Steven J. "Steve" Tannen (born 1968) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

. He is best known for being in the folk-pop duo The Weepies

The Weepies

The Weepies are an indie pop-folk duo of married singer-songwriters Deb Talan and Steve Tannen. Their music has been described as "subtly intoxicating folk-pop".-Formation and early years :...

.

Early life and career

Tannen was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, but grew up in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 in addition to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. He started performing at an early age and learned music at home. He is the grandson of magician Louis Tannen. He is the brother of songwriter Greg Tannen and screenwriter Robert Tannen.

Steve graduated from Mamaroneck High School

Mamaroneck High School

Mamaroneck High School is a public school located in Mamaroneck, New York. The school is part of the Mamaroneck Union Free School District.-Campus setting and facilities:...

. He received a degree in English from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

. Tannen worked as a production assistant in Hollywood, becoming a script reader and assistant to film director Norman Jewison

Norman Jewison

Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...

. He interned at radio station KCRW

KCRW

KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...

, and then moved to Colorado to work for the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research

National Center for Atmospheric Research

The National Center for Atmospheric Research has multiple facilities, including the I. M. Pei-designed Mesa Laboratory headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. NCAR is managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and sponsored by the National Science Foundation...

 (NCAR). He left NCAR after a year and worked odds jobs around the US, developing a personal mix of folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 and rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

.

He returned to New York and, with the help from former Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American songwriter and singer known for her eclectic folk-inspired music.Two of Vega's songs reached the top 10 of various international chart listings: "Luka" and "Tom's Diner"...

 guitarist Jon Gordon, started a rock and roll project. This turned into his debut album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 "Big Señorita" which was chosen as one of Performing Songwriter Magazine’s Top 12 Independent Releases of 2001. In 2001, while touring behind Big Senorita, Tannen met his future wife and musical partner Deb Talan

Deb Talan

Deborah Ruth "Deb" Talan is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for being in the folk-pop duo The Weepies.-Early life and career:...

 at a show at Club Passim

Club Passim

Club Passim is a folk music club in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was opened by Joyce Kalina and Paula Kelley in 1958, when it was known as Club 47 , and changed its name to simply Passim in 1969...

 in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. His second solo CD "Stopped at a Green Light" was released in September 2003; this was quickly followed by the first Weepies album Happiness

Happiness (The Weepies album)

Happiness is the first album released by pop-folk band The Weepies. It was released independently by the band on November 29, 2003.-Promotion:The song, "All That I Want," is featured in a series of 2007 J.C. Penney Christmas commercials...

in December of that same year.

In addition to The Weepies' albums, Talan and Tannen collaborated with singer/actress Mandy Moore

Mandy Moore

Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...

 on her 2007 album Wild Hope

Wild Hope

-Singles:#"Extraordinary"#"Nothing That You Are" #"All Good Things" - Unreleased tracks :*"Changed My Mind" *"Shades" *"Never Again"...

. Together, they wrote and recorded five songs with Mandy — the single "Extraordinary

Extraordinary

Extraordinary may refer to:* The Extraordinary, an Australian television documentary series* ExtraOrdinary, an EP by Nizlopi* "Extraordinary" , a song by Mandy Moore...

," the title track "Wild Hope," "All Good Things," "Few Days Down" and "Looking Forward to Looking Back."

Steve is also a member of The Tannen Brothers, in which he plays with his brother Greg Tannen.

Discography

Year	Title	Label
2000	Big Señorita	Independent
2003	Stopped At a Green Light	Independent

External links

• Official site
• Steve Tannen collection at the Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
  's live music archive
• Listen to some of his songs at folkweb.com