Artists:Corey Stevens
From WWR
|
Born in the small town of Centralia, Illinois, Corey Stevens never just says he is from Illinois. After hearing, “Oh, from Chicago?” a few too many times he has learned the succinct way to put it: “I’m from Southern Illinois - an hour east of St. Louis.” St. Louis is where he saw his first baseball game and where he saw the Rolling Stones twice on the same day. He says, “St. Louis is where I went to and saw the huge crowds and came home with big dreams.”
But, Centralia was where he grew up, diligently honing his guitar playing and soaking up middle America. “My grandfather put my first guitar in my hands and the story has become well known,” says Stevens, referring to the liner notes of his second album, Road To Zen. He continues, “But, the rest of the story is just growing up in a small town. I really liked it. All my friends complained of how boring it was, but, hey, it was where I was, and I made the most of it.”
Corey Stevens is a guy who likes to consider all the angles. Although his earliest influences were early rock and rollers like Chuck Berry, comics who played with words to make people laugh had a huge impact on him. When the British Invasion swept Stevens away like millions of others, the words moved him as much as the music. It may be for this reason that Stevens aspired to be a songwriter and not just another guitar player.
Stevens grew up in a tight-knit family with two older sisters. He was the youngest child and only son of parents a high school girlfriend once labeled Leave It To Beaver parents. He says, “No matter how much I rebelled, and I raised a lot of hell, I always felt a connection with my family.” Thanks to his sisters who were listening to rock and roll, Stevens grew up presuming music was one of life’s necessities. He would soon find that simple insight to be his calling.
Stevens coasted through grade school and high school, making passing grades and not really showing any exceptional talent. “I was no prodigy by any means,” he says of his childhood days. “I just drifted from one fantasy to the next. One minute I wanted to be a professional baseball player then I guess I got the music bug. The Beatles came along followed by the Rolling Stones and that was it! The dream or goal just got redefined, but it hasn’t changed since I was a teenager.”
Stevens still remembers the moment when his life changed forever. In the early seventies, he jumped in his friend’s car with three buddies and headed to Evansville, Indiana for a music weekend at a minor league ballpark. He remembers, “It was late in the afternoon and bands had been playing all day. The set change came and the announcer brought on Ike and Tina Turner. Ike and the band started playing some cookin’ music without Tina, then the stage was completely covered in smoke. Suddenly, Tina and her back up singers appeared dancing out of the smoke! I said to myself this is what I want to do for a living. It was truly an epiphany! ” From that day on, Stevens ignored the odds and pursued the dream. He knew he had a long road, but he believed in a transformation that only time could unveil.
After graduating from Centralia High School, Stevens enrolled in college and decided on music as his major. In 1974, Stevens left home and moved to Carbondale, Illinois, to attend Southern Illinois University. Stevens studied classical music and began an intense four year study of classical guitar. Stevens remembers, “I learned discipline and practiced two, three, four hours a day. I was a serious music student, but I still partied on the weekends and heard bands on the strip. Shawn Colvin was a local and played a lot. She was great! I also spent many nights listening to Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows. That band was great, too! I use to think all I got out of college was the beer and the blues in the bars. But, over the last few years I have begun to realize that the discipline and the music theory helped shape who I am now.”
After graduating from college, Daytona Beach, Florida was Stevens’ next pit stop. He went on a vacation and decided to stay. Stevens recalls, “Coming from the Midwest, Daytona was a paradise, but staying there would have meant giving up on my dream. There was never really a choice. I had to move to Los Angeles even though I knew it would be a dogfight and no one thought I would make a dent.”
more.
External links
| Corey Stevens on MySpace |
| Corey Stevens on Wikipedia |
More information
 |
This artist lives in California. |
 |
The gender of this artist/group is male. |
Search
WWR / Google / Google image / YouTube / MySpace / Google video / CDBaby / Wikipedia / 278 LastFM fans / Musi-Cal / RIAA Radar / eMusic / Blogs (RSS)
Fans
Gerganchepl / Rickhap / Atuuschaaw / DogNut / Redsy / SecretSquirrel / Jtskreyn / Oldcajun / Bleau / 65strat / Fresh / Kimchifox / German Oak / Jimkloss / Sparkit / Kazookid / Lil Deb / Sharpston / Davey / Smileysmom2
Listener Tags & Comments
Download Realplayer movies from Corey Stevens video page:
Image on WWR
Click to view or edit Corey Stevens's picture
Artist image library
Albums on WWR
Video
Request a show of songs by Corey Stevens
| Song | Album | Length | Played | Overall | You | Tags | Single Request |
| Crosscut Saw | Blue Drops Of Rain | 3:38 | 18 |  13 votes |
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. | Dance / Electric / Solo vocalist / Band / Electric guitar | The Brothers | Blue Drops Of Rain | 5:01 | 52 | 20 votes |
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. | Blues / Cover / Electric guitar / Upbeat / Fast / Solo vocalist / Electric / Band | I Got A Rich Man's Woman | Blue Drops Of Rain | 3:54 | 41 | 28 votes |
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. | Cover / Muddy waters / Blues / Rock / Electric guitar / Love gone wrong / Slow / Solo vocalist / Electric / Band |
| Total Time | 12:33 |
The current music queue contains 1 songs that will take 4 mins, 14 secs to play.
You must be a logged on user to request music. It's free and easy. Create an account here.
Artist name is|Corey Stevens Last played| more than 1 month ago ---------------------------------------- Show name| Songs by Corey Stevens Length| 15 minutes Order by| random Limit| 3 songs ----------------------------------------
Stats
- Spotlighted: Never
- Songs on WWR: 11
- Total plays: 516
- Total requests: 284
- Total listens: 13324
- CDBaby referrals: 0
- CDBaby sales:
Other skins for artist pages
| Default / Simple / Classic / Jimbob / For Playing Around With / 12-stringer / Atuu / Mert / Kelli / Rubenerd / Kazookid |
