If you like alternative county music- or just great music in general- sit down. You’re in for a treat.
I could write a book and not adequately explain how much I dig Steve Pride and His Blood Kin. I have searched far and wide and only have two of their records to show for it. Haint and Pride on Pride (buy those records now, and then you too will become obsessed with finding more Steve Pride music). I’ve played those records innumerable times. In fact, I suspect that I’ve listened to Pride on Pride more than any other record. I have a lot of records, so that’s saying something.
I badly want more Steve Pride music. CDs, vinyl, bootlegs, tapes, reel to reel, I don’t care. But I can’t find any. As best I can tell, Steve Shields, the primary songwriter and vocalist, disappeared into the Blue Ridge Mountains years ago. I know he must have made some more music, but I can’t find it. In fact, my mom, who died 10 years ago and never owned a computer, has a bigger internet presence than Steve, Pride or Shields. Nevertheless, every so often I Google them up to see if I can find any treasure. It’s been fruitless.
Until today.
Magically, someone has uploaded some live Steve Pride videos to YouTube. It’s likely that Jay Bennett’s untimely passing spurred this activity, as Jay played on Pride on Pride, and in these videos. I think these videos are from 1993.
The first Steve Pride song I ever heard was the excellent Eva Peron. There was a storm blew in from Rio De Janeiro. . .
Check out JHamm10137’s YouTube channel for more Steve Pride videos, as well as a lot of other good music.
If anyone wants to make my day (or week or maybe even month), hook me up with some more Steve Pride music. Please.
Newsome.Org 