"I was born and raised in Central Avenue - down Maylands way that is. I knew a long time ago what I was gonna do. It was 1964 I was 12 years old. I went up to my Mum and said Mum I know what Im going to do with my life. Well she looked at me real strange and said Boy you crazy ! Think about a real career. You gotta stop hangin around places like Wot The Hek, Dorrinas, Northside Lounge, Stables, Beach House, Snakepit, St Pats, Capitol Theatre, Club 7 Teen, Embassy Ballroom, Gaslight Club, Canterbury Court, Benjamins, Firecracker, Trendsetter, Colosseum, Zanzibar, Whisky A GoGo, Riki Tik, Latin Quarter, Hole In The Wall, Troupador Club, Top Hat, Stoned Crow, Sandgroper, Maggies Farm, Wizbah, Loaded Dog, Mojos, Hernandos Hideaway, Fly By Night, Alberts Tavern, Gerdes Folk City, Port Fairy, Muddy Waters Blues Lounge, East Coast Blues Festival, Freedom Jam Festival - Bangalore India, Sail and Anchor, Blues At Bridgetown and so on. How was I to know I was gonna be in New York City 1982 (and 1998) singing my kind of blues - blues from the Maylands delta. No matter what you say, do, think, smell or feel. Theres things floating through my mind. People and places in my memory - whats left of it !"
This is a true story. Steve started playing music in 1962. Music is his calling. From birth he was surrounded by the music of his Macedonian ancestors and the ethnic music of Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Listening to live music at picnics and dances as a small child opened his mind and spirit to trancelike rhythms, improvisation and chanting. He started listening to the sounds of the radio Bob Dylan, Them, Animals, Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann, Jimi Hendrix, Yardbirds, Kinks, Loved Ones, Spectrum etc. He searched back further to the roots of the music he loved - and then back to the source - Africa. Steve is an Australian Griot, a Blues Shaman. He has lived and performed in the USA, Europe and Asia - supporting some of the biggest names in music. Influences include Leadbelly, John Coltrane, Tim Buckley, Captain Beefheart, Sun Ra, Tony Williams Lifetime, Van Morrison, Howling Wolf, Tom Waits, Jack Bruce, Kip Hanrahan and Bob Dylan. African, Indian, Haitian and Islamic music have all had a spiritual and rhythmic influence on his own work. His love of blues, gospel and a cappella field hollers shows both in his live shows and recordings.
Two lifelong ambitions came true when he toured India in 1997 and Pakistan in 2003. Explorations into Vodou, Tantra, Buddhism, Sufism, The Bible, Hinduism, Taoism and Native American Indians have affected him deeply. Awards include Songwriter Of The Year, Most Original Work, and Album Of The Year . Steve was also inducted into Western Australia Music Industrys Hall of Fame and is featured in the books - Whos Who of Australian Rock and Blues, Working Musicians and Further Down the Road. His Eight CD Box Set - Anthology Volume One: The Sacred Path of The Fried Egg Maylands To The Gates of Hell (1962-2001) is a piece of Australian music history. The first time in Australian music history that an independent solo artist has released a box set. Steve was also awarded an Arts WA Contemporary Music Fellowship in 2003 to study, compose and tour with master musicians in Africa, India and Greece.
Steve Tallis is unique, fiercely independent and is not a man to be compromised.
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