Lineup: 2010
Owen Steel et al
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Owen Steel’s story as a young musician, and the figures involved within it, reads like a childhood dream.
Growing up in the country side of Prince Edward Island with his mum and sister provided the perfect setting for Owen to discover the guitar and to begin writing songs at an early age. It was during the summer months visiting his father in New Brunswick, that Owen would become exposed to the curious world of the traveling musician.
His Fathers legendary musical castle – Salty Towers – was, and still is, a regular stop for many touring bands and solo acts passing through St. Andrews, N.B. This subjected Owen to various styles of music and fed his inspiration. Well known artists such as Harry Manx, Ray Bonneville, Guy Davis, Hot Toddy, and Al Tuck (to name a few) came through the door on one occasion or more and offered a tip or two along the way.
The early exposure to these people and the scene that surrounded them was enough to influence Owen to try it out himself. Subsequently, in between making a move from P.E.I to N.B, and finishing up high school, Owen cut some demos and sporadically booked gigs, slowly developing his live performance and folk/roots sound.
Upon completion of high school, Owen decided to move out west to British Columbia and try different aspects of farming, opting to leave his guitar behind for awhile. The gigging stopped, but the life experiences rolled in and after a year away from home, Owen returned with plenty of new song ideas, and returned to writing and gigging.
Very quickly, Owen took over from where he left off and has put out several, limited edition EP’s + cassettes, successfully toured Ontario, Quebec and the Martimes on several occasions, and taken part in numerous festivals and showcasing events such as the ECMA’s, Evolve, Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, and Montreal’s Infringement festival, as well as ‘no cases’ at events like NxNE, Halifax Pop Explosion, and the Dawson City Music festival (YT). He has opened for an incredible range of musicians including Juno award winner Old Man Leudecke, Elliott Brood, David Myles, Catherine Maclellan, Blues legend Guy Davis, and even such unlikely pairings as DFA 1979′s Sebastien Grangier, and Holy Fucks’s Brian Borchedt! In addition, Owen has been heard on a number of campus and community radio stations, CBC radio 1, and has appeared live in studio at KOOP 91.7 in Austin , Texas!
