In 1997 I left my hometown…
04/06/09
I am writing to thank you for your site dedicated to
Steve Curnutte. You have reconnected me with a long
lost friend of sorts. I am going to ramble a bit here,
but bare with me.
In 1997 I left my hometown of Marion Ohio to attend art school in Columbus,Ohio. While there I roomed with a guy from Charelston, WV, and we became fast friends. Gabe and I shared similar tastes in music, and we introduced each other to our CD collections. It was a sort of competition to see who had the best original, non mainstream disc. The best I could do was some old Wilco, but I knew I had lost when Gabe played Alive by Crunutte and Maher.
The remainder of our freshman year I asked him to play that disc at least twice a week. I think the thing that I liked the most was that you could not pigeon hole the sound into any genre. It was folk and rock, country and bluegrass, and some completely origanal audio masterpiece the likes of which I had never heard, and it was live music to boot.
Before leaving for the summer I dubbed the disc onto cassette, but never got the spelling of the bands name. Gabe and I fell out of touch when he decided art school was not for him sophmore year, and I always regreted not getting the spelling so I could track down a disc of my own. I did however have that dub, that I listened to regularly until about five years ago when my car tape player wanted a snack and ate about a foot of the tape. Post- anuerism, I was able to splice it back together, but it was incomplete and I retired the tape, only to be listened to in the rarest of occasions, usualy while I paint.
In those years since the "Alive disaster", as I came to call it, I have ocasionaly entered varios spellings, of the two gentelman's names I had only heard oraly, into internet search engines. I was never able to find a single lead, and assumed the band had split up, or it was a local gem that I would never see shine again. That was until last weak when I sat at my computer and played with every obscure spelling, of what I believed to be Kernewt and Marr, I could think of. THAT IS WHEN IT HAPPENED. I found your site and was rescued from the mediocraty of today's musical landscape. Since then I have downloaded the four C&M discs I could find on napster and wow, are they great. Thanks again, Your site was excellent, and literally music to my ears. Keep up the good work.
Daniel
In 1997 I left my hometown of Marion Ohio to attend art school in Columbus,Ohio. While there I roomed with a guy from Charelston, WV, and we became fast friends. Gabe and I shared similar tastes in music, and we introduced each other to our CD collections. It was a sort of competition to see who had the best original, non mainstream disc. The best I could do was some old Wilco, but I knew I had lost when Gabe played Alive by Crunutte and Maher.
The remainder of our freshman year I asked him to play that disc at least twice a week. I think the thing that I liked the most was that you could not pigeon hole the sound into any genre. It was folk and rock, country and bluegrass, and some completely origanal audio masterpiece the likes of which I had never heard, and it was live music to boot.
Before leaving for the summer I dubbed the disc onto cassette, but never got the spelling of the bands name. Gabe and I fell out of touch when he decided art school was not for him sophmore year, and I always regreted not getting the spelling so I could track down a disc of my own. I did however have that dub, that I listened to regularly until about five years ago when my car tape player wanted a snack and ate about a foot of the tape. Post- anuerism, I was able to splice it back together, but it was incomplete and I retired the tape, only to be listened to in the rarest of occasions, usualy while I paint.
In those years since the "Alive disaster", as I came to call it, I have ocasionaly entered varios spellings, of the two gentelman's names I had only heard oraly, into internet search engines. I was never able to find a single lead, and assumed the band had split up, or it was a local gem that I would never see shine again. That was until last weak when I sat at my computer and played with every obscure spelling, of what I believed to be Kernewt and Marr, I could think of. THAT IS WHEN IT HAPPENED. I found your site and was rescued from the mediocraty of today's musical landscape. Since then I have downloaded the four C&M discs I could find on napster and wow, are they great. Thanks again, Your site was excellent, and literally music to my ears. Keep up the good work.
Daniel
The year was 1996...
12/05/08
The year was 1996 and I was a
freshman at Wheeling Jesuit University, it was the
first or second month of school and one of my new
friends who was a Junior at the time and head of the
campus activities drug me to a school sponsored coffee
shop, which Curnutte & Maher were playing. I
had never heard of them, but my roomate and I were like
we love music so let's give it a shot. Plus it is
Wheeling, West Virginia, and we are in a 1200 person
college, there wasn't much else going on.
Needless to say, it is probably one of the 10 or 15 defining moments in my life, seriously (Hearing Nickajack and the Rain Song, live for the first time was just amazing). The music that C&M played touched me on a level that no other band has (except for maybe Dave Matthews, but I have never been able to see him live in such a small venue like this, I think I would have killed someone to have been at Luther College in 1998). I enjoyed the concert soo much, but didn't have the money to afford the CD. But, my friend Janice had all of there music and she had made me a mix of it on tape (wow, mixed tapes and the early to mid 90's, how retarded huh, but those were the days). Well, it was my favorite of all time as it had songs from Alive and Crackerjack. Though it was lost sometime during or after my Freshman year of College and for 12 years I have been searching high and low for any link to C&M music.
I think that I had given up a few years ago, but the other day when I was doing some cyber monday shopping on Amazon.com, something made me type in Curnutte & Maher, and then I nearly fell off of my chair. It was like a beacon that showed the path through the fog. So I am in the process of downloading everything that is available. Then I found your website: www.stevecurnutte.com, and I just wanted to express my thanks to you and to C&M for making the leap into putting their music available online and to putting a website together to celebrate their music.
John, thank you from the bottom of my heart and express my thanks to Steve, if you ever think of it.
If he does decide to play any venues again, please post them on your site. I currently live outside of Northern Virginia and I am willing to travel up and down the east coast to relive one of the best memories of my life.
Brian
Needless to say, it is probably one of the 10 or 15 defining moments in my life, seriously (Hearing Nickajack and the Rain Song, live for the first time was just amazing). The music that C&M played touched me on a level that no other band has (except for maybe Dave Matthews, but I have never been able to see him live in such a small venue like this, I think I would have killed someone to have been at Luther College in 1998). I enjoyed the concert soo much, but didn't have the money to afford the CD. But, my friend Janice had all of there music and she had made me a mix of it on tape (wow, mixed tapes and the early to mid 90's, how retarded huh, but those were the days). Well, it was my favorite of all time as it had songs from Alive and Crackerjack. Though it was lost sometime during or after my Freshman year of College and for 12 years I have been searching high and low for any link to C&M music.
I think that I had given up a few years ago, but the other day when I was doing some cyber monday shopping on Amazon.com, something made me type in Curnutte & Maher, and then I nearly fell off of my chair. It was like a beacon that showed the path through the fog. So I am in the process of downloading everything that is available. Then I found your website: www.stevecurnutte.com, and I just wanted to express my thanks to you and to C&M for making the leap into putting their music available online and to putting a website together to celebrate their music.
John, thank you from the bottom of my heart and express my thanks to Steve, if you ever think of it.
If he does decide to play any venues again, please post them on your site. I currently live outside of Northern Virginia and I am willing to travel up and down the east coast to relive one of the best memories of my life.
Brian
How it Starts
03/31/08
It All
Starts With A Story
A Quick Introduction
Hi, my name is Ken Carey. I have been involved in the music industry for almost 40 years and for the last 30 years have been the owner of a regional sound production company located in Greensboro, NC by the name of CareySound. Over the years I've have worked with many artists and performers both nationally recognized and obscure, great and not so great. Every once in a while, if you're lucky, you have the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time and magic happens. What follows is the sharing of one of those moments.
How I Met Steve
Steve could tell of our first meeting better than I, because, quit honestly I can't actually remember that first meeting. Maybe I can coax the whole story out of him again sometime but the short version is that he came from Winston-Salem with his college friend Matt to check out some of the items we had on sale at our store. It was actually the second or third visit that I remember well.
He did one of those things that I always dreaded. He gave me a copy of his first newly minted CD and asked me if I would give it a listen and tell him what I thought. I just hate that. I've stubbornly clung to the declaration that my favorite artists are the ones that pay me to work for them. Please don't put me on the spot and ask me what I think about them or their talents. Anybody that has ever met me knows that I have an opinion on just about everything and I don't censor my opinions. Not especially profitable if you want to sell a guy something.
So I did what I always do with unsolicited gifts of music, I politely accepted the CD, said I would give it a listen sometime when I got a chance and then tossed it onto my cluttered desk to ignore or so I thought.
I Drank The Kool Aid
Time passes. On a nondescript weekend my wife Lynn and I had decided to visit her Mom out in the country so we bundled up the kids and loaded up the mini-van to visit grama. Having forgot to pick up the CD case on the way out of the house we stopped by the store on the way out of town so I could pick up a few discs to listen to on the trip. Once at the store the only CD I could put my hands on quickly (did I say my desk is cluttered) was something titled Think Again in a totally unremarkable black and white cover. What the heck - the trip would only take an hour and there was always the radio.
By the time we got back home late that evening we had listened to that CD at least a million times and the kids had most of the lyrics memorized. The production was typical of vanity band projects but the music - the music - the lyrics (lyrics to a soundman are generally just another sound in the mix) were - well - something magical. I couldn't get enough of it. Upon returning to work on Monday I did something I had only done two other times in my life.
I actually couldn't wait. I was that excited. I NEVER GIVE UNSOLICITED PRAISE to a musician but I HAD to talk to that guy - what was his name, Steve Cursomething. And I called the number I was given and, trying to not to scare the poor guy away, I said something like "I listened to your CD and if you have some time and are in the neighborhood I'd love to talk to you about it." Not a day later Steve and Matt showed up in my office. And I asked a few questions. "Are you guys serious about music? Maybe thinking about making a living with it? Did you write all of the songs on the CD? Do you have more songs? Enough to fill a nights worth?" Yes - Yes - Yes - Yes & Yes. Then came my opinions, "your music has a special mature, ageless quality" and my advice "don't play covers as Curnutte & Maher again, only originals" and my suggestions "get yourself a computer and keep a record of everything from session notes to address of everybody that comes to your shows".
That was just the beginning of my friendship with the truly amazing person, Steve Curnutte.
But That's Not Why You Are Here
This site is the Carey's contribution to Steve's creative side as John (remember, I said that my kids were in the car that day) and I (the SoundMan) share our unique perspective on Steve's musical career from the inside. The music, the lyrics, the photos, the scoop- On with the show.
A Quick Introduction
Hi, my name is Ken Carey. I have been involved in the music industry for almost 40 years and for the last 30 years have been the owner of a regional sound production company located in Greensboro, NC by the name of CareySound. Over the years I've have worked with many artists and performers both nationally recognized and obscure, great and not so great. Every once in a while, if you're lucky, you have the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time and magic happens. What follows is the sharing of one of those moments.
How I Met Steve
Steve could tell of our first meeting better than I, because, quit honestly I can't actually remember that first meeting. Maybe I can coax the whole story out of him again sometime but the short version is that he came from Winston-Salem with his college friend Matt to check out some of the items we had on sale at our store. It was actually the second or third visit that I remember well.
He did one of those things that I always dreaded. He gave me a copy of his first newly minted CD and asked me if I would give it a listen and tell him what I thought. I just hate that. I've stubbornly clung to the declaration that my favorite artists are the ones that pay me to work for them. Please don't put me on the spot and ask me what I think about them or their talents. Anybody that has ever met me knows that I have an opinion on just about everything and I don't censor my opinions. Not especially profitable if you want to sell a guy something.
So I did what I always do with unsolicited gifts of music, I politely accepted the CD, said I would give it a listen sometime when I got a chance and then tossed it onto my cluttered desk to ignore or so I thought.
I Drank The Kool Aid
Time passes. On a nondescript weekend my wife Lynn and I had decided to visit her Mom out in the country so we bundled up the kids and loaded up the mini-van to visit grama. Having forgot to pick up the CD case on the way out of the house we stopped by the store on the way out of town so I could pick up a few discs to listen to on the trip. Once at the store the only CD I could put my hands on quickly (did I say my desk is cluttered) was something titled Think Again in a totally unremarkable black and white cover. What the heck - the trip would only take an hour and there was always the radio.
By the time we got back home late that evening we had listened to that CD at least a million times and the kids had most of the lyrics memorized. The production was typical of vanity band projects but the music - the music - the lyrics (lyrics to a soundman are generally just another sound in the mix) were - well - something magical. I couldn't get enough of it. Upon returning to work on Monday I did something I had only done two other times in my life.
I actually couldn't wait. I was that excited. I NEVER GIVE UNSOLICITED PRAISE to a musician but I HAD to talk to that guy - what was his name, Steve Cursomething. And I called the number I was given and, trying to not to scare the poor guy away, I said something like "I listened to your CD and if you have some time and are in the neighborhood I'd love to talk to you about it." Not a day later Steve and Matt showed up in my office. And I asked a few questions. "Are you guys serious about music? Maybe thinking about making a living with it? Did you write all of the songs on the CD? Do you have more songs? Enough to fill a nights worth?" Yes - Yes - Yes - Yes & Yes. Then came my opinions, "your music has a special mature, ageless quality" and my advice "don't play covers as Curnutte & Maher again, only originals" and my suggestions "get yourself a computer and keep a record of everything from session notes to address of everybody that comes to your shows".
That was just the beginning of my friendship with the truly amazing person, Steve Curnutte.
But That's Not Why You Are Here
This site is the Carey's contribution to Steve's creative side as John (remember, I said that my kids were in the car that day) and I (the SoundMan) share our unique perspective on Steve's musical career from the inside. The music, the lyrics, the photos, the scoop- On with the show.