Steve Conte NYC

Steve Conte has been one busy musician over the past few years. His most recent album, International Cover-Up is a collection of songs written by some of his favorite writers; Tom Waits, John Lennon, Willy DeVille, Jagger/Richards and more. ICU has been described as “high energy and tough” by Elmore Magazine and has spawned for Conte, a second “Coolest Song Of The Year” on Little Steven’s Underground Garage Radio. Richard Marcus of BlogCritics writes: “It takes a special calibre of rock and roll musician to pull off an album of cover tunes – somebody whose love of the material and love of the music allows that person to throw his or her body and soul into the songs. Steve Conte is one of those rare musicians who can do this.”

Besides a rich solo-career, Conte has recently been instrumental in helping some legendary artists get their groove back. After 6 years, 4 albums and a never-ending World Tour with the infamous New York Dolls, he joined up with former Hanoi Rocks front man Michael Monroe as guitarist, songwriter and backing vocalist to release 4 albums, most recently, the critically acclaimed Blackout States. On the Horns And Halos album (2013 Spinefarm) he wrote the lion’s share of the songs and it was nominated for both “Album Of The Year” by the Finnish Grammys and The Nordic Music Prize. In the summer of 2011, in between touring with Monroe he began work on what was to be his first official solo album, naming the project “Steve Conte NYC”.

“I was ready to make a move, to have a life change…and since Monroe lives in Finland, when he asked me to join him in 2010 it seemed like a good time to base myself in Europe. So I went back and forth between NYC and The Netherlands for the next 3 years. Although I loved the culture and history of Europe, I realized just how much New York was a part of my DNA. I was born and raised in New York State and was pining for it whenever I was in EU for long stretches of time. That is why, besides the fact that I recorded most of the album in New York City, I decided to call the new record, ‘The Steve Conte NYC Album’, to keep focus on who I am and where I’m from.”

While spending time in the EU, Conte toured extensively in UK, Holland, Belgium and France with a Dutch version of his NYC based band The Crazy Truth, calling it “Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth International”. In 2012 the band recorded 6 songs in The Netherlands at Labtones Studio, Dordrecht. The final product of those sessions, “Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth: International Cover EP” was a collection of covers that the band played nightly on it’s European tours.

In 2014, after years of making records with others, NYC guitarist/singer/songwriter Steve Conte stepped out on his own to release The Steve Conte NYC Album. His first official solo record delivers all the guitar, vocal and songwriting skills you know from his previous bands; Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth, Crown Jewels, The Contes and Company Of Wolves.

The ten song album features some of Steve’s finest writing to date. Songs that hold up in a solo acoustic performance – but recorded with a totally rockin’ band.

“Up until now I’ve always had some sort of core band to collaborate with but this time out I wanted to do something as a solo artist…with a bunch of friends!” And that “bunch of friends” includes some serious talent. Joining Steve are members of Foo Fighters, The Wildhearts, New York Dolls, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Hanoi Rocks, Georgia Satellites, Alice Cooper, Mink DeVille, Hellacopters, The Urban Voodoo Machine, Mott The Hoople, Backyard Babies, The Wallflowers, Company Of Wolves, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, and players from the bands of Ian Hunter, John Mellencamp, Roseanne Cash and Bruce Springsteen.
In the fall of 2013 Conte announced a PledgeMusic campaign to fund the release of his forthcoming solo project. It was a great success, bringing in 352% of his original funding goal and making fans all over the globe happy with extras like custom recorded songs, handwritten lyric sheets, phone calls and with his weekly postings of video updates from the recording sessions.

The SCNYC album was mixed and mastered by Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Keith Richards) and Richard Dodd (Tom Petty, Counting Crows), respectively – the same team who did the 2009 release, Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth. Initially, The Steve Conte NYC Album was released only to supporters of Steve’s PledgeMusic campaign but is now available worldwide via CDbaby, iTunes, Amazon.com and all the usual online retailers.