STEVE GARDNER-BIO 2010-NEW FACTS, FIGURES AND A FEW OUT RIGHT LIES

[Rambling Steve Gardner]

STEVE GARDNER-I came to Japan from my home in Mississippi in August of 1980. Growing up down in Mississippi, I often played with blues great Sam Chatmon, Booby Barnes, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Jack Owens and many more. Since 1980 I have been based in Tokyo working as a musician and a contract photojournalist covering Asia and the Pacific Rim and finally Europe for several international publications. My photographs have been published in TIME, NEWSWEEK, numerous Japanese and European magazines. I have several books but the most critically acclaimed is my book on the American South and Blues from Mississippi, RAMBLING MIND, published in 1994. My work has been exhibited in the USA, where several of my Mississippi Blues images are in private collections including:

The Mississippi Delta Blues Museum, Castle Rock Film Productions, WILD TURKEY Whiskey to name but a few. In Japan my work has be exhibited and sponsored by Nikon, Kodak, Parco, Honher Harmonicas, Shimokura Music and the FCCJ . But mainly I am an American Roots'N Blues man playing my tunes and those that I learned as a boy growing up in Mississippi.

I am one of the FEATURED ARTIST for NATIONAL RESO-PHONIC GUITARS and a real proponent for their fine instruments. After all, like the blues, "Everybody needs a National Reso-phonic guitar!" http://www.nationalguitars.com/admin/artists.html

My American Roots'n Blues shows and workshops have been sponsored by the US State Department over the last eight years. I have conducted shows throughout Japan for audiences of all ages and walks of life through their sponsorship.

I have released five Cd's, the most recent to date, WALKIN' THE DOG (2009 Buffalo Records) was chosen by WWOZ RADIO, New Orleans, as one of the best ten Cd's released in 2009. This project features WASHBOARD CHAZ LEARY, THE JAKE LEG STOMPERS, BILL STEBER AND BRANDON ARMSTRONG ALONG WITH TOKYO MUSICIANS BILL BENFIELD AND HISA NAKASE.http://www.wwoz.org

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sgwcjls

My next Cd, WOOLY BULLY EXPRESS, will be released with a USA tour in the summer of 2010. THIS NEW CD FEATURES WASHBOARD CHAZ LEARY, THE JAKE LEG STOMPERS, BILL STEBER AND BRANDON ARMSTRONG ALONG WITH TOKYO MUSICIANS BILL BENFIELD AND HISA NAKASE ALONG WITH MY DADDY, BIG STEVE GARDNER AND MY VERY GOOD FRIEND FROM THE HOUSE ROCKERS BAND, DRUMMER DUDLEY TARDO. THE PROJECT IS MIXED AND MASTERED BY THE VERY TALENTED NICK VITTER. I have toured Austria, Germany and the USA and Japan, both solo and with the Jake Leg Stompers or on other shows with Tokyo musicians Bill Benfield and Hisa Nakase along with Shinjiro Mori and Jimanica Ojima Yu.

We have opened and headlined festivals and events large and small. I opened shows Kim Wilson and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Shemekia Copel in Europe; played with Mojo Bufford in Austria; opened for Gate Mouth Brown, Howard Tate, Jimmy and Eddie Burns, Jimmy Dawkins and Ben E. King in Tokyo; played with Corey Harris, Harmonica Shaw, Washboard Chaz on tour in Japan; and opened events in Mississippi for Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, among many others.

I teach at Meiji University a few days a week and do guest lectures at several other universities on the History and Roots of American Blues.

Take a look at "What THEY are saying"-----quotes and reviews-

WOOLY BULLY EXPRESS is The Jericho Road Show at its BEST! American Roots’N Blues Music played on Tubas, Washboards, Upright Bass, Harps, National Guitars, Ukuleles, Banjos, Mandolins, Trombones, Saws...You know, ACOUSTIC STUFF!

“The boys of the Jericho Road Show break up the house, tumble down the walls and boogie on the bricks! They’re the real deal...I just love ‘em..you will too!” Peggy Lou- WWOZ community radio, New Orleans http://www.wwoz.org

“These guys rock in all the right places...and what a great show!”
Andreas Dirnberger-BLUESFAN AUSTRIA www.bluesfan.at

“As a part of our show case of American Culture in Tokyo, our event would not have been as fun or as successful without Steve Gardner.” James P. Zumalt, Charge’d’Affaires, Embassy of the United States of America, Tokyo,Japan

“Their music sounds like a Friday night juke joint and a Saturday night fish fry with a Sunday morning church service for good measure”
Cheryl Meyers- Ashai Shimbun News Service

“Steve Gardner is definitely one of Tokyo’s most original blues artist.” Blues Alive Magazine

“...the gut power of Delta blues has had fewer finer exponent than Steve Gardner.” Michael Pronko- The Japan Times

Steve Gardner has a voice from the past that resonates with the present. His folk/blues is quite simply the best window we have into the soul of the South. James L. Dickerson, author, Devil's Sanctuary

“Steve Gardner not only sings Mississippi Delta Blues, he IS that musical art form, the real deal.”

The Foreign Correspondent’s Club Of Japan

"WALKIN' THE DOG...tubas, trombones, washboards,ukuleles and a saw! Needless to say, the CD blew my socks off! And when you pop out your next one I really must have one!"
Thomas Greener "Ragged But Right" show, KVMR Radio http://www.kvmr.org/

“Talented musicians, great vocals, a rousing repertoire of songs with harmonicas, guitars, banjo-uke, tuba, washboard and other unique percussion.” Jim Abbott-The Enterprise-Tocsin Newspaper

“....boisterous and humorous jug band music of the ‘20s and ‘30s.” Scott Barretta-Clarion-Ledger newspaper

“Steve Gardner...story teller, singer, bluesman... blues originale.” Dietmar Hoscher- CONCERTO magazine

“Steve Gardner is a professional story-teller who weaves his experiences in the Mississippi Delta into his musical performances and CDs...a fine mix of traditional country with a string band sound all flavored with a New Orleans beat.”
Meridian 360-MERIDIAN STAR newspaper

“An artist who combines his music with his intimate photographs of the people and place of the blues.” THE TALON MAGAZINE

“WALKIN’ THE DOG...a fine mix of blues, R&B, jazz and jug band music interpreted on an array of instruments ranging from guitars, ukuleles and even a musical saw.” Dan Grunebaum- Tokyo Metropolis Magazine

“If you think to yourself that this IS NOT your average blues band...you’d be right. They are not dusting off old museum pieces...their music has genuine article stamped all over it and keeps the crowd on its feet and calling for more.”
THE ALIEN MAGAZINE


“These guys bring the best of the back porch to the front of the big stage” Peggy Lou WWOZ community radio, New Orleans http://www.wwoz.org

“BIG DELTA CROSSING-I hear cotton fields, Tom Sawyer, the Mississippi River and the great American open road.” BIG BIKE CRUSING Magazine

“Steve Gardner rambles the lost highways of Hank Williams and Jimmy Rogers as easily as the delta of the Mississippi blues men.” Radio Tokyo, Norio Higashi

http://www.stevegardner.info

[Dennis Gray]

So where are the outright lies? Didn't catch a single one... omedetou and gambatte- hope you make it to the Bay area on your tour!