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From the Album: Road to Zen, Year of Release: 1997#blues Lyrics: Blues Are Here To Stay Born in the small town of Centralia, Illinois, Corey Stevens never just says he is from Illinois. After hearing, “Oh, from Chicago?“ a few too many times, he has learned the succinct way to put it: “I'm from Southern Illinois - an hour east of St. Louis.“ St. Louis is where he saw his first baseball game and where he saw the Rolling Stones twice on the same day. He says, “St. Louis is where I went to and saw the huge crowds and came home with big dreams.“ But, Centralia was where he grew up, diligently honing his guitar playing and soaking up middle America. “My grandfather put my first guitar in my hands and the story has become well known,“ says Stevens, referring to the liner notes of his second album, “Road To Zen.“ He continues, “But, the rest of the story is just growing up in a small town. I really liked it. All my friends complained of how boring it was, but, hey, it was where I was, and I made the most of it.“ Corey Stevens is a guy who likes to consider all the angles. Although his earliest influences were early rock and rollers like Chuck Berry, comics who played with words to make people laugh had a huge impact on him. When the British Invasion swept Stevens away like millions of others, the words moved him as much as the music. It may be for this reason that Stevens aspired to be a songwriter and not just another guitar player. As Stevens focused on guitar playing, the spirit of Robert Johnson invaded his thoughts. He wondered if he could disappear and reappear a “player,“ a master of the blues guitar. He woodshedded the guitar with a renewed passion for making music, forgetting the superficial music industry and even his own songs for a moment in time. After months of hibernation from the stage, he got the urge to play out and began sitting in with bands. Using the E flat tuning of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and others before him, Stevens found himself in awkward keys, but used the challenge to sharpen his skills even further. Soon, Stevens was ready to start another band and another journey. He did not know it, but his plan was coming together, even if he thought he had stopped trying. He started a band called Texas Flood and limited the playlist to Vaughan, Hendrix, Albert King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters. By 1994, the band evolved into Stevens on guitars and vocals, Will MacGregor on bass and Dave Salinas on drums. Early in the year, Stevens, using his own money, placed a bet on the band and bankrolled an album that would become a classic, “Blue Drops of Rain.“ The album captured a fleeting moment in time when Stevens, MacGregor, and Salinas would walk on stage in a small, smoky bar and entertain a riveted crowd with songs like “Lenny,“ “Crosscut Saw,“ or “Back In Time.“ Eureka Records, an independent label, signed Stevens in 1995 and released “Blue Drop of Rain.“ Although the year was not a huge success, Stevens saw the writing on the wall and in December quit teaching and said goodbye to his day job. In 1996, he toured seven months and made a video for the song, “Blue Drop of Rain,“ which climbed the radio charts. The album was re-released on the independent label and Discovery Records and made the debut Billboard Blues chart. In 1997, Stevens recorded his second album that yielded a top ten radio hit and video, “One More Time.“ Other songs made it on the radio and Stevens hit the road in support. By the end of the year, Stevens had toured nine months, including a summer tour with Paul Rodgers and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and shared the stage with ZZ Top. The title track, “Road To Zen,“ a heartfelt behind the scenes account of life on the road seemed to sum up Stevens' new life. In 2002, Stevens reacquired ownership of his first 3 albums and his publishing in a settlement. Stevens then released a DVD VIDEO COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: Video is made for entertainment purposes only and you can download this track on any authorized website such as, iTunes and ... No copyright infringement is intended in the making of this video. If you want to remove a video please contact me :
