Steve and Steve Band

The Steve and Steve Band is hitting the Carolinas for the first time this Friday with an appearance at Chief’s Wings and Firewater, and co-founder Steve Farley couldn’t be happier. The band will attempt to break further into the Southeastern music market with this show, mainly because Farley believes the band’s blues-based music is more appreciated in this area.

“We’re originally from West Virginia and our brand of the blues isn’t as widely appreciated there like it is in the Carolinas,” Farley said, “Hopefully this show will branch out into others; we’d love to play as much as possible in Anderson and surrounding areas.

Farley serves as guitarist for the band and is joined onstage by longtime collaborator Steve Criner on guitar, keys and harmonica. Farley and Criner worked as a duo for years, but felt the sound of the band was lacking, so they recruited bassist Phil Ruby and drummer Fred Moomaw in 2007. Farley said the band’s rhythm section helps to fill in the gaps he and Criner heard in their own sound for years.

The band’s sound can best be described as blues rock with an occasional foray into soul and R&B. According to Farley, this type of music and live music in general has taken a backseat to DJs and preset music in the band’s native Charleston, West Virginia.

“Attempting the move into another music circuit doesn’t make us anxious, it can just be frustrating,” Farley said, “It can be hard leaving an area where you’re known and going into a place where your name has never been heard.”

Farley believes the band has a leg up in the upstate because the music they play is rooted in the tradition of the Allman Brothers and even Lynyrd Skynyrd. Although Farley names these bands as influences, he said the band avoids covering them too much because they don’t want to be lumped in with other bands that constantly cover “Sweet Home Alabama.”

The Steve and Steve Band try their best to incorporate their originals during shows. Farley points out “Ain’t No Thang,” a song off their soon-to-be-released album, as an original tune that has made a great impact on audiences. Farley describes “Ain’t No Thang” as a big band swing tune, but the band manages to play it with only four members. He said the swing arrangement allows each member to fill in holes and show off in solos.

Another standout original is “Like a Shadow.” Farley said the song is a haunting, ethereal piece with a small amount of percussion and an emphasis on echo. He said the song is about a woman moving in and out of a man’s life “like a shadow.” Farley said if the music is the blues, it has to be about a woman.

“You can’t sit down and try to write the blues about something else,” Farley said, “Somehow it will relate to a woman no matter how hard you try.”