Seasick Steve - Cheap Music Video - Live At Belladrum 2006 Festival

Seasick Steve Is The Real Deal!!

The Low Down Hobo Blues.
In Seasick Steve's (real name Steven Wold) own words he was, “Invited to leave his home” before his 14th birthday. Seasick Steve had previously spent many hours listening to stories from the hobos, tramps, and bums who would come by his childhood home asking for work or just a handout; he reckoned he was ready for a life on the rails. So with a sleeping roll, a few clothes and his trusty gee-tar Seasick Steve headed off hobo-bound!!

Hence, “The Real Deal” as Steve is a true, home-grown, American, train-hopping, carnie, migrant farm working cowboy/jailbird/hobo!!!

But don't let the romantic travelling undertones fool you, Seasick Steve is the first to admit that life on the rails wasn't easy, sleeping in shit-holes, working for food, playing street corners and surviving off of free handouts at the missions!! He also frequented many of Americas finest County jails!! And apparently this is the sanitised version of his life!!

You gotta fucking love this old bloke.

The Three Stringed Trance Wonder
The fullness of the sound that Seasick Steve achieves with only a 3 string guitar (the now infamous three stringed trance wonder) is nothing short of genius. A mesmerizing unforgettable performance is always assured with the three stringed trance wonder.

Seasick Steve usually tells the story that he bought it for $75 in Como , Mississippi from a man named Sherman Cooper, and vowed never to add another string, and that he would tour the world telling his story of how Sherman ripped him off. He kept his promise and done this, often getting the crowd to shout out, “We know about you Sherman!!”

The One Stringed Diddly-Bo
This is a one stringed string instrument played with a slide. It consists of a 2 foot long 2x4, with a semi-loose guitar string nailed to it at both ends. It was made especially for him by the mysterious "Super Chicken".

Seasick Steve's first album, “Cheap” was released in 2005 and he was accompanied by a backing band, “The Level Devils”.

Cheap was released during March 2004. It's recorded and produced by Seasick Steve himself, under the strong influence of Mississippi Blues and the years spent in boxcars through the 60's in America . Seasick says that,

'”Of course it was great to meet all these old legends, like Son House, and that made a big impression on you. But the strongest memories are the characters I met briefly during the rambling years through the mid west and south. The short moments when someone played a song on a beat up guitar in a dirty boxcar, or an old guy who played the harmonica and told stories, the old fashioned way, the walking folk Blues style. I never saw or heard ‘em again, that never got recorded, it was just there and then.”

Watch Seasick Steve Music Video For, "Cheap"

On November 27, 2006 Seasick Stece released his second album titled, “Dog House Music”, and on this album Seasick Steve plays by himself on all except a couple of tracks.

On the tracks, “Yellow Dog” & “Fallen Off A Rock” Steve's relation H.J. Wold is on the snare, and crash cymbal respectively. And on the hidden track, “12 Dog Blues” the drums are played by Steve's son, P.M. Wold

The hidden track is split into two parts ", in the first part Steve tells a story about a faithful dog (named Trixie) that he once owned. He was arrested, and the day that he got released, his dog was waiting for him 60 miles away from where he left her 6 months earlier. The dog then had 12 puppies, which she cared for, until one day she just went and never came back, leaving Steve with 12 puppies. Hence the name of the tune, “12 Dog Blues”

Watch Seasick Steve at the 2006 Belladrum Festival (Tartan Heart)