Steve Noonan

Nice article on Steve.....http://www.hemagazine.com/node/2208
O.K. This is for Bob n Helen:
Steve Noonan: Contemporary Traditionalist
Music Reviews
November 12, 2010 By Mark Elson - Senior Editor




Steve Noonan's songs feel like he's talking to you. His delivery is casual, conversational and contemporary. As a matter of fact, Noonan has been contemporary for decades, ever since he began writing music during the 60's at Orange County's Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, CA. There, he and his writing partner, Greg Copeland served as songwriting models for the likes of Jackson Browne (see our video interview with JB).

Musically, Steve does not sound like a pure, folk traditionalist but when you listen carefully, you'll hear his Scotts/Irish and blues roots powering his "socially conscious Americana". Noonan reminds us that these are the building blocks upon which even current songwriting is based, no matter how 21st century the sound. Take the Noonan-Copeland penned "Buy for Me the Rain", which became a hit by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It sounds like it could have been written in 1850 but it rings as true now as it did when Steve and Greg wrote it. Like many of Noonan's songs, the melody is deceptively pleasant and immediately hooks the listener. As the song develops, you begin to pay attention to what he is saying - the thoughts and feelings run deep. Says, Steve, "There is a lot to talk about, especially through the filter of the last half of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st. Struggles, relationships.... Love is hard and it might leave scars. Mmm, there's an idea for a lyric. What do you think, Mark? I'd better write that down." Steve Noonan clearly has a contemporary bead on the traditional song-writing themes of pain and travel.


Steve's voice has developed character over time. You can envision him entertaining his fellow immigrants onboard a three-masted clipper ship headed to the New World in 1845, yet he sounds right at home at the Troubador in Los Angeles, CA.

Touring Europe has given Steve Noonan an interesting perspective. I asked him to compare North American audiences with those in France, Netherlands and other countries. "European audiences are more relaxed and give themselves up to the performer. Here, we're frantic to get to the performance, hyped up, more jaded, critical and consequently less at ease. It makes U.S. audiences harder to entertain. Europeans seem more forgiving and generally happier to be absorbing the performance. They're willing to listen deeply."

Among his acoustic guitars, Noonan is especially proud of his Ayers Limited edition, handmade six-string, built of rosewood with a solid cedar top. A confirmed tube-a-holic, Steve's studio is crammed with recording gear that is meant to preserve musicality, like the Demeter VTMP 2B tube mic preamplifier, also preferred by Ry Cooder and David Lindley. Steve is also a fan of Presonus Audio, makers of D/A converters, mic preamps and other music production tools. Why? "Audio first - bells and whistles last".



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