(August 24, 2022) Trade Stevens’ background as an “Army brat” means that he had to be able to adapt to a variety of situations. He could not be a shrinking violet. The artist born into a family of musicians displayed the kind of chutzpah necessary to be performer at a very young age when he won a sing off and landed the lead role as Santa Claus in the school’s Christmas play.
Stevens was on his way from there as the family moved from his native Michigan to the many posts where his Army specialist father was based. Stevens has refined his craft by singing wherever he found an audience at an open microphone in Michigan and after relocating to New York.
He’s confronted and overcome the struggles and setbacks that indie artists face and released a strong debut album with 2007’s Something, a project where the tracks ran the gamut from tender ballads, the breezy mid-tempo love songs and club ready bangers.
(August 24, 2022) Trade Stevens’ background as an “Army brat” means that he had to be able to adapt to a variety of situations. He could not be a shrinking violet. The artist born into a family of musicians displayed the kind of chutzpah necessary to be performer at a very young age when he won a sing off and landed the lead role as Santa Claus in the school’s Christmas play.
Stevens was on his way from there as the family moved from his native Michigan to the many posts where his Army specialist father was based. Stevens has refined his craft by singing wherever he found an audience at an open microphone in Michigan and after relocating to New York.
He’s confronted and overcome the struggles and setbacks that indie artists face and released a strong debut album with 2007’s Something, a project where the tracks ran the gamut from tender ballads, the breezy mid-tempo love songs and club ready bangers.
Stevens returns with his latest, “Talk 2 Me,” a tune that finds the singer wearing his heart on his sleeve as he tries to understand why his love and loyalty is met with indifference and hostility. Stevens throws himself into the track where he asks questions of his other and of himself. Accompanied by a sparse arrangement that features percussion, keyboard and atmospheric baking vocals, Stevens steps into the space with a vocal performance that is honest, self-reflective and vulnerable. Check out Trade Stevens’ “Talk 2 Me” here.
By Howard Dukes
Trade Stevens - "Talk 2 Me"