| Born
in Illinois, Stevens picked up the guitar at an early age with a little
help from his grandfather. “He pawned some of his fishing gear for
an old acoustic and I was on my way,” Stevens says. “To me, it always
felt natural playing guitar.” His early musical heroes were rock
‘n roll pioneers The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and The Allman Brothers.
Through them he discovered a whole new style of music – the blues.
Stevens draws upon this rich blues and rock guitar influence in his playing.
The guitar sounds of T. Bone Walker, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan,
Otis Rush, Hubert Sumlin, Albert King and Buddy Guy as well as Clapton
and The Allman Brothers can be found in his blazing guitar playing.
After
moving to California in 1980 to pursue his musical career Stevens spent
the next 10 years teaching the third grade while he played in various bands
on weekends. He released his self produced album “Blue Drops of Rain,”
and when it was picked up by Eureka Records in 1995 Corey Stevens was catapulted
into the blues/rock spotlight. “Blue Drops of Rain” gamered him critical
praise and a top-ten spot on the Billboard Blues Album Chart for more than
33 weeks. He has spent the last few years and thousands of miles
constantly touring. In the process he has developed a huge, loyal
nationwide fan base that cheer him on wherever he performs. Stevens
has the unique ability to grab peoples attention from the first note on
his guitar and carry everyone along with him on a wild guitar ride for
the rest of his performance. The favorite part of Stevens’ musical
career is being on stage and seeing the enthusiastic response from his
fans.
His
shows are raucous affairs with most of the cheering fans singing along
on all of his recorded songs. His blues/rock style of playing is
a natural for the cross over audience (rock to blues) which allows him
to have a much wider appeal and in the process completes the circle from
where he started – bringing a whole new generation of rock fans to the
blues. |
