Steve Palmer: Full Biography
Raised on gospel, country and the blues, the old time influences on
a young prairie picker with a love of Doc Watson made him a good
fit for psychedelic folk-rock bands touring and playing support for
most of the big name suspects during the ‘60s UK invasion. And
then more steady dues paid as guitarist-for-hire in country bands
working the rural Alberta bar scene. He started using his voice
only in the ‘80s, when he’d picked some west-coast time to study
music a bit more formally. But it wasn’t ‘til he returned home to
care for his mother that he found personal respite and freedom in
becoming a solo performer. Now based in Moose Jaw
Saskatchewan, he travels a troubadour circuit around Western
Canada and the Northwestern US.
Forty years as a traveling musician is a lot of road, and Steve
Palmer is still playing and still touring. Grown enough to sing
about life and simple pleasures with all the unhurried authority of a
quiet and simple folk-singing road-survivor.
Sometimes compared to Hoyt Axton, Leonard Cohen, or John
Prine, the echoes of Doc Watson remain clear on his albums,
“Roots and Strings” and “Morning Road”.
Colin Lazzerini- ‘Root Cellar’