Stephen Steinbrink

Pictures

Live in Oakland 6:15

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Biography

Arizona-based songwriter Stephen Steinbrink has spent the last eight years making records that pull from Nick Drake’s subtle interiors, Arthur Russell’s pop heart and Elliott Smith’s bracing vulnerability. On his latest full-length release, I Drew A Picture, his trademark intimacy is let out into the barren desert landscape. The album does not signal the sudden maturation of a self-anointed troubadour. Instead, it’s the result of a prolific, unimpeachable songwriting craft being refined with every release.

Steinbrink has previously released four full-length LPs under the moniker French Quarter, as well as a trove of small-run cassettes, CD-Rs and a VHS tape. He has also performed in acts ranging from pop veteran Katy Davidson (Key Losers/Dear Nora) to the cacophonous punk of Pigeon Religion. In keeping with his obsessive home-recorded output, I Drew a Picture broadens his established template of tarnished folk and bedroom pop introspection with delicate synths, propulsive drums and the kind of affecting chord progressions that rumble between relief and sad realization.

The songs are Steinbrink’s most ambitious in composition and lyrical poignancy, bereft of naïve splendor or artificial specters, taking to task the cult of dying young. I Drew a Picture feels like cut ties. Contemplations on a beachless strip mall expanse. Alienation punctuated by digital snares. Passing on evenings of thinly-veiled promise, knowing how good it felt to stay home.
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  • WillieZ

    perfection

    6 May 10:12pm Reply

  • JulyAt5am

    dammit, I love him.

    12 Nov 2010 Reply

  • samisfooce

    please upload your cover of staying alive. it was amazing at UCI <3

    5 Oct 2010 Reply

  • krystalyeager

    the new stuff is great!

    1 Mar 2010 Reply

  • FakeTattoos

    If you like Stephen Steinbrink then you would love my blog, StayMagic.Blogspot.com !

    7 Sep 2009 Reply

  • BriWhite

    when i listen to your music i just feel like i'm traveling on a spaceship through the rockies with way too many people trying to drive it at once and then someone stands up and is like we all need to settle down and decide what we're going to do with this spaceship, i mean this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and then a little boy crawls out of the crowd wearing a trucker hat with a feather poking out of the side and is like do you believe in something real in the first place? i wanna see it in your face. the sky holds the power and this is the hour to fall. so i wonder if i post this if i'll be able to delete in later in a moment of regret. love you man.

    7 Sep 2009 Reply

  • AffiliateX

    Great music, love French Quarter and Ugly Unknowns.

    21 Aug 2009 Reply

  • GraceInYoFace

    Hey there! So nice to meet you at the Green Line. Still think you should do an illustrated lyric book! Keep on creating wondrous things!

    11 Jun 2009 Reply

  • hhhoudini

    so relaxing and beautiful.

    11 May 2009 Reply

  • maadirounder

    But what do I know about your daydreams When my life still makes you angry

    21 Apr 2009 Reply

  • LouiseMansfield

    i love your work.

    20 Apr 2009 Reply

  • funkayy

    This makes me smile, a lot.

    19 Feb 2009 Reply

  • shalfej_shur

    This album really takes personal, perplexed, warm lo-fi to a new realm of inventive dexterity.

    7 Feb 2009 Reply

  • bkalarney

    genius

    23 Jan 2009 Reply

  • abeilles

    this is actually really sweet, i'm glad i stumbled onto it.

    22 Jan 2009 Reply

  • Dreamfall

    it's a great album. and omg we're the same age.

    15 Jan 2009 Reply

  • Bayou16

    I really love UU!!

    3 Jan 2009 Reply

  • miespaub

    Love the album! Ugly Unknowns sound great.

    2 Jan 2009 Reply

  • Ben_The_Guy

    Ugly Unknowns is spectacular.

    31 Dec 2008 Reply
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