Title: Hutchinson, Steve : Seven Steps Back
Artist: Hutchinson, Steve
Label: CD Baby
Product Type: COMPACT DISCS
UPC: 5573063269790
Genre: Pop

SEVEN STEPS BACK is Steve's debut album - which at 59 must be some kind of record! Life they say begins at 40 - well, in his case, it began at 50 (Steve could well be a late developer!) when he decided to celebrate his birthday by playing a concert for all his friends, family and work colleagues. The reaction was immediate and very positive - and led to him spending 7 years as lead singer with BLUE ONYX, the UK's premier Moody Blues tribute band. In fact, 2 of the founder members of the Moody Blues (Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder) invited Steve and his band to play for them at their recent joint birthday party - and Ray even went as far to tweet that Steve had a great voice! While Blue Onyx were impressing English audiences, Steve had begun writing lots of songs both collaboratively as part of POLAR4, and also as a solo artist. Elaine Samuels, singer songwriter with the British folk rock band Kindred Spirit, wrote ' Steve is a wonderful singer and a powerful, melodic and catchy songwriter.' So what's his music like? Well, let's just say that you can hear his major influences from the 60s and 70s in it - the Moody Blues, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Bread - to name a few. I guess it would be categorised as soft or melodic rock but there's a lot more to it than that! Here is a summary of the tracks in Steve's own words:- Seven Steps Back - a slow rocker that tries to encapsulate somebody's life in 3 verses! Close your Eyes - a more delicate folk pop ballad that hints at our need to slow down our hectic lives Take It Out Tonight - a bit more rocky with lyrics protesting about the proliferation of self-styled life gurus Sun and Moon - a Moody Blues-influenced ballad that's really about the break up of a relationship Reach for Those Skies - a pleasant ditty about one of the most important moments of British history! Never So Right - inspired lyrically by some of my favourite songs from the 60s. How many can you hear? Darkened Dreams - a decidedly more dreamy, mystical song with, i hope, more than one layer of meaning. One of my personal favourites. Angel of the Night - Not originally planned for the album, this song came out of nowhere(?) and virtually wrote itself. I used a double dropped tuning for those who like that kind of thing! Sails on the Beach - an instrumental that i compiled one day playing with samples on my computer. Anyone know a soloist who can play the whistle? Able to Breathe - a floydian influenced song with suitably bleak lyrics and a guitar outro that my friend Mike suggested - and played on the track.

Tracks:
1.1 Seven Steps Back
1.2 Close Your Eyes
1.3 Take It Out Tonight
1.4 Sun and Moon
1.5 Reach for Those Skies
1.6 Never So Right
1.7 Darkened Dreams
1.8 Angel of the Night
1.9 Sails on the Beach
1.10 Able to Breathe