Dale Stephens

"Music has nothing to do with physical attributes other than the actual listening. Much like how a book may be better than a movie... it is your mental forces creating the scene-scape that makes music so wonderful."
–Dale Stephens

After hearing Peter Frampton's "Do You Feel Like We Do" from Peter's groundbreaking album Frampton Comes Alive, the young Dale Stephens started the musical journey that many artists share...deep long practicing and disciplined rehearsing. Dale has played on stage with such artists as Luther Vandross, and has logged countless hours of session work; some highlights include sessions with members of the group Foreigner.

Stephens is purely instrumental and honestly it doesn't need lyrics because he tells the song's story through the power of each instrument and how it is crafted together in the track. Having lyrics would only take away from the beautiful melodies and would diminish the essence of how powerful his music truly is.

“Dale's ability to fuse different guitar styles into his music is astonishing... is truly a 6 string master who plays straight from his heart and soul leaving nothing behind”.

Dale Stephens is also a co-founder of Rock Against Poverty, an organization that lead him to perform in April of this year at a concert to launch this great cause. It is through this event he shared the stage with Grammy Award Nominated Trey Lorenz, and American Idol finalist Anwar Robinson. This event was aimed to heighten the awareness to the causes to which the Rock Against Poverty was founded, Poverty and Climate Change.

Welcome on board, Dale!

Follow Dale on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dalestephensmusic

Exclusive Interview: Dale Stephens

1) What are you working on now?

As far as my guitar playing, I am fusing my harder progressive tones with the natural beauty of the flamenco guitar. The two provide all the dynamics I need to go into my next chapter of music & composing.

My band is rehearsing for our long awaited record: “Weekends in Astoria”, a collection of songs conceptualized into a “Saturday” and “Sunday” format. It reflects this new fusion of rock, jazz, and acoustic flamenco tones.

2) What is your musical background and influences?

From age four it was singer songwriters like Jim Croce, Simon & Garfunkel, Carpenters, Allman Bros. These bands made me love the guitar and the joy it gave me was immeasurable. From 9 to my early teens it was Peter Frampton, Grand Funk, Supertramp, Beatles, you name it… this propelled me into wanting to perform.

I bought two records that changed my musical perspective: Passion, Grace, and Fire / Friday Night in San Francisco – John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Paco De Lucia. I became fixated in the beauty of the flamenco guitar and began to play them.

In my late teens it was Heavy metal, Jazz, Fusion Jazz, and 70’s ballads.

3) What is the role of education in music?

Music education has many foundations at the start. I had attended Institute of Audio Research in NYC in the beginning to understand mixing and signal routing, etc. This helped me greatly when I began to play guitar as a career. The benefits of any form of music education summits at the professional level. Theory, technique, ability, talent, composing, tone and timbre all have proper teaching methods and play its own unique role in the life of a musician.

You NEVER stop learning. I have studied with a Sitarist who showed me the spirituality of an instrument, a casino jazz guitarist who showed me how important modality is in jazz, a painter who showed me how art & music intersect in human expression… the stories go on and on.

What is important is that you find the elements of where you want to learn in music and follow that side of the mountain on the way up. All things will become visible as you learn, thus imbedding itself into your style and phrasing.

4) How do you feel about the current ‘state of the music industry’?

I think it a time of change and innovation. When it comes to shows, and live production, the retrofitting of existing facilities to accommodate friendly peer-to-peer bubbles will be an incentive.

Artists new and old will have to have a closer intimate relationship with their fan base. However this spawns a uniqueness with what and how artists retain fans.

The industry is under a needed change, I think artists have more control than before, however the market is saturated with many acts… so uniqueness and talent will be the attraction.

4a) What opportunities do you see for musicians in the current situation?

Now is the time for musicians to utilize the power of social media and online sales to springboard to who their audience is. With the free digital marketing metric tools available, you can pinpoint the age, gender, geography, and more in a few weeks. Now you can tailor your repertoire to your buying audience by analyzing their habits and popularity among your songs. Most of all, I think it will develop more creativity and keep that in the hands of the artist, not a label.

5) Why do you play Pickboy picks?

In my early 80’s I was introduced to the picks from my friend Marco who worked on 48th St NYC. Pickboy had many new hybrid colors, shapes, and styles, and I liked the classic celluloid. I love the sharp tips on them, I can pinch a harmonic and play a fast run with a smooth transition. I still have some of those original Pickboy picks from that day.