Who is Steve Krause?
Steve Krause doesn't waste any time setting the tone for his transfixing debut album, "Very Fine Line". Sliding easily into the comfort of pristine guitars accompanying a distinctive clarion tenor, the San Francisco-based singer/songwriter welcomes you to join him as his guest in a vivid portrait only he can paint – "The scent of dusk and dry mesquite/curls about the electric lamps/hovering like steel-buttressed angels". The opening lines of "Candleman" serve as a harbinger of the clarity, intelligence and emotional vulnerability that permeates every song on the album.
"I expect a lot from my music, and I know my listeners do, too," says Steve, when asked about his approach to songwriting. "That's why I challenge myself to open up emotionally in every song, without pretense, and to share my own passions and intensity without filter or judgment." At the core of Steve Krause's music are his lyrics – provocative, clever turns of phrase that can alternately expose the soul or set it soaring. "I'm always searching for a genuine connection in each of my songs," explains Steve. "And while sharing my songs can be scary – no one likes to feel that their innermost feelings are being critiqued, or, even worse, dismissed or ignored – the risk is always well worth it."
Steve Krause explores that search for connection from a variety of angles in "Very Fine Line". In the raw, stripped-down desperation of "Miles Away", the sensitive strains of "Come On, Ally", and the insistent driving pulse of "Rent", Steve explores the arc of a relationship. "Candleman", an intensely personal song, challenges the listener to examine whether he or she is burning brightly in an often darkened world.
The album is chockfull of memorable songs that together form a landmark achievement for this bold new talent. In his award-winning song "Snoopy", Steve invites you to explore the passage of the seasons through the lens of his favorite Peanuts character. "I've always associated Snoopy with springtime," Steve explains. "But it struck me that each of the seasons is so richly represented in the Peanuts strip – Charlie Brown playing baseball in the summertime, Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin in the fall, Snoopy tracing figure-eights on a frozen winter lake – and that each of those images, when taken together, form the seasons of our lives."
Steve Krause's unique blend of heartfelt, bittersweet folk rock has begun to garner international attention. Hard at work on material for his second CD (scheduled for release in November 2009), one of his new and as yet unreleased songs – the subtle and introspective "If I Were A Book" – has already won WeAreListening's 2007 Lyric Writer Awards, a respected international competition. Another of Steve's new songs, the inspirational "Halls of Your Heart", was a runner-up in the 2008 version of the same competition. It's no wonder, then, that a devoted and growing core of fans flock to Steve's concerts from all over the San Francisco Bay Area to hear their old favorites and discover new jewels, or that fans across the country and around the world frequent his website (www.stevekrausemusic.com) and Facebook fanpage to watch video clips of Steve's sensitive, yet passionate live performances.
Steve Krause is an old-time storyteller who melds his message seamlessly with luminous vocals and inspired songwriting. Overall, any listener with a taste for high musical quality and songs of nuanced meaning and expression will find much to celebrate in Steve Krause's music, and will find themselves returning again and again…to a time when lyrics told us stories, and their melodies left us humming their hooks for years.
