April 1st marks the release of The Steepwater Band’s 6th full-length studio album Shake Your Faith . The LP features 11 brand new tracks and will be available via Compact Disc, Digital Download, and Double 180 Gram Vinyl. They recorded it last winter at Cleveland’s Crushtone Studios, in along with seasoned rock studio veteran Jim Wirt (Fiona Apple, Incubus, and the Buffalo Killers). For a band that has covered The Rolling Stones’ live album, Get Yer Ya-Yas Out in its entirety, expect a dirty mix of blues and boogie atop big hearted guitar rock.
As with most of the band’s albums, the sound and songwriting on Shake Your Faith have grown and expanded, yet retained the true nature of the group. It’s the first studio record in over four years and the first to include “new” guitarist Eric Saylors.
As the band entered the studio, their songwriting approach for this record was different than it was on past albums when they were a 3-piece. Singer/Guitarist Jeff Massey comments on the band’s songwriting process, “Each song was different. I had a few totally finished songs, or Tod would bring a complete piece of music that would need melody and lyrics. And there were also a bunch of other musical ideas coming from both Eric and Joe, which we would all hash out together.” Drummer Joe Winters on the process, “Everyone really brought ideas to the table, collaboratively, more so with Shake Your Faith, than with any other of our records. That really created a special vibe around the songs.”
Bassist Tod Bowers elaborates, “It allowed everyone to be inspired by the moment. Sonically inspired by what sounds you were hearing coming out of the speakers, what was happening in the room, musically between the four of us. And you can hear that in the recording.”
Shake Your Faith has a broad range of sounds from straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll to a psychedelic samba and lyrical direction that extends from love to murder. The gamut of subjects and emotions; “an album – a collective piece of music that’s meant to be heard front to back,” Saylors says with a smile. “The way the whole record flows, it’s like one long song… takes you on a little journey.”
Glide Magazine is sharing an exclusive full album stream of Shake Your Faith LP (below) – 11 tracks that are merciless in its unrelenting rock n roll heat and passionate in its approach to quality and timelessness.
