Bluesman puts family first - Steve Thorpe returns to stage with grown son

BY JEFF NALL FOR FLORIDA TODAY

For musicians like Steve Thorpe, nothing feels as natural as the smooth neck of guitar resting in the palm of one hand, and a pick searching the soul of blues in the other during a Saturday night, smoky bar-room jam.

If you go
Who: Steve Thorpe.

When: 9 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Lou's Blues, 3191 N. SR A1A, Indialantic.

Admission Free; ages 21 and older.

Information: 779-2299
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When: 7 p.m. Sunday. Leon Russel, special guest Steve Thorpe Blues Orchestra

Where: Sebastian Beach Inn, 7035 S. SR A1A, Melbourne Beach.

Admission $25 in advace, $30 at the door; ages 18 and older.

Information: 728-4311 or go to www.stevethorpeblues.com

At two performances this weekend -- Lou's Blues on Saturday and Sebastian Beach Inn on Sunday -- Thorpe will give audiences an impassioned performance.

"I don't play half the notes I used to . . .," says the eastern Kentucky native. "So many people overplay just for the flash value (and they're) hiding the song, the notion of the song and the passion of the song."

Thorpe views music as a champion athlete would a sport.

"Just in the past couple or, maybe three years, I'm starting to get where I can really get into that zone anywhere, anytime," he says.

Up until 18 months ago, Thorpe's relationship with music had been mostly long distance. Passionate as he has always been about music, when Thorpe's son Nathan came into the picture, Thorpe made a decision to put his fatherly duties before his artistic desires.

"I got out of the business for about 10 years when my son (now 20) got old enough to start school," he says. "Now he's my full-time bass player. I'd do it again. You got to be stable, stay in the same place. And I wanted to be with him, not know him on the telephone."

But from the moment he stopped, Thorpe swore he'd pick up his career as soon as his son had come of age.

"There are people that are possessed or obsessed with music at different degrees," says Thorpe. "It is something that I can't not do . . . the music never leaves your mind. It's in every thought. There's not a two-minute span that you're foot's not pattin' or you're not thinking about music."

That pent up obsession has proven valuable as Thorpe's career ignited with a flurry of successes including gigs with notable players such as Gregg Allman, Spencer Davis and Smokey Wilson. Thorpe will open for the Atlanta Rhythm Section on Aug. 7 at the Melbourne Auditorium. And the release of his first studio album, "Trouble," has finally become a reality.

Like a tour de blues, Thorpe says the CD features everything from early Delta, Chicago and Texas blues including: "Can't Be Satisfied" (traditional Delta), "I Don't Love You Baby" (in the Texas vein), and "Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On," which soothes "that smooth blues muscle," according to Thorpe's bio.

Like his career itself, the completion of the CD required more than a few degrees of perseverance. Thorpe and company, an assortment of distinct players from around the country with an array of professional playing experiences, were forced to record at three different studios. At the first studio, the master recording got destroyed, and Thorpe's second recording at a different studio experienced a similar fate.

But the project proved worth the effort as "Trouble" sooths, satisfies and scorches, putting Thorpe at the top of the local and regional heap.

Copies of Thorpe's CD are available for purchase at www.stevethorpeblues.com. There'll also be copies available at both of his shows.