Who We Are at Stevenson & Company
Bruce Stevenson
I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show when I was 8 – I knew I wanted to play drums from that moment. By age 10, Watson and I (with two other friends) had formed a band, and we stayed on that path together, joined by my brother, Dane’, until our senior year of high school, when I went on tour with A.L. Richard Band (yes while still in high school!) and Watson decided to go a more conventional route. A.L. Richard Band eventually included Mike Fowler, who joins us on this project.
I eventually made it to college and majored in music. Playing guitar since age eleven and piano since age sixteen, I was well prepared for music theory. I fell in love with classical music as a teenager, and the study of classical music in college was a natural and comfortable path for me. I didn’t play popular music again in a band until the 90’s, when once again, Dane’ and I shared the stage.
This project, as Dane’ has outlined in his writing, started as collaborating on a few of Dane’s songs. I’m pretty good at arranging for strings and other instruments, and can lay down a basic drum track, and these were the things he needed. It was our first attempt to do things in the modern world of remote recording and it took a little time to figure out what we were doing. The evolution of that effort took us to the creation of this collection. We invited friends to join us, and as usually happens when you get a group of talented people together, the sum became much greater than its parts. I’m so grateful to all of the people who contributed their ideas, performances, critiques, and even the most minute changes to the songs that Dane’ and I had written – we did this together and there is no way the songs would have been what they are without the efforts of the team.
Dané Stevenson
“Growing up in Rock Hill, S.C. I was exposed to a lot of good music at an early age. My mom had sung on the radio when she was young, and she loved music. Music was always playing in our house. I got my first real guitar when I was 14 years old and learned to play by ear. Soon, I joined my younger brother Bruce, Watson Pryor and a couple of neighborhood boys, Stev Guyer and Jimi Oates, to form our first band, Hereafter. Hereafter became A. L. Richard Band in 1973. We were performing out of town gigs almost every weekend until 1974 when Bruce and Watson graduated high school. At that point Jimi had quit the band and Mike Fowler had joined to replace Jimi. We toured extensively as A. L. Richard Band, doing solo gigs and backing up some regional and national acts, like Muddy Waters, Nils Lofgren and Grin, and Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, to name a few.
In 1975 I was touring with a band named Caution, basically touring the southeastern US, opening for name bands and playing a summer house gig at the Electric Circus in Myrtle Beach, SC. After that summer, I decided to take a break from the music business. I went to college and worked “real jobs” from then on.
When a good friend's wife passed away, I felt like he (Gregg Sizemore) needed something important in his life to help ease his pain. Gregg and I had played and sung together casually for several years. He had a great voice. So, I asked Bruce, who had just moved back to Rock Hill, and Phillip (Flip) Moore if they would like to play in a band along with Gregg and me. They agreed and we formed The System. The System agreed to play gigs only one night a month. We all kept our day jobs. This was 1990. Over the next seven years, we went through a few changes, eventually changing our name to King Mixer and adding Thomas Horton, whom I had known since my senior year in high school. Thomas had worked as our sound man in Caution. Thomas played keyboards, guitar, blues harp and sang in King Mixer. In 1997, we introduced the amazing voice of Julie Covington to our fans. Brent Guyton also joined the band about that time to add some excellent guitar work.
King Mixer broke up in late 1997 and that was the end of my public performance career. Not until 2020 did I decide to record more music. The Out of Time album project comprised of Bruce, Steve Stoeckel, (bassist and lead vocalist for The Spongetones), Mike Fowler, Watson Pryor, Julie Covington Templeton, Thomas Horton and Kenneth Sealy, was my first music endeavor since the breakup of King Mixer. This project brought many former bandmates and longtime friends together for what I believe to be the best work of my career. I only hope that this album provides listeners as much enjoyment as we had putting it together.”
Steve Stoeckel
Steve is best known as the vocalist/bassist for THE SPONGETONES, a band familiar to even the most casual of power pop fans, with their tracks an essential inclusion on any (if not all) anthology compilations of the genre's best. They're literal Hall of Famers, currently celebrating their fortieth anniversary as a band with live gigs and laying claim to 12 albums. Carl Cafarelli (This Is Rock 'N' Roll Radio) rates them as “one of the greatest groups that power pop has ever produced.”
We're told that while the performances will continue, future Spongetones recordings are unlikely – never say never, of course, and there have been Stoeckel's exemplary contributions to the records of POP CO-OP to savor in recent years. But what we haven't had throughout his storied career is a full-length solo album... until now.
Having released the hit singles "Why" (featuring IRENE PEÑA) and "Birds" with Big Stir Records over the past two years, STEVE STOECKEL takes two very natural steps forward at once, joining the label's official roster with his long-awaited solo album THE POWER OF AND. Featuring both prior singles as well as “Mod Girl” (which reunites Stoeckel with all of his Spongetones bandmates), the album gives longtime followers and new fans alike a welcome chance to experience Stoeckel stretching out on a full-length LP under his own name. The songs on the album, galloping rockers and delicate folk-tinged idylls alike, are textbook studies in heartfelt songwriting economy, packing a stunning wealth of melody and strikingly original imagery and wordplay into their brief run times, with the full 15-track record clocking in at a breezy 37 minutes.
THE POWER OF AND is heralded by the exuberant lead single “Just One Kiss,” which brings all of the record's threads together in one irresistible three-minute package. Strolling in with a lilting uke-and-vocal intro, both the song and Stoeckel's keening, sophisticated vocal line start swinging when the drums and electric guitars kick in. The album itself takes flight with the boisterous Merseybeat-informed “Laura Lynn” and follows it with the sweetly understated acoustic-based “Birds,” establishing the palette at the outset. There's a compelling back-and-forth between refreshed retro-rockers like the galloping “Christine” or the Spongetones-propelled “Mod Girl” and delicate borderline-baroque miniatures (the aural iridescence of “Hummingbird”, the musical and lyrical poetry of the title track).
And there's so much more. After four decades of songwriting and performing, STEVE STOECKEL is still reveling in discovering new ways to delight us with words and music, and using it to bring us together. It's the sound of a Power Pop Hall Of Famer demonstrating his mastery of the form and reaching beyond it as well. Such is THE POWER OF AND, as Steve describes it: an album-length ode to “the connective power this little word has” and the celebration of a whole new chapter in an already illustrious career.
Julie Templeton
“I came into being in a band quite by chance. Danny and I used to work together at CN2 back in the mid 90's. We both worked in the sales division. Our sales group often went out to lunch together. One day while on the way to eat, I was riding in the back seat, Danny was in the front, and I was singing to the music on the radio. He mentioned that I had a good voice (much to my surprise). At that point, I didn't know I had any talent. He mentioned that I should come out and do some backup vocals for a band he was in. That band was King Mixer. I took him up on the offer and the rest is history. I met Bruce via King Mixer. They had just put the final touches on their 1997 album and they added me to the line up before they started their rounds of performances for the CD release. I had just missed getting to be on the album. A while later, several members of King Mixer went on to add a few more members to create Uncle George. Bruce and I were together in that group. Years later, I was asked to join another band by the name of South of Sane. Oddly enough, they had just finished their CD (I just missed being on another album!) and they were desperate for a female lead vocalist to replace their former lead singer. They had a tour set up for their CD release, and we toured along with several other bands with female leads. I got the chance to go with them and be a rock star while we traveled to New York, Baltimore, and ending our trip at The Money in good old Rock Hill. Fast forward to the 2020's, I got a call from Bruce that he wanted to work with me on a song. I went over to his studio and we had a blast reconnecting. I FINALLY am getting my chance to be on an album!! Bucket list item checked!!!!!! I am thankful and grateful for being included.”
Kenneth Sealy
“I basically grew up in Rock Hill from the age of 3. Like most people in my age group, the Beatles changed my life, even though my favorite song before they came along was "Rebel Rouser" by Duane Eddy. I met Dane and Bruce when I was in 8th grade at Sullivan Junior High. Their band "Hereafter" was the 3rd live band that I'd ever seen in my life, after my brother David's band "The Casanovas" in 5th grade. I heard Jimi Hendrix around the same time, but when I heard Jimi play "Still Rainin' Still Dreamin’” I knew that I HAD to get a guitar! So on Christmas of 1970 my dreams came true. I went on to play with lots of different rock bands throughout the years, including former Platters singer Jon Rodgers touring the Eastern half of the country. I moved to California in '86 and became songwriting partners with keyboardist Jeff Labes from Van Morrison's "Moondance" and "Astral Weeks" albums. I later attended the Guitar Institute of Technology from September of '88 to March of '90. Great experience! I played on several albums and demos from San Francisco Bay Area artists before and while forming the band "Cosmic Mercy" with some friends. We lasted 29 years and produced three CDs before disbanding in 2019. Meanwhile, I played with Meters drummer Zigaboo Modeliste from '96-2000. After moving back to Rock Hill, I was lucky enough to run into Bruce and get some tracks onto this project, and I couldn't be happier! Playing with old friends and meeting new ones (Hi, Julie!) has made for a great "welcome home!" Thanks for including me in this CD! Theory is math, technique is repetition, but music is JOY!”
Watson Pryor
I first met the proprietors of Stevenson & Company, (Dane' and Bruce), in 1963 – I was in the second grade, as was Bruce. Of course, big things were going on musically around this time (those four lads from Liverpool to name one) and we were definitely attracted, inspired and consumed along with many others. There was only one logical thing to do in response – start a band! It began for us (Bruce and I initially) around 1967 with The Revolutions, then on to Hereafter in 1968 when Dane ́ joined our efforts. Hereafter eventually transitioned into The A. L. Richard Band, and shortly thereafter in 1973, my rock-and-roll music career was over... or, so I thought... Let's just call it a 50-year hiatus!”
Mike Fowler
Originally from Rock Hill South Carolina, Mike now lives in the Asheville North Carolina area. He has played with numerous bands over the years including the Georgia Prophets, UConn Jack, Peace of Mind with Judy Dozier and AL Richard Band (with the Stevenson brothers). “I truly appreciate the invitation to work on this project I enjoyed it thoroughly and appreciate the opportunity.
It was a blast! Looking forward to more projects in the future.”
Thomas Horton
“I moved to Rock Hill in 1974. When I met Dane and Bruce as they were wrapping up their AL Richard tour. I got opportunity to hear Mike Fowler play with them. The next year Dane toured with Caution, and I had the opportunity to join him as their Sound Engineer. 20 years later I joined Dane& Bruce as Sound Engineer for the System, eventually becoming their keyboard player. I was part of the production of the King Mixer project.”