Whitby, Ontario
43 Years Old
Singer-Songwriter

writer profile >

"He got 20 years for lovin' her from some Oklahoma Governor"

BIOGRAPHY

"The most talented songwriter that I know. I wish that carried a bit more weight, but make of it what you will."

- my big sister Mo

Hi, I'm Steve Chatterton, a singer/songwriter of a collection of tunes about superheroes, fireflies, communicable diseases and such.

Some folks never get over their first love. For me it was The Beatles. I first heard them when I was ten (a little late, I know, but my parents had crap taste in music - dad liked the bagpipes, for crying out loud), and ever since then I’ve been lost in timeless melodies and immaculate harmonies of the Lads from Liverpool.

Sure, there have been other loves along the way. In high school I got hot and heavy with hardcore punk (which might explain my hack-and-slash approach to rhythm guitar). Then, I went to college and had one of those intellectual affairs with jazz. I also had that strange dalliance with electronic music for a while there.

I’ve even had intense, torrid flings with the works of similarly-minded songwriters like Badly Drawn Boy, Ben Folds, David Ford, Eels, Elliott Smith, Elvis Costello, Nick Drake, and the incomparable Tom Waits. They’ve all left indelible marks upon my soul. In the end, however, my heart always comes back full circle to the splendorous sound of sunshine, happiness and light that is the fab four.

LEVEL

semi-pro

GENRES

Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Pop, Indie Rock

P.R.O.

ASCAP

INSTRUMENTS

bass / acoustic guitar / electric guitar / keyboard / piano / synthesizers / trumpet / vocals

INFLUENCES

Badly Drawn Boy, Ben Folds, David Ford, Eels, Elliott Smith, Elvis Costello, Nick Drake, Tom Waits

DAY JOB

Stay-at-home dad

I AM INTERESTED IN

in co writing online
in networking with songwriters
in pitching songs to tv
in getting a record deal
in getting a publishing deal

I WRITE:

It's my second job

I Also Write:
by myself
with others
for myself
for others

I Prefer To Write:
lyrics
melody
music

experience >

SONG PLACEMENTS

I have two pieces of music that occasionally get used on CITY-TV's "Breakfast Television" as intros to the "Viewer Mail" and "Ask Kevin and Dina" segments.

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Legends: Bobby Braddock

In Nashville, most successful songwriters have a fairly short run. On hit, one year, two years, five years. Occasionally, we get one whose career approaches the length of a real career or, more often, one who has a few years success, then slips into oblivion, only to emerge again for another brief era of hit-making.

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Legends: Rickie Lee Jones

She speaks softly, not unlike the way she sings --soft, soulful passages, almost like secrets to the closest of friends --punctuated by bursts of exaltation. It's much like the span of emotion in her work, and in her new record, Balm in Gilead, which veers from the pure, naked heartbreak of "Bonfires" to the elation of "Old Enough," to the beautiful "Wild Girl," which celebrates the 21st birthday of her daughter, while simultaneously reflecting on the unchained fervor of her own wild days.

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Legends: Robert Earl Keen

As singer/songwriters go, Robert Earl Keen doesn't seem like the kind of artist who could honestly be accused of sloth. But despite a catalog choked with characters and conversations pulled from a colorful life, he makes that very claim on "Something That I Do," a track where he brags of his ability to not let work get in the way of an otherwise pleasant afternoon.

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Townes Van Zandt: Facets, Faults & Fractures

It's 10 o'clock at night on an abandoned Music Row. The year is 1985. In a third-floor office in an old house that serves as the offices for the Oak Ridge Boys' Silverline/Goldline Music Publishing, Steve Earle brings the chair he's leaning back in down hard, flipping his hair out of his eyes for emphasis.