Tracks Of My Years: Steve Belton

Have guitar, will prevail…

teve Belton is a musician with many strings to his cigar box guitar, from his early days with the acclaimed electro-dance duo The Fountainhead to his more recent incarnation as a Delta bluesman, with both Helium Dog and his Mojo Sessions.

So, how the hell do you get from Kraftwerk to B.B. King? Hey, here’s Steve himself to explain…

With Noel Redding Clonakilty 1998

Why did I get into playing music? Well, growing up in the ’60s, I was in the right place at the right time (well, kinda… Ireland wasn’t so hip back then) to experience the creative explosion that was happening in popular music. Not that I thought about it like that at the time; I was just a kid surrounded by magical sounds and I drank them in.

Music filled my head, and guitars were objects of fascination, yet it didn’t occur to me that I could join the party and learn to play. That came later, at around age 12 or 13, after one of my older sisters got a guitar and I made a start at learning some basic chords. Then I saw a movie of Jimi Hendrix playing at Monterey, and that clinched it; I had to get involved, heavily involved! The love affair with music, guitars and sound continues…..

You can catch Steve continue that illicit run of one night stands – complete with his homemade cigar-box guitars – every first Friday in Dann’s.

It’s a bring your own blues gig.

In the meantime, young Mr. Belton tells us all about the tracks that have soundtracked his life…

Apache The Shadows
This is one of my earliest memories of the wonderful sound of twangy electric guitars, part of the soundtrack of my childhood, I still love it!

She Loves You The Beatles
Still in the beautiful ’60s, this Beatles tune was the 1st one that I became hooked on, and after that I loved everything they ever did, no exceptions.

Voodoo Chile Jimi Hendrix
This completely blew me away when I first heard it, and still does. Blues for the space age, the pinnacle of electric guitar expression!

The Model by Kraftwerk
In the ’80s, I was into electronic music and Kraftwerk were a favourite; they made machine music but they had a way with melody too.

Crossroad Blues Robert Johnson
In recent years I’ve been digging deep into the music and guitar styles of the blues artists of the ’20s and ’30s. Inspirational and powerful stuff!

If you’re on the oul’ Facebook, you can check out The Fountainhead here, and Helium Dog here. You can also find out what Steve makes of his adopted hometown here.