 Sonny Boy Mick's long road in the music industry has been landmarked by a variety of unique experiences. All experiences that led him towards national and international acclaim for his songwriting and performance ability.
Sonny Boy Mick, a.k.a Steve McPhail, started playing guitar at the tender age of eleven in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie. "I played in bands through high school and university and then moved to Burlington where I joined a club act of T.O. I played and sang with several prominent clubs in the GTA." He then had a band called Fall From Grace in the 90s, that was released in Europe. And if that wasn't enough, he purchased a music school and recording studio in Burlington called Melody Man Studios, and has been running it over the last 6 years. The studio has been a real place of inspiration for Steve and his songwriting, "Because of being able to play everyday at the studio teaching or recording I find musically things just pop out, alot of times when I'm tuning somebody's guitar or just sitting around playing." With this new environment to work with, he started writing under the name Sonny Boy Mick, which resulted in the release of the new CD "Peace, Love and Sonny Boy." How would Steve describe his style? "A melting pot of all the covers and styles I've played since I was a kid- Beatles, Bowie, Prince, Zeppelin, Police, Stones, U2, Coldplay, Pumpkins, Radiohead, Buddy Holly, and I'm sure a slew of 90's bands." What Steve prides himself in is his ability to write authentic music, "I think my music is real, it's not fabricated, it's just a reflection of my day to day existence. I play everyday and if you see me live chances are you'll see I love to play music, I've been told many times that when I play "live" I have that "somethin" --you can't fake that stuff, it just happens. I've been very fortunate to play with great band members in the last 10 years who bring years of experience to the studio as well as live shows." Speaking of authenticity, all of Steve's songs have been inspired by some event that has occurred in his life. "If I had to pick one [to talk about] it would be "Northern Town". I was home in Sault Ste. Marie on a family matter and did a little reflection on life and what it was to live in Southern Ontario away from my hometown. A lot of people from the Soo that have heard that song seem to like that one; it tends to tug on the "homesick heartstring" a bit." Having settled in the Canadian indie scene on numerous occasions throughout his life, Steve says it has undergone a significant improvement. "The Canadian indie scene is a better place to be than it was when I was in Fall From Grace 10 years ago. The internet has opened the door to the rest of the world without having to have a major label behind you... I did a version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in 2006 and had a tonne of downloads on it. In fact, Steve was contacted by a Hollywood producer recently about having the song appear in a film. "He commented on what a great version it was and was intersted in using it in one of his films." For Steve, the best part about making music, is just that. "There's nothing like playin great music, be it in front of a huge crowd or by yourself, it takes you to a place that is "yours". There's no age barriers or upper or middle, lower class there's only a love of music. I can have the same conversation with a 12 year old kid and a 60 year old man about a great guitar riff or song. There's nothin cooler than to do somethin you love for work. I have been very fortunate to be able to do it for a living." Sonny Boy Mick was nominated for best pop artist 2008 Ontario Independant Music Awards and was also a semi- finalist 2008 UK International Songwriting Awards for the single "Today". If you're interested in purchasing some of Sonny Boy Mick's music, check him out on Itunes, as well as Indiepool.com, which links to Amazon, Puretracks, HMV, Indigo, Rhapsody and Napster. Visit www.sonnyboymick.com or myspace.com/sonnyboymick for more info on live shows!
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