Biography

Steve Wilson was born in 1955 in San Fernando, California.  From an early age, he had an interest in all things musical.  He picked up his grandfather’s guitar when he was 13 years old and has not been the same since.

He began learning simple things, folk songs, but that soon led to harder stuff.  Before long, he was playing pop and rock and yes, even jazz.  By the time he graduated high school he had become hopelessly hooked.  The guitar wasn’t good enough for him.  He had to learn banjo and mandolin.  Then it was the piano that caught his eye.  You can’t carry a piano around with you however, so he never got too involved with the hard stuff, like orchestral music.

You can help this pathetic middle aged man.  Come to his shows.  Listen to his music.  Smile.  Applaud.  And know, that you are helping.

I have lived in the South Bay, near Los Angeles, California, for most of my life.  Indeed, I am one of those rare and endangered  creatures, the native Californian.  When I’m not playing music, I’m writing or practicing kung fu.  Yeah, I’m a busy guy.  Idle hands, you know.  They do something.  I forget what, but I knew when I started the sentence.  They say memory is the first to go.  I forget what goes next.  Feel free to check out my other pages on My Space, Facebook, and, of course, Reverb.

Years ago,  I started writing little blogs on Reverb about my favorite bible stories, trying to explain why spirituality in general, and Christianity specifically, aren’t the irrational ideas commonly portrayed in popular media.  All those fundamentalists tend to give Jesus a bad name.  It’s a shame.  Anyway, those blogs became rather popular.  So I kept writing them.  Every Sunday, I post a blog with a religious theme.  This year, we are looking at the Gospel According to Mark.  You can read the old ones at my Reverb1 blog page.  And if you want to help this old guy keep writing and playing music, you can even donate a few bucks by PayPal.  In times like these, guys like me can use the help. Just use the Pay Pal Donate button.

Playing banjo down by the Big Sur River

I love to play music down by the river in Big Sur.  There is something about nature that brings out the music.  It is as if the angels were making the notes.  I’m simply playing them.  You can hear some of this music on my music page, either here, or at My Space.  I learned the banjo by listening to Pete Seeger records and from his fantastic book, “How to Play the 5 String Banjo”.  Going to Big Sur has become a family tradition for us.  We’ve gone there every year for the past 20 years and that’s a long time.  Big Sur seems to be the one place in the world that hardly changes ever.  Fires, storms, good times, bad times, they all come and go, but Big Sur remains the same.  Big Sur and the speed of light–two constants in the universe.

I am, of course, available to entertain your festive event.  Just contact me via my convenient “contact” page.