Steve Bell
Canada’s best kept secret
Winnipeg, MB – The best-kept secret in Canadian music, Winnipeg-based singer/songwriter Steve Bell has had a prolific solo career spanning two decades. The release of his new album, KIN.DNESS, offers a wider audience his eloquent and heartfelt material. "I’ve developed an audience that is very receptive to me, and now we have a new album coming out that I think can potentially cut a wider swath than previous ones."

Steve Bell’s career statistics are certainly striking. Since releasing his first solo project – Comfort My People – in 1989, he has put out a total of 15 CDs, selling over 300,000 copies independently. Add in three concert videos, four song books, and an estimated 1,500 concerts, and you have a body of work equaled by very few artists in any genre. Bell’s work has also brought him two JUNO Awards (Romantics & Mystics, 1998; Simple Songs, 2001), multiple Prairie Music, Covenant, Vibe, and Western Canadian Music Awards.

Steve Bell’s songs, music, and concerts resonate deeply within the hearts and souls of his fans, providing solace and inspiration. It is connection, rather than platinum plaques, that is Bell’s true goal. "This is a communal thing we are doing," Steve said; "It is public work, not just a musical commodity where we are trying to sell as many albums as we can."

Steve Bell

Steve takes his role as storyteller very seriously. "When you tell stories, through song or speaking, it is thrilling to watch people respond deeply and engage in what is going on. You realize what a service you’re offering people. They can imagine a different universe or you give them respite from their daily life. You can make them laugh or cry, and they can make emotional connections they would not on their own. It is a real social offering to make and when you’re onstage you can just see it happening to people right in front of your eyes. That’s really magical."

Steve Bell has a fascinating life story. He first learned to play guitar in a maximum security penitentiary in Alberta!  Steve picks up the story, "My father was the chaplain at the Drumheller Prison. Some of the inmates were high-flying guitar pickers in the Chet Atkins style. They’d ask my dad if they could have jam sessions in the chapel on Saturday afternoons, and he got the guards to stay away. This was the only place these inmates could go without (the threat of) penal security. They’d sit in a circle and have these bluegrass jams. One time, my dad let me sit and watch and I was absolutely enthralled. When they realized I wanted to play they invited me to grab a guitar and sit in. They treated me like a real peer, so not only did they teach me guitar, but this was the first circle of adult men not to treat me like a kid." Looking back, Steve noted that, "The reason I tour the world now is because Canada’s most unwanted men invested in me when I was eight years old!"

Steve’s passion for music had revealed itself even earlier, and he credits his mother’s influence; "My mum was a classical pianist, a tremendous player. At night she’d put us kids to bed, and then sit down at the piano till 2 or 3 am. I remember lying there being bathed in Gershwin and the classics and hymns. She suffered from depression, and there was a subtext of sorrow in her playing. Most beautiful things have that."

His mother also played electric guitar; "When she was playing I’d watch her hands and memorize everywhere she put them. If she went to the garden I’d grab that thing for five minutes and try it. Eventually I was caught, but it worked out, as my parents bought me my first guitar."

Steve played the bar circuit around Winnipeg. His talent as a guitarist and vocalist were showcased in the trio Elias, Schritt and Bell, a group that found regional success. "I did that for about 10 years full-time, from 1978 to the late ’80s," he recalled; "I was jobbing. I’d play in country bands, dance bands, rock bands, to keep the bills paid. I didn’t even really see myself as a musician. I saw it as kind of a stop-gap thing until I figured out what to do with myself."

Playing the bars took its toll, Bell explained; "I got married and had kids and it started to wear thin. It wasn’t going anywhere. I then had something of a spiritual experience, and I felt God speak to me and say ‘this time in your life is over.’ I just upped and quit, and I stayed home with the kids while my wife Nanci went back to teaching. I really felt I was hanging up my guitar."

Time to reflect upon his life and explore his faith enabled Bell to become a songwriter. "Music just started pouring out of me. Those first six months at home it was like a fire hose, a period of creativity I’ve never had since, or before. Every time I read something a song would come out. I’d go to church, hear a psalm and I’d write a song."

Family friend Father Bob McDougall, the Catholic pastor at Stony Mountain Prison, "just showed up at my door, saying ‘you should do a Christian album’," Bell recalled. "That hadn’t been on my radar at all. I thought I’d quit music. He insisted, saying he’d pay for it. I checked with my friend Dave Zeglinski, who is now my manager, we came up with a figure, and Father Bob paid for it. I just hoped I could sell or give away all 200 copies over the next five years!"

In fact, Steve’s 1989 debut album, Comfort My People, took off by word of mouth. Bell finally relented and returned to performing. "One pastor wouldn’t take no for an answer. I kept saying I was a failed bar musician, but he said ‘come and do three songs and I’ll pay you $200,’ so I said yes." Steve ended up playing a full set for the congregation at a Mennonite community in southern Manitoba, and this proved a life-changing experience. "That’s where I saw the vision of it. You can just go up, tell an honest story, sing an honest song and go home. That is a good way to spend a night. Things took off from there. I learned to trust my instincts onstage, I started storytelling, albums started selling, and I got more calls for concerts. It grew very organically."

Now, 20 years later, Bell is still telling stories and singing songs. He cites the singer/songwriters of the ’70s as key influences on his music, noting, "I grew up on people like Bruce Cockburn, Kenny Loggins, Dan Fogelberg, James Taylor and Crosby Stills and Nash."

Amidst his intensive North American touring schedule, Bell has always found time to work on behalf of such worthy organizations as World Vision, Compassion Canada, and Canadian Foodgrains Bank, and his advocacy efforts have been worth millions to these causes. He has also traveled extensively in the third world, spreading hope via his music and message to communities in India, Thailand, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Palestine, Kenya, Guatemala, and many other countries.

The KIN.DNESS tour comes to Calgary March 11 at Centre Street Church. Reserved seating tickets start at $14.50 at Ticketmaster. For more details visit www.stevebell.com or phone 1-800-854-3499.