatre architect of the period, Frank Matcham. It opened on 23 December 1895....
in Belfast, the Apollo
Manchester Apollo
O2 Apollo Manchester is a concert venue in Manchester, England. Locally known as The Apollo, it is a listed building, with a capacity of 3,500 ....
in Manchester, the City Hall
Newcastle City Hall
Newcastle City Hall is a concert hall, located in Newcastle upon Tyne which has hosted many popular music and classical artists throughout the years, as well as standup and comedy acts. Opened in 1927, the City Hall was built as a part of a development which also included the adjacent City Pool...
in Newcastle and the London Hammersmith Apollo
Hammersmith Apollo
Hammersmith Apollo is a major entertainment venue located in Hammersmith, London. Designed by Robert Cromie in Art Deco style, it opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace cinema, being re-named the Hammersmith Odeon in 1962...
.
In 2009, Wold was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist, That same year, BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
broadcast a documentary of Wold visiting the southern USA entitled Seasick Steve: Bringing It All Back Home. On 21 January, Wold hosted "Folk America: Hollerers, Stompers and Old Time Ramblers" at the Barbican
Barbican
A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from...
in London, a show that was also televised and shown with the documentary on BBC Four as part of a series tracing American roots music.
Seasick Steve participated on Australian television show Spicks and Specks in April 2009, wearing a beaten up John Deere cap. Wold admitted to having enough money to finally buy a model 60 John Deere Tractor, and joked that he could now really hold up traffic, a reference to the joke of his 51 Chevy
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
breaking down at a music festival and requiring a push from members of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with classicaland minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound, and frontman Jónsi Birgisson's falsetto vocals and use of bowed guitar. In January 2010, the band announced that they will be on hiatus. Since then, it has since been announced...
.
In an interview with an Australian magazine, Seasick Steve attributes much of his unlikely success to his cheap and weather-beaten guitar, 'The Trance Wonder' and reveals the guitar’s mojo might come from supernatural sources.
“I got it from Sherman, who is a friend of mine down in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, who had bought it down at a Goodwill
Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries International is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges...
store. When we were down there last time he says to me, ‘I didn’t tell you when you bought it off me, but that guitar used to be haunted’. I say, ‘What are you talking about, Sherman?’. He says, ‘There’s 50 solid citizens here in Como
Como, Mississippi
Como is a town in Panola County, Mississippi, United States which borders the Mississippi Delta. The population was 1,310 as of the 2000 census. Wayne Drash, a CNN.com senior producer, described Como as "a hard-hit rural community" in a 2007 article.-History:...
who’ll tell you this guitar is haunted. It’s the darnedest thing – we’d leave it over in the potato barn and we’d come back in and it would be moved. You’d put it down somewhere and the next morning you’d come back and it would have moved. When you took that guitar the ghost in the barn left’. He told me this not very long ago and I said to him, ‘Sherman! Why didn’t you tell me this before?’ and he said, ‘Well the ghost was gone – I didn’t want it around here no more!’”
On 3 January 2010, Seasick Steve appeared on the popular BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
motoring show Top Gear as the Star In A Reasonably Priced Car. He was the last star to drive in the blue Chevrolet Lacetti.
In February 2010, Seasick Steve was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist for the second consecutive year.
In 2010, Seasick Steve made numerous festival appearances throughout the summer, including the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, the main stage at V Festival
V Festival
The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and...
, the main stage at the Hop Farm Festival
Hop Farm Festival
Hop Farm Music Festival is an annual music festival at The Hop Farm Country Park in East Peckham in the English county of Kent, created by Festival Republic founder, Vince Power...
and many more.
In February 2011, Seasick Steve signed to Play It Again Sam
Play It Again Sam
Play It Again Sam is an independent record label based in London and owned by the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, one of Europe's biggest independent music companies.The label was founded in 1983 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot....
to release his new album with the exception of the US, where it will be released on Third Man Records
Third Man Records
Third Man Records is an independent record label founded by Jack White in Detroit, Michigan, in 2001. Third Man established its first physical location — a combination record store, performance venue, and headquarters for the label — in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2009.-History:Jack White founded...
. Subsequently his new album You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks was released on his new labels and it was announced that former Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
bassist John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...
had played on the new album, and appeared to promote the new album and thus performing with the duo. This has caused some to believe that he will tour with Steve as a part of his backing band, joining his current drummer Dan - something Seasick Steve confirmed had (and may) happen at a few performances. John Paul Jones did indeed appear onstage to play with Steve at the Isle of Wight 2011 festival and on the main stage of Rock Werchter 2011.
In July 2011, Seasick Steve played on stage with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters & John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin at Milton Keynes National Bowl in front of a sold out audience of 65,000.
In August 2011, Seasick Steve played at Reading and Leeds Festival, and the Fairport Cropredy Convention, sharing the stage with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.
On August 20, 2011, Seasick Steve finished his European festival season of 2011 with a show on the Lowlands Festival
A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise
A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise, also known as simply Lowlands, is a music festival, held annually in the Netherlands in August. Lowlands has about 55,000 visitors, over 200 acts and more than ten stages every year which are named according to the NATO phonetic alphabet apart from the Grolsch...
in Biddinghuizen, The Netherlands
Musical equipment
Wold owns (and plays) several obscure and personalised instruments, including:- The Three-String Trance Wonder — This is a normal guitar that resembles a Fender CoronadoFender CoronadoThe Fender Coronado was a double-cutaway thin-line hollow-body electric guitar, manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The very un-Fender like instrument was designed by Roger Rossmeisl in an attempt to capitalise on the increasing popularity of...
or a TeiscoTeiscoTeisco was a Japanese manufacturer of affordable musical instruments from 1948 until 1969, and now its brand is owned by Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co. Ltd. . The company produced guitars as well as keyboard instruments, microphones, amplifiers and even drums...
EP-7, but with only three strings. It has an old Harmony pickup added (with duct tapeDuct tapeDuct tape, or duck tape, is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure sensitive tape often sealed with polyethylene. It is very similar to gaffer tape but differs in that gaffer tape was designed to be cleanly removed, while duct tape was not. It has a standard width of and is generally silver or black...
) and is tuned to G, A and B using an E string in the A position, a D in the G position and a G in the B position. At his gigs, he often tells the story that he bought it for $75 in this condition in Como, MississippiComo, MississippiComo is a town in Panola County, Mississippi, United States which borders the Mississippi Delta. The population was 1,310 as of the 2000 census. Wayne Drash, a CNN.com senior producer, described Como as "a hard-hit rural community" in a 2007 article.-History:...
from a man named Sherman, who later told him he only paid $25 for it the day before. Wold vowed never to add another string, and that he would tour the world telling his story of how Sherman ripped him off. All in good fun as Sherman Cooper is a good buddy, who gave him the guitar having had it nailed to the wall as a decoration. A lot of the time he also adds (while picking up or putting away the guitar) that it is the "...biggest piece of shit in the world, I swear." On a BBC interview Steve claims that the guitar was found by a friend, just with the three strings on it. So he decided to keep it that way - The One-Stringed Diddley BowDiddley bowThe diddley bow is a string instrument of African origin made popular in America, probably developed from instruments found on the Ghana coast of west Africa. The diddley bow is rarely heard outside the rural south...
— This is a one stringed string instrument played with a slide (He uses an old screwdriver for this purpose). It consists of a 2 foot (0.6096 m) 2x42x4-Music:* 2X4 , a 1987 album* 2X4 , a 1984 album* "2 X 4", a 1996 song by Metallica from their album Load* "2 X 4", a 1995 song by Blind Melon from their album Soup...
, with a semi-loose piece of broom wire nailed to it at both ends. It was made especially for him by James 'Super Chikan' JohnsonSuper ChikanJames "Super Chikan" Johnson is an American blues musician, based in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He is the nephew of fellow blues musician Big Jack Johnson....
. - The 'MDM' (Mississippi Drum Machine) — A small wooden box that is stomped uponStomp boxthumb|Puck'n Stompa by PetermanA stomp box or stompbox is a simple percussion instrument consisting of a small wooden box placed under the foot, which is tapped or stamped on rhythmically to produce a sound similar to that of a bass drum. A stomp box allows a performer such as a singer or guitar...
, providing percussion. It is decorated with a Mississippi motorcycle license plate ("MC33583"), and a small piece of carpet. - Roland CUBERoland CUBERoland CUBE is a series of guitar and bass amplifiers manufactured and distributed by the Roland Corporation. The CUBE series use amplifier modeling technology.-Mobile CUBE:...
Amplifier — Placed on a chair to his left and set to the 'tweed' setting. - The Morris Minor Guitar — When on the TV show Top Gear, presenter Jeremy ClarksonJeremy ClarksonJeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
commented that Steve's car history of over 100 cars included a Morris MinorMorris MinorThe Morris Minor was a British economy car that debuted at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, on 20 September 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.3 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1971...
. Steve then presented a 4-string guitar that his friend had made out of two old hub caps from the Minor joined back-to-back, playing it a little in the episode. Jeremy Clarkson replied that it was the best use of a Morris MinorMorris MinorThe Morris Minor was a British economy car that debuted at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, on 20 September 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.3 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1971...
he had ever seen. - '56 Dano - He can be seen playing a '56 Danelectro/Silvertone single cutaway (modified) on various gigs
- National Triolian - Used on some gigs and studio recordings. Has SEASICK etched on the body.
- Four String Cigar Box Guitar - Often seen using this on gigs.
- Acoustic Parlour Guitar - Unknown make. Has a Harmony pickup placed in sound hole. Often tuned to open D. He uses this often in the studio and on most of his gigs
Nickname
When asked about his nickname, Wold has said: "because it's just true: I always get seasick." When he was ill on a ferry in Norway, later in his life, a friend began playfully using the name and, despite Wold not rising to it for a while, it stuck. When asked about his name on British Sunday morning television show, Something for the WeekendSomething for the Weekend (2000s BBC TV series)
Something for the Weekend is a British television series, broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday mornings. It features cookery, drinks, interviews with celebrity guests and clips from the week's television, as well as classic clips in the 'Deja View' section...
, he replied, "I get sick on boats, that's it!" On Top Gear, when asked about his name, Wold replied "Well, I guess I just don't like boats!"
Personal life
Wold married his second wife, Elisabeth, in 1982 and together they have three grown-up sons. Wold has problems putting down roots in one place, and he and his wife have lived in 59 houses to date. They currently live in NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and the UK.
One of Wold's sons, Didrik, is an illustrator who is responsible for designing all of Steve's album artwork, merchandise, print ads, and websites. His youngest son, Paul Martin Wold, played drums on Dog House Music and first made a guest appearance with him on percussion/drums at the Astoria in January, 2008 and has since performed with Seasick Steve frequently, playing washboard, shakers, tambourine, floor tom and occasionally guitar. He also works as Steve's guitar-tech. Paul Martin Wold, aka Wishful Thinking will be releasing his debut album 'A Waste of Time Well Spent' on November 2, 2009 and will showcase a selection from the album whilst touring the UK with Seasick Steve.
Studio albums
| Album Title | Album details | Chart positions | Certifications | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
BEL (FLA) Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
IRE Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
NL MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
SWE Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
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| Cheap Cheap (album) Cheap is the debut album from Seasick Steve. It consists of songs by him and his Swedish band The Level Devils, and also two stories from his life as a hobo.The Level Devils consisted at this time of Kai Christoffersen playing the drums and Jo Husmo bass... |
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— | — | — | — | — | — | 198 | |
| Dog House Music Dog House Music Dog House Music is the second album by Seasick Steve, and his first as a solo artist. It was released on 27 November 2006; however pre-release CDs were available for sale to members of mailing list.... |
Bronzerat Records Bronzerat Records are a UK based Record label. The label was created in 2006 to release music by singer songwriter Gemma Ray . The label then signed Seasick Steve who went on to sell hundreds of thousands of records in the UK and Europe and played on... |
— | 99 | — | 69 | — | — | 36 |
British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Gold |
| I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left I Started Out With Nothin and i Still Got Most of it Left I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left is the third album by Seasick Steve. It was released on 29 September 2008. It entered the UK album chart at number 9 on 6 October 2008. The album is his first on the record label Warner Bros... |
Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies... |
17 | 38 | 107 | 13 | — | 30 | 9 |
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| Man from Another Time Man From Another Time Man from Another Time is the fourth album by Seasick Steve. It was released on 19 October 2009. It entered the UK album chart at number 4 on 25 October 2009.- Track listing :# "Diddley Bo"# "Big Green and Yeller"# "Happy "... |
Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies... |
— | 13 | 191 | 15 | — | — | 4 |
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| You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks is the fifth studio album by Seasick Steve. It was released on 27 May 2011. It entered the Irish Albums Chart at number 18 on 2 June 2011.-Track listing:-Charts:-Release history :-Certifications:... |
Third Man Records Third Man Records is an independent record label founded by Jack White in Detroit, Michigan, in 2001. Third Man established its first physical location — a combination record store, performance venue, and headquarters for the label — in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2009.-History:Jack White founded... |
— | 26 | — | 18 | 81 | — | 6 |
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Compilation albums
| Album Title | Album details | Chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
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| Songs For Elisabeth |
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33 |
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| Walkin' Man |
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EPs
| Album Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| It's All Good |
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Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
UK Indep UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
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| 2007 | "Dog House Boogie" | 187 | — | — | Dog House Music Dog House Music Dog House Music is the second album by Seasick Steve, and his first as a solo artist. It was released on 27 November 2006; however pre-release CDs were available for sale to members of mailing list.... |
| 2008 | "Cut My Wings" | 151 | — | — | |
| "It's All Good" | — | 5 | — | non-album single | |
| "St. Louis Slim" | — | — | — | I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left I Started Out With Nothin and i Still Got Most of it Left I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left is the third album by Seasick Steve. It was released on 29 September 2008. It entered the UK album chart at number 9 on 6 October 2008. The album is his first on the record label Warner Bros... |
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| 2009 | "Walkin' Man" | — | — | — | |
| "That's All" | — | — | — | Man from Another Time Man From Another Time Man from Another Time is the fourth album by Seasick Steve. It was released on 19 October 2009. It entered the UK album chart at number 4 on 25 October 2009.- Track listing :# "Diddley Bo"# "Big Green and Yeller"# "Happy "... |
Backing Band
Current Members- Dan Magnusson - Drums, percussion (2008–Present)
- John Paul Jones - Bass Guitar (2011–present)
Former members, as 'The Level Devils'
- Jo Husmo - Bass Guitar (200?–)
- Kai Christoffersen - Drums, Percussion (2004)
- Dan Magnusson - Drums, Percussion (2004–2006)