“New York City Blues”

I was born and raised in Central Avenue – down Maylands way that is. I knew a long time ago what I was gonna do. It was 1964 I was 12 years old. I went up to my Mum and said Mum I know what Im going to do with my life. Well she looked at me real strange and said Boy you crazy! Think about a real career. You gotta stop hangin around places like Wot The Hek, Dorrinas, Northside Lounge, Stables, Beach House, Snakepit, St Pats, Capitol Theatre, Club 7 Teen, Embassy Ballroom, Gaslight Club, Canterbury Court, Benjamins, Firecracker, Trendsetter, Colosseum, Zanzibar, Whisky A GoGo, Riki Tik, Latin Quarter, Hole In The Wall, Troupador Club, Top Hat, Stoned Crow, Sandgroper, Maggies Farm, Wizbah, Loaded Dog, Mojos, Hernandos Hideaway, Fly By Night, Alberts Tavern, Gerdes Folk City, Port Fairy, Muddy Waters Blues Lounge, East Coast Blues Festival, Freedom Jam Festival – Bangalore India, Sail and Anchor, Blues At Bridgetown and so on. How was I to know I was gonna be in New York City 1982 (and 1998) singing my kind of blues – blues from the Maylands delta. No matter what you say, do, think, smell or feel. Theres things floating through my mind. People and places in my memory – whats left of it!

This is a true story. Steve started playing music in 1962. Music is his calling. From birth he was surrounded by the music of his Macedonian ancestors and the ethnic music of Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Listening to live music at picnics and dances as a small child opened his mind and spirit to trancelike rhythms, improvisation and chanting. He started listening to the sounds of the radio Bob Dylan, Them, Animals, Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann, Jimi Hendrix, Yardbirds, Kinks, Loved Ones, Spectrum etc. He searched back further to the roots of the music he loved – and then back to the source – Africa. Steve is an Australian Griot, a Blues Shaman. He has lived and performed in the USA, Europe,Mexico and Asia – supporting some of the biggest names in music. Influences include Leadbelly, John Coltrane, Tim Buckley, Captain Beefheart, Sun Ra, Tony Williams Lifetime, Van Morrison, Howling Wolf, Tom Waits, Jack Bruce, Kip Hanrahan and Bob Dylan. African, Indian, Haitian and Islamic music have all had a spiritual and rhythmic influence on his own work. His love of blues, gospel and a cappella field hollers shows both in his live shows and recordings. Two lifelong ambitions came true when he toured India in 1997 and Pakistan in 2003. Explorations into Vodou, Tantra, Buddhism, Sufism, The Bible, Hinduism, Taoism and Native American Indians have affected him deeply. Awards include Songwriter Of The Year, Most Original Work, and Album Of The Year . Steve was also inducted into Western Australia Music Industrys Hall of Fame and is featured in the books – Whos Who of Australian Rock and Blues, Working Musicians and Further Down the Road.

His Eight CD Box Set – Anthology Volume One: The Sacred Path of The Fried Egg Maylands To The Gates of Hell (1962-2001)is a piece of Australian music history. The first time in Australian music history that an independent solo artist has released a box set.

Steve was also awarded an Arts WA Contemporary Music Fellowship in 2003 to study, compose and tour with master musicians in Africa, India and Greece.

Steve Tallis is unique, fiercely independent and is not a man to be compromised.

JEZEBEL SPIRIT

2006 Zombi Music
(CD) ZombiCD6
Add to Bag ($30.00)
A cappella field hollers, gospel, folk blues and spirituals

Loko

2004 Zombi Music
(CD) zombicd5
Add to Bag ($30.00)

Anthology Volume 1: The Sacred Path of the Fried Egg – From Maylands to the Gates of Hell (1962-2001)

2001 Zombi Music
(8 CD Box Set plus 52 page Booklet) zombicd4
Add to Bag ($160.00)
A Limited Edition Box Set retrospective selection of unreleased songs and alternate versions of previously released material – includes 52 page booklet / photos. Live, studio, rehearsal and home recordings. Featuring some of the finest musicians from Western Australia. A first for an Australian musician. No tracks appear from the last three CDs. The first independent solo artist in Australian music history to release a Box Set!

ZOZO

1999 Zombi Music
(CD) zombicd3
Add to Bag ($30.00)
Featuring ’ The Suicide Ghosts ‘

Monkey Skulls and Thunderstones

1997 Zombi Music
(CD) zombicd2
Add to Bag ($30.00)

Zombi Party

1993 Zombi Music
(CD) zombicd1
Add to Bag ($50.00)