American Wilderness is the latest release from Steve Bonham and his friends as they continue to explore the myth, moonshine and madness of America. It is an EP featuring songs to be included in a forthcoming album of the same name. It consists of 3 tracks: Wrapped Up In You; Interstate 25 and the epic ‘American Wilderness’. All tracks are written by Steve and feature both himself and his trusty compadres Kev Moore and Chris ‘the Bishop’ Lydon.
The hanging of an angel, a ghost town and other stories
The key track on this EP is ‘American Wilderness’, nominally a ballad based on the sorry tale of Paula Angel, said to be the first woman to be hung in New Mexico – and hung twice. But it is a ballad like no other: echoes of Dylan, the Doors and Steely Dan wrap themselves around some country blues and lyrics that tell the tragic tale. And more than that, the ghosts and legends of old frontier: the drunken judge; the gaoler, the drifter and the drinker look on.
‘Interstate 25’ is written about a visit Steve made to a mysterious ghost town somewhere at the end of the Santa Fe trail as the evening sun went down and a hawk flew over the open road.
‘Wrapped up in you’ is a love song for those who’ve given up on love songs.
Listen Here
American Wilderness https://youtu.be/CCluSvgoDA8
Interstate 25 https://youtu.be/warVRLRQmus
Wrapped Up in You https://youtu.be/CVOnMaSZE_8
Also available to stream on Spotify / Apple Music etc.
Reviewers / DJs please contact info@artisan-creative for MP3 / WAV / FLAC CD etc.
Steve Bonham – The Vagabond Philosopher
The Vagabond Philosopher, Steve Bonham, is creating a musical stir both with his band The Long Road and with an increasing number of solo appearances. Described as a combination of ‘Woody Guthrie, Bill Bryson and Don Quixote’ (!!!) Steve’s quest is to take the raw ingredients of Folk, Americana and roots to conjure up some ‘moonshine’ music - something new and different but definitely in the spirit of what was and will ever be. He is a guy who regularly ‘hits the trail’ and his songs and stories spring from the dust and adventure of the road and from the people he meets along the way. His journeys have taken him, mostly on foot, through the great forests of the southern states of the US and then a trip along the music road, from Ashville to Nashville and New Orleans and exploring the backroads of New Mexico. They have resulted in him to being followed by Moroccan secret police dressed in djellabas and riding Velocette motor bikes, down the Draa valley on the desert side of the Atlas Mountains; sleeping in hollowed out mound of ice called a quinzee on the frozen lakes of Ontario and riding around Greek islands on a motorbike with his underpants drying on the handlebars.
His songs are of outlaws, ghost towns, the emigrant, the doomed lover, the extraordinary lives of ordinary people real and imagined. His performances are intimate and expansive, funny and moving all at the same time. Solo and with his band he has released 9 albums with a new EP ‘American Wilderness released in Oct 2019. He has sold out at Wigtown Festival in Scotland; reduced WAME FM in North Carolina to hysterics; delivered a performance described as at The Little Museum of Dublin as ‘inspiring’; driven 2000 miles to do 5 gigs in 5 days in Germany. As Roisin Ingles of the Irish Times wrote "He doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk “
And others say:
“The outlaw songsmith … employs a …renegade-Anglo touch to make Americana great again… but he’s less world-weary , more foot down hard with raw whisky energy. Rock N Roots UK Nov/Dec 2018
“Like the minstrels and versifiers of societies now long gone, he is continuing the tradition of making provocatively styled folk music for a world incapable of expressing its most powerful emotions”. Gashouse Radio
“He's a first rate storyteller in the Rambling Jack Elliot tradition, just rocking up the down home vibe. Solid stuff for those who miss meaty songwriting, this'll bring home the prize.” Mid West Review
