Thunderbolt, Georgia … yes that’s right, there is such a place and that’s where Steve Bennett spent his early years. Fishing in the Wilmington River, exploring the marshes and small islands nearby and listening to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys etc. Like most of his friends he was compelled to buy a guitar and learn to play. Then, in 1970 he went northward, to Athens, Georgia, for his schooling. Here he was introduced to the music of the mountains, bluegrass and old-time … and singer songwriters such as John Prine. So, he bought a mandolin, to go with his guitar. Steve wound up in Columbia in 1980, a brand new biologist with SCDNR and started playing music with friends almost immediately.
Steve Bennett plays acoustic music, from bluegrass to celtic, folk to blues, old-time, swing and ragtime. You might want to call it Americana, and that’s fine, but Steve doesn’t think of it that way … he just plays music that he likes. He is also a songwriter, writing tunes for his band, The Blue Iguanas, and for his solo and duo projects. He accompanies himself on 6 and 12 string guitars and octave mandolin, and occasionally breaks out his mandolin, which he plays with the band, to pick some old-time fiddle tunes. Steve has been playing this sort of music, in various bands, sessions or solo for over 30 years in the Columbia area.
Steve’s first solo, all-original music CD (9 songs and one original tune) is Date On The Moon. Steve played all the instruments on the CD and sang all of the vocal parts, not necessarily because he’s thrifty, more because it was a lot of fun … and it was thrifty.
Steve’s first hour at the Woodshed will be a solo set and then regional musician & friend Tom Coolidge will join him on harmonica and guitar on a few songs during the second set. They have performed together many times and complement each other extremely well.
The Blue Iguanas Facebook Page
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