ORIGINAL SONGS:

A sampling of Steve's most recent ORIGINAL songs.  Written, produced, performed and recorded by Steve Waddington during some recent down-time brought on by the turmoil that has defined 2020-2021.

Unlike the other songs on this website, these are NOT performed in anyone else's style. Nor is the overall vibe of these songs anything but original. However, if you listen closely, in most of these songs you WILL hear a purposely inserted subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) reference to a song or a riff that has inspired Steve's  career...a nod, if you will, to the influences that have shaped this songwriter's particular style. In film, this technique is called "an Easter Egg". In Steve's songs, it's called an homage. (Subtle example: Steve's song "Great Big World"...after about the half way mark you'll hear background voices, and later Steve joining in on, "doo-doo's", a nod to Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" and Love and Rocket's "So Alive"....and on the outro you'll hear about 2 bars of the iconic guitar riff from T-Rex's "Bang a Gong". Blatant example: on Steve's song "So Much For Love", towards the end you'll hear trumpets and chanting very reminiscent of "I Am The Walrus" by The Beatles. All in good fun!)

And, admittedly, these songs seem to defy a specific category. Adult/Alternative seems to come closest to referencing an appropriate genre. But the songs, while very different in theme, all include the major benchmarks of this songwriter's craft: hooks, harmony, story, mystery, character, mood...and most of all, guitars! Lots of guitars!  Alas, the "band" was not available for any of these sessions, for obvious reasons, so Steve simply recorded everything himself in his home studio.

Very cinematic in scope and range...and, lyrically, every song tells a story from a unique perspective. Sometimes the main storyteller is simply an observer of events, or perhaps embroiled in the story, maybe a victim, victor or unwitting participant. There's intrigue, despair, mystery, love, questioning of values, social commentary and, in some cases, redemption...like any good movie! In fact, a lot of these songs would probably be right at home on a film's soundtrack!

So, here in no particular order, are some of the original songs Steve has written and recorded in this past year. Some of these songs Steve wrote years ago, maybe made demos of, but were never fully realized, so they got a few re-worked lyrics and a fresh musical perspective.

Hope you enjoy them, and feel free to leave any comments or feedback. Who knows, this may result in an album or two...or at the very least, some released singles. 

COVER SONGS:

Here are a few "covers" Steve performed and recorded during this same time frame. These are just a few of his personal faves that he had fun recording. Unlike the various tribute sections of this website, where most of the songs on those lists were sung to backing tracks (except the videos, obviously), on these songs we again have Steve playing all the instruments and singing all the parts. Not trying to make the songs "better"...after all,  these are some iconic gems... just a slightly different telling.