Artist description "Thelonious Monk meets the Beach Boys."--Antimatters Magazine. Whew! I've finally started uploading some recent demos. I'll soon phase out the older songs...so check 'em out while you can!

Music Style Aggro-folk: Stride piano, pop melodies, lyrics of longing, death, transcendence and illegal acts.

Musical Influences Thelonious Monk, Elizabeth Cotten, The Antifolk community of NYC, Brian Wilson, Biff Rose, Nicky Hopkins, Duke Ellington, The Shangri-las, Professor Longhair, The Roches, K Records, parents and relations, you.

Similar Artists Dan Emery Mystery Band, Shangri-Las, Biff Rose, Blind Lemon Pie, NYC Antifolk Songwriters. Related Acts include: Steve Wynn, Debby Schwartz, Bionic Finger, Moldy Peaches, Pinataland, Peter Dizozza.

Artist History Steve Espinola was born long ago in Boston, Massachusetts. As a child, he lived on Kwajalein, an American Army Base in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The 3-mile long island did not have TV, and instead, WWII-era variety shows were piped in over the local radio station. This messed up Steve's cultural reference points, and he has yet to recover. Steve has been performing his songs in the rock clubs and coffee houses of New York City since 1996. In addition to being the Wurlitzerist and Shortwave Radio player for The Dan Emery Mystery Band (Home Office Records), he recently completed a 2-month, 10-country tour of Europe as the keyboard player for Steve Wynn (of Dream Syndicate and Gutterball fame). Steve has recorded his songs with Mike Gordon of Phish, shared the stage with Michelle Shocked, cub, and the Squirrels, and opened for The Muffs, Pansy Division, The Magnetic Fields, and They Might Be Giants with his home-built 19-string electric tennis racket. His keyboard playing has appeared most recently on albums by The Moldy Peaches and Bionic Finger.

Group Members Steve Espinola, piano, 19-string Electric Tennis Racket, guitar. Sometimes accompanied by Debby Schwartz (guitar, vocals), Dan Emery (guitar/5-string apple log), Raul Rothblatt (cello). ------------------ These mp3 recordings feature the wonderful Alex Wolf, who lives in Colorado now.

Instruments Piano; Guitar; 19-string Electric Tennis Racket, melodic short-wave radio.

Albums Currently Available: "Life-o-phobia" (by the Lookalikes) and "Some Demos" (limited edition 17-song CD-R)

Press Reviews "If we were tripping on peyote and walking along in the desert, and we came upon a mysterious hallucinogenic lounge right there in our path, and it was dark and glowing and strangely comfortable inside, the piano player at that lounge would be Steve Espinola." --Tony Rubin, Recording Angels

Location Brooklyn, NY - USA

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