the most recent single

"Choosn Love" (release date 9-11-24) was a collaborative effort between friends: rapper S. Kool Busz and rocker The Steward, and celebrates both genres. The 'team relay' piece pays homage to Tupac, Stevie, Sly, Motown and Woodstock '69. Intended for humanity worldwide.

recent singles:

A balls out Tom Petty-ish jukebox pop rocker, this one was written after surviving a hospital stay, and was first released May 5, 2024, but a typo kept it out of regular distribution until July. Worked out OK; the re-release had a hotter mix. 

"Coolest Girl on the Floor" is dedicated to Halley, a nurse's aide and lovely person who, (among other things), saved this rocker's locks from destruction! 

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And: It’s a mostly-instrumental jazz rock piece with all the bells and whistles of a first class train ride on Pacific coast: the Stewards Eclectric remake of A Ride on the Coast Starlight. [Note the ‘2’.] It’s a movie for your ears, released 7-31-24.

For this remake, we re-fueled the Amtrak F59-PHi and Genesis locos, swept the pretzels out the Pacfic Parlour Car, and re-stocked the bar with vintage SoCal vino and a few bottles from the Finger Lakes.

ALL ABOARD 

[See SONG INFO for the backstories] 

 > > > > SE welcomes:

SE announces a new member to our production team in the form of one Eddwyna Itting. Edd cut her audio teeth as a wide-eyed youth, helping her older brother do sound checks at the pro level. Ten years her senior, veteran concert and mix tech Fij Itting was with the Neo Steam Punk band The Lude Rockits while chasing their single “Frackin’ Round Here”. (He will be missed.) She rose through the ranks of recording and mix engineer at The Record Planet, (Big Apple and later L.A.), and Capa Toll Records before coming to our neck of the woods with her life partner, former Lude Rockits bassist Emma Titan. Sky Camo Records is lucky to have her talents, so please welcome her ~ and know that from this point forward, much of the behind-the-scenes work gracing our productions will be done by Edd Itting.

 

> > >  SE's 'WAKAN' ...   

~ was accepted by many respected playlists. Thank you all for your appreciation of this heartfelt indiginous spiritual.

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the 'cosmic panorama' ~ a banner year?

Gone are the days of the old sky camo page header spawned by the first album and our SKY CAMO record label. (The label remains intact and in use.)  The banner change was a reflection of upgraded hardware, multi-tracking software and overall production values. 

Also gone, [and some say good riddance!], are the cartoon editorials: "UNIVERSE BUBBLES", now preserved in PHOTO/ART GALLERY history. They were kind of stupid but fun, at least for a while.

Visitors and returning fans of this not-so-humble site that struggles to balance truth and honesty with tongue-in-cheek self-aggrandizement notice the  banner photo of The Steward holding the customed Gretsch model G4520.

Having received numerous inquiries, [well, two at least!], I'll explain: The hard-to-find Way Out West model was finally located by the crew at Chris Broadwell's Ithaca Guitar Works, (so that's at least 3 axes I've gotten from this great place). Luthier extraordinaire Hank Ahaire was tapped to make the necessary lefty b.s.r. modification to accommodate Steve's weirdo backwards upside down playing style. Then the instrument was colorized and decorated for Sky Camo Records by reknown fingerpaint artist Peesa Bohn. A close-up photo of her work on this acoustic guitar body is on the PHOTO/ART GALLERY page.

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additions to photo/art gallery:

> more old 'BARNFIND' ARCHIVAL BAND PHOTOS...

.. in PHOTO/ART GALLERY. These may be of interest to my past band mates, and to all those crazy enough to have followed my music career through the decades. [These folks must number in the dozens, at least!]

There are the shots of Strange Brew in 1969 at our rehearsal room in Beach Haven, taken with my little Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash camera with 127 roll film. Large thanks after the fact to drummer’s Mom Mrs. Plevyak for giving us this practice place in her used-to-be-a-school home, and to Vox Jaguar organist Mark Leach's parents for allowing us to practice in their garage before that, (a true garage band).

Then there’s the script logo with the Headwind Sky Spirit artwork (a.k.a ‘sky man’) hand scrawled by yours truly on the kitchen table in Headwind House on the east shore of Cayuga Lake, plus two shots of the then-recently revised personnel. One was intended for PR use, the other a candid shot, circa ‘72. A short time later, after both Aaron and Keith left for separate left coast pursuits, Jeff and Bob and I tried to soldier on with the new band Orion, another short lived endeavor. The moody images were photographed by drummer Mitch Doll’s brother Larry at Sage Chapel, Cornell.

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Also, in conjunction with our 'Bowling Alley Rock', we present the evolution of the team Lefties bowling shirts, cataloging the artwork of all 3 recording studio teams: [Sasquatch, Hummingbird and WildBIRD Studios]; the cover version of the Championship trophy we finally won after 12 years of trying, (...of all the years to do it!...); and even the lost & found giveaway cassettes. What a shame Richard wasn't there to slap all us LEFTIES on the back – real freakin' HARD!

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projects & ideas in the machinery - some in, one out:

Personal health snags slowed down production, and we've cancelled work on the companion piece to "Do Ya Wanna Drive?" titled "Make It Go Faster." It was very weird: when it was about 75% done, the Director's heart starting going faster ~ and faster and faster. WAY TOO fast - as a matter of fact, so much so that it put yours truly in the hospi-tal! It was decided collectively that the song may have been bad juju. Maybe we'll release it later - maybe not. (We have other pieces like this, too.)

~ Never underestimate the power of music. ~

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We may be making a drive or two back into the country sometime. One excursion is a shitkicker about making maple syrup in the backwoods north country: Daver's Maple Steamer Ragg. The other is a sentimental deer hunting yarn in the progressive country genre. Both need the light of a new day.

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A new vintage-style rock piece long in the works pays homage to old rocks. (Can you say "Puma Punku"? No? How 'bout: "Big Horn Medicine Wheel?") Lyrics inspired by one of the all-time classic B&W movies – all speaking to the future. Is that possible? HINT: At some point, a marble-mouthed guy says "Play It Again, Steve".

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All photos and artwork © Copyright - Stephen H. Steward / Sky Camo Records

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A fan requested we reprint this, so with tongue in cheek(s), here it is for your enjoyment:

Everyone at the musicians’ consortium was amazed but not surprised when it was revealed that Director Steve ‘The Steward’ was to be honored as one of the first three inductees into the Unheralded and Independent Artists Now Here Hall of Fame. [Article follows]

 U&I Artists Hall of Fame Ceremony Honors First Inductees

By Crow Byrdland McCaw [Excerpted. *See magazine for the full article.]

 The first annual induction ceremony of the Unheralded and Independent Artists Now Here Hall of Fame, (otherwise known as U & I AR NOWHERE) was held on Feb. 3 at the former Covert City Masonic Temple. It had been previously determined likely that nominee Steve The Steward had played there to a sold-out crowd with his high school rock band, and initial promotional releases gave this as the reason for selecting the venue. It was later speculated that promoters could have yielded to a favorable rental agreement for the hall since they scheduled the inaugural event during the Super Bowl. If fact, this may also have limited RSVP-ers and others in attendance.

 

The ceremony got underway with a short film outlining the sanctioning body’s charter. It centered on revered impressionist Vincent Van Gogh , explaining that the lack of any acknowledgement from the art community (or even his family), let alone any monetary recompense for his work, was the source of most of his troubles - pre-ear debacle. The message being: when he was NOW HERE, he was NOWHERE - and never saw a cent of the millions paid for his art years beyond his lifetime. After this came various sound bites of the nominees while lucky patrons of the arts enjoyed a sumptuous dinner of creamed chicken and peas. As dessert was being served, (Neapolitan ice cream block on Nabisco graham wafer), examples of honorees’ best known works were exhibited, encompassing art, sculpture, railroad car graffiti and music. This was accompanied by one of Steward’s compositions, finishing in an extremely high decibel range.

Following the collection of complimentary disposable earplugs, Steve The Steward launched into a mercifully abbreviated acceptance speech, thanking family, teachers, mentors and friends. [*See complete article for details.]

In closing remarks, Steward hoisted above his head the U&I Hall of Fame statuette, the unique and coveted 'NowHere’. [For those unfamiliar, the physical award is constructed using a faux-marble base with the words NOWHERE HALL of FAME and the inductee’s name inscribed just below on a vague imitation of gold. Leading up from the base is a small pedestal with absolutely nothing above that.] The Steward then said wryly, “This – THIS is why we are all now here!” - and, releasing his left arm from its vertical position, dropped the ersatz Grammy doo-whammy to the stage, shattering it in a thousand pieces, (ala Cornell Professor Harlan Banks).

The audience gasped in surprise. A few nervous laughs, and one cough. Then cheers and laughter erupted from much of the audience, while holdouts glanced furtively here and there in mild disgust at what they thought should be considered bad taste. But truth and the majority ruled, resulting in wild applause that lasted for several seconds, followed by a standing ovation. It wasn’t noted until after two dozen of the not-quite-SRO crowd filed out of their seats that their rising was perhaps an attempt to get to the local Burger King before midnight, for, in honor of the first U & I AR NOWHERE Hall of Fame ceremony, (as well as the Superbowl), special arrangements had been made to serve breakfast menu all night.

*Reprinted with the kind permission of the publishers of Wasting Time Magazine, March 2019 

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