Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere
Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere
BIOGRAPHY
Todd Steed is originally from Knoxville and has never escaped,… completely. After years of touring and recording with Smokin’ Dave and also Apelife, Steed has now happily settled in with his current lineup, Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere.
Their latest record, 'Heartbreak and Duct Tape' (Disgraceland/Apeville), was released in July 2005 and is already gathering great reviews. The record includes the much loved “Freebird 2” that has become a staple of the Suns of Phere live show. Steed explains that instead of a grand theme For Heartbreak and Duct Tape, this time he decided to simply go with the best songs he could write.
“Heartbreak and Duct Tape is basically a collection of the best songs we have at the moment. These songs have worked well live and I think the studio versions do them justice, if not improve them. If there is a theme it’s probably about life and change in the South. This is where I live so this is what I write about. And as always, it’s about the joyous escape from everyday crap and modern boredom, the south of soul, so to speak. So yeah, I fascinated by the various souths.”
The next record up is Eskimo Hair.
His previous record, Knoxville Tells, is a group of songs about the people and places in Knoxville. Released in 2003, Knoxville Tells has received heavy airplay on Americana and College stations across the land. The hit “North Knoxville” has become a standard of the live shows and is almost requested as much as “Freebird 2”.
“Knoxville Tells is the record I planned on doing primarily for my own enjoyment, but the dang thing has ended up having the most appeal of almost any recording I’ve put it out. I’m as baffled as anybody that people in Alabama and The Netherlands are buying this record,” Todd said.
“I think one of things that make this record entertaining is the number of interesting guests such as Jeff Bills, RB Morris, Scott Miller, Kat Brock (Dixie Dirt), Mic Harrison. Those folks added a lot and subtracted nothing. And since we made this record for the fun of it, it ends up being fun to listen to.”
Knoxville Tells has done well on Americana charts with strong sales regionally. And yes, it is selling in Alabama and The Netherlands better than it does in Nashville. But this recording is a culmination of a long line of shows and albums.
An active fixture on the local and regional music scene, Todd got his feet wet with the legendary Smokin’ Dave and the Premo Dopes, touring the country and releasing several nationally acclaimed recordings during the 80’s and 90’s.
After Smokin’ Dave took a break in the mid-90’s, Todd left the country to work in newly independent Lithuania. He started out as a teacher and somehow ended up being a television broadcaster for Lithuania’s first independent TV station, Tele 3. He also worked for a year in a very tumultuous Indonesia in 1997.
Upon his return he began working for The University of Tennessee, where he is still employed todayat WUOT. He also jumping with both feet in artist management with AC Entertainment, with Abigail Washburn being the main client.
But Steed has always ‘had to play’ and he shows no signs of slowing down.
“Why slow down? Why not record and play while you can? After you kick off, you might have a lot more free time but it’s really hard to work studio gear and musical instruments at that point.”
His current line-up is called Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere. The latter part of that name comes from the famous Knoxville landmark, the Sunsphere. The first part of that name came from his parents.
“This philosophy of the group is that nobody connected to the Suns of Phere is excluded from our live performances. Anybody who is on the record can come down and just jump on stage. And they often do. That doesn’t mean they will get paid, of course.” Steed claims. “And the records are just as open as the live show. RB Morris is in the house, fine, put him on track 1. I hate to go see shows where I pretty much know what the whole show is going to be like after the first song. Heck, I don't like PLAYING shows like that.”
“We like to keep things open so the show can go off in several directions. And there is always room for humor in the songs and performances. Laughing is not uncool. It’s good for you. Laugh at us or with us, we don’t mind.”
What next for the Todd and/or Suns of Phere?
"Well, the next thing I want to do is finish our new record called ESKIMO HAIR. I got to finish that, that record is a hayena that has been taunting me for years. It's almost done. Oh, and I really need to watch some Gomer Pyle shows. Those are relaxing.
And play live. After we played Bonnaroo, it really got me jazzed about playing live again. It's still the most enjoyable creative thing out there. I mean, besides Gomer Pyle DVDs, etc."
Todd Steed and The Suns of Phere:
Todd Steed, guitar and vocals
Ed Richardson, bass and vocals or box and vocals
Dave Nichols or Bob Deck, guitar and vocals
Jeff Bills, drums
And others. D.l.l.