Stephen Hardy Palmer
Stripped Down TV edited
"simple folk-singing road-survivor "
Colin Lazerini, Root Cellar Records
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, and now he travels a troubadour circuit around BC, Alberta, and the Yukon.
Fifty-five years as a travelling 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.
MUSICAL INFLUENCES: Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Ian & Sylvia, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Thelonius Monk, Dave Brubeck, Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, Beatles, Zombies, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, John Prine, Nanci Griffith, Tony Rice, Claire Lynch...
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Stephen Hardy Palmer
Born May 2 1948, 13lb 10 oz
General Hospital, Edmonton Alberta Canada
MOTHER: Queenie A Palmer (1904 to 1999)
Classical pianist & school teacher, studied physics at the University of Alberta
Taught piano at Alberta College in her teens and demonstrated sheet music at the music store and also played piano for the silent movies at the Strand Theatre in Edmonton.
"As a toddler and older, I can remember the radio always being on in the house. playing every style of music. Mom specially loved Oscar Peterson's boogie-woogie.
By my teens I inherited the radio/record player in our dining room and was fixed there beside it for hours at a time.
Folk, Jazz, and Pop. Mom liked The Byrds harmonies, pointing out the suspensions in their harmonies and their classical influences. Mom helped me get my first guitar and showed me basic theory etc."
FATHER: Miles Franklin Palmer (1899 - 1966)
Lieutenant Colonel 49th Regiment PPCLI
(served in WW1 and WW2)
Alberta boxing champion middle, light heavy, & heavy weight divisions
Middle weight Dominion (Canadian) champion
Edmonton Esquimaux, first western team to challenge for the Grey Cup 1921 & 1922
Edmonton Boxing & Wrestling Hall of Fame
Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and more...
"Dad would have my brother and I up early in the morning sparring and hitting the heavy bag. Boxing was fine until my brother bopped me on the nose. I decided right then that I didn't like boxing anymore. Dad had had a rough childhood so he loved cheerful music = old army songs and barbershop quartet music mainly. He spoilt us with Christmases and movies (westerns!) and fairs and adternoon drives in the country with our old dog Paddy"
Quotes & kind words
“Not to be missed! Steve Palmer was a great addition to our Spring line-up, providing depth and variety that was much appreciated by our audience. He enchants and entertains with his superb guitar playing, wide-range of songs (we got to sing along on a number of them), resonant voice, and engaging chat (his quips and funny stories had us in stitches).“ Peter Opryshko, Heartwood Folk Club