Jeffrey Steele
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jeffrey Steele | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jeffrey LeVasseur[1] |
| Born | August 27, 1961 [2][3] |
| Origin | Burbank, California, USA |
| Genre(s) | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Rhythm guitar Bass guitar Piano |
| Years active | 1990-present |
| Label(s) | Curb Monument 3 Ring Circus/Lofton Creek |
| Associated acts | Anthony Smith Boy Howdy Rascal Flatts |
| Website | JeffreySteele.net |
Jeffrey Steele (born Jeffrey LeVasseur, August 27, 1961 in Burbank, California[4]) is an award-winning American country music singer-songwriter. Between 1990 and 1996, Steele was the lead singer and bass guitarist in the country music band Boy Howdy, which recorded two albums and an EP on Curb Records, in addition to charting seven singles on the Billboard country music charts.
After Boy Howdy disbanded, Steele embarked on a solo career, recording seven studio albums (one of which was not released). He also charted four singles as a solo artist, with the highest-peaking — "Somethin' in the Water" — reaching #33 on the country charts in 2001. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become one of Nashville's most prolific songwriters, having co-written more than sixty hit songs for such artists as Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes.[5]
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[edit] Biography
Jeffrey LeVasseur was born in Burbank, California to a musical family. His mother was a singer, and his father had aspirations to become a country music songwriter.[4] He first gained his own interest in music at age eight, when he sang Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" at a church function. This rendition earned him a standing ovation, so he sang the song an additional seven times.[4][5] Later, he shifted his focus to songwriting; by age seventeen, he was performing with local groups, and playing keyboards at various gigs on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.[5] In 1987, after the death of his father, LeVasseur changed his last name to Steele as a tribute to his father, who processed steel for a living.[6]
[edit] Boy Howdy
In 1990, Steele and three other California musicians — Hugh Wright, along with brothers Cary and Larry Park — formed the band Boy Howdy, in which he served as lead vocalist and bass guitarist.[7] Boy Howdy signed to Curb Records in 1992, recording two albums and an EP for the label, in addition to charting seven singles on the country music charts.[7] While in Boy Howdy, Steele was named Best Bassist and Best Male Vocalist by the California Country Music Association.[5] As the band's primary songwriter, he also earned BMI awards for co-writing their highest-charting singles, "She'd Give Anything" and "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore".[5]
[edit] Solo career and success as songwriter
Steele re-located to Nashville, Tennessee in 1994, two years before Boy Howdy disbanded. Still signed to Curb Records, he released two unsuccessful solo singles, as well as a solo album which was never shipped.[1][5] Steele was eventually signed to a songwriting contract, however, and he began writing singles for other artists. Among his first hits as a songwriter were "If You Love Somebody" by Kevin Sharp, "Unbelievable" by Diamond Rio, and "Big Deal" by LeAnn Rimes, all three of which earned him additional BMI awards.[1][5]
In 2001, Jeffrey was signed to his second solo recording contract, this time with Monument Records. His solo debut album, Somethin' in the Water, was issued late that year; in addition to producing the album, Steele wrote or co-wrote every song on it.[5] The album's title cut (which was previously cut by River Road for their unreleased second album) reached a peak of #33 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, becoming Steele's only Top 40 hit as a solo artist.
Meanwhile, he continued to write songs for other artists, with Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, and Montgomery Gentry all recording songs he had co-written.[5] In addition, Rascal Flatts reached Number One on the country charts in late 2002 with "These Days", their first Number One single. Steele also continued to record studio albums even while writing hits for other artists; his albums Gold, Platinum, Chrome and Steele and You Gotta Start Somewhere were both released in 2003, the same year that he was named Songwriter of the Year by both BMI and the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI).[8][9] 2004 saw the release of his fourth studio album, Outlaw, on the Lofton Creek Records label.[10] By 2005, more than sixty of his songs had become chart hits for other artists;[5] that same year, he received a second Songwriter of the Year award from the NSAI.[11][9]
His most successful single as a songwriter to date has been "What Hurts the Most", a Number One single on both the Hot Country Songs and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts for Rascal Flatts in 2006. Another one of Steele's compositions, Steve Holy's Number One single "Brand New Girlfriend", earned him yet another BMI award in 2006, just as Steele released his most recent album to date, Hell on Wheels.[12] "What Hurts the Most" would later earn him the Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year awards from BMI, as well as the Songwriter of the Year award from Music Row magazine.[13]
In April 2008, it was announced Steele and pop singer Jewel would join John Rich of Big & Rich as judges on the talent show Nashville Star.[14]
[edit] Discography
The following is a table of all albums and singles released by Jeffrey Steele as a recording artist.
[edit] Albums
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | untitled Curb Records albumA | Curb |
| 2001 | Somethin' in the Water | Monument |
| 2003 | Gold, Platinum, Chrome, and Steele | 3 Ring Circus/Lofton Creek |
| You Gotta Start Somewhere | ||
| 2004 | Outlaw | |
| 2006 | Hell on Wheels | |
| 2007 | Gold, Platinum, No Chrome, and More Steele | |
| 2008 | Countrypolitan |
AUnreleased album.
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | US Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Roots of Country"A | untitled Curb Records album | |
| 1997 | "A Girl Like You" | 60 | |
| 2001 | "Somethin' in the Water" | 33 | Somethin' in the Water |
| 2002 | "I Can Give You Love Like That"A | ||
| 2003 | "Good to Go" | 49 | |
| 2004 | "Good Year for the Outlaw" | 54 | Outlaw |
| 2005 | "Once a Cowboy"A | ||
| "Twenty Years Ago"A | |||
| "She Must Be So Happy"A | |||
| 2006 | "Just the Way We Do It"A |
AFailed to chart.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Jeffrey Steele (html). BMI.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Fabian, Shelly. Country Music birthdays. About.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
- ^ Jeffrey Steele. International Country Music Database. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
- ^ a b c Jeffrey Steele: Biography (html). CMT.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j allmusic (((Jeffrey Steele > Biography))) (html). All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Jeffrey Steele (html). Nashville Underground. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ a b allmusic (((Boy Howdy > Biography))) (html). All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Jeffrey Steele, Jesse Harris, Butch Walker, & Pat Green: Songwriters on Songwriting (html). Songwriter101.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ a b Jeffrey Steele named Songwriter of the Year by NSAI (html). FindArticles.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Jeffrey Steele Anticipates Arrival of "Outlaw" (html). bmi.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Five Members Welcomed to Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (html). CMT.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ BMI Honors Writers of Steve Holy's Hit (html). BMI.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ "These Days", It’s Good To Be Jeffrey Steele (html). BMI.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (2008-04-23). Jeffrey Steele, Jewel bound for 'Nashville'. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
[edit] External links
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