Steve Gates

I witnessed one of the best live shows I’ve seen in awhile at the company house the other night. Steve Gates and his band of bass, lap steel, drums and violin left me feeling warm, happy and inspired. The group hit all the right harmonies and musically filled all the right spaces. Steve’s songs are varied and beautiful. The man has a gift for songwriting both lyrically and and musically. This is one of my favourite albums to come out of Halifax in awhile, so order yourself a copy here and if Mr. Gates and his posse pass through your town, check them out. - 365 Days of Albums

I witnessed one of the best live shows I’ve seen in awhile at the company house the other night. Steve Gates and his band of bass, lap steel, drums and violin left me feeling warm, happy and inspired. The group hit all the right harmonies and musically filled all the right spaces. Steve’s songs are varied and beautiful. The man has a gift for songwriting both lyrically and and musically. This is one of my favourite albums to come out of Halifax in awhile, so order yourself a copy here and if Mr. Gates and his posse pass through your town, check them out. - 365 Days of Albums

Steve Gates plays well with others but has decided to go it alone and create his first solo full-length record, A Bee In Her Mouth. The debut LP follows closely behind his four-song Hello Jesus! EP that he released in October of 2011.

With the kind of attention he and his band Caledonia have gotten, it begs the question "why go solo?". The six-member band’s last full-length record We Are America earned them five East Coast Music Award nominations. So if it ain’t broke, why fix it?! The answer to that question is a person; Canadian musical stalwart, Daniel Lanois.

During a public talk given by Lanois, the legendary singer/songwriter/producer challenged the audience to be reckless and trust themselves. Gates took the words to heart and the very next day stepped into a makeshift studio in a Halifax apartment. But he wasn’t alone. Joining him was producer John Critchley, who has worked with Canadian indie darlings like Dan Mangan, Elliott Brood and Graham Wright. Not only that, but various prominent Halifax musicians were welcomed into the recording sessions, including Jenn Grant and Daniel Ledwell for the song Something New, songstress Rose Cousins supplies vocals on Down to the River and Adam Fine from Gypsophilia offered his musical support. You can tell there are no hard feelings or bad blood between Gates and his Caledonia bandmates as they each appear on a number of the tracks.

The result is an album that looks in the rearview mirror at traditional country music but keeps the focus on what’s ahead. The 12-cut release is suited up with a handful of catchy tracks that only take one listen to get the chorus and then dare you to try not to sing along. Unlike a pop album where the catchiness is a weakness and can get tired all too soon, this release has reinforced the infectious sounds with skilled and surprising lyrics and musicianship. Not only that but the catchy toe-tapper songs are counter-balanced with compositions of darker spirit and different tempos.
An album that doesn’t rest too heavily on country and folk music of yesteryear but tips its hat to it and pushes passed, to be something only possible in the current music landscape.
- CKUA

> Steve Gates
Halifax singer/songwriter Steve Gates has already made a minor splash on the East Coast as one-fifth of Caledonia, a sprawling, musically uncategorizable collective, but it’s as a solo artist that he appears to be taking off. His second release (after last October’s Hello Jesus EP) has Gates keeping the sound raw and simple, a true kitchen recording if there ever was one.

It’s a sombre, finger-picked affair with scores of guest stars, including Jenn Grant, Dan Ledwell and Rose Cousins, and at no point does it feel thrown together. Gates’s storytelling is strong and the instrumental touches (clarinet, pedal steel, various strings) are subtle; they never call attention to themselves. There’s not a weak one in the bunch but Down To the River and Godforsaken stand out as tracks that exemplify his wry, ruminative lyrical perspective.
– By Tom Murray - Penguin Eggs

> Steve Gates
Halifax singer/songwriter Steve Gates has already made a minor splash on the East Coast as one-fifth of Caledonia, a sprawling, musically uncategorizable collective, but it’s as a solo artist that he appears to be taking off. His second release (after last October’s Hello Jesus EP) has Gates keeping the sound raw and simple, a true kitchen recording if there ever was one.

It’s a sombre, finger-picked affair with scores of guest stars, including Jenn Grant, Dan Ledwell and Rose Cousins, and at no point does it feel thrown together. Gates’s storytelling is strong and the instrumental touches (clarinet, pedal steel, various strings) are subtle; they never call attention to themselves. There’s not a weak one in the bunch but Down To the River and Godforsaken stand out as tracks that exemplify his wry, ruminative lyrical perspective.
– By Tom Murray - Penguin Eggs

In the search for new music, I somehow always find myself drawn towards those artists that hail from the East Coast. It's a fertile scene with many talented musicians, and Steve Gates' debut record, A Bee in Her Mouth, is no exception. The album is full of collaborations with other Halifax-based artists including Jenn Grant, Dan Ledwell, and Rose Cousins, who each add a special touch to the overall feel of the album.
Gates presents his music with a truth that most artists lack, laying down the album as a collection of stories. Listeners will find themselves drawn further into Gates' beautiful narrative as they listen to each song in sequence. Songs like "Bright Blue Candy Suns" entice the listener to delve into their own emotions, and more upbeat tunes such as "Keepin' People Out" simply make you want to get up and dance.
You might find yourself listening to this leisurely on a snowy Sunday afternoon, or enjoying it as as a mellow harmony that lulls you to sleep. Those were the two ways I found myself enjoying Gates' folky melodies and unique vocals.
Steve Gates has put together an album that doesn't disappoint, with each song delivering what's needed on cue. "Down to the River" provides the perfect ending to the perfect story, and one that's well worth the journey.

—Kathleen Masaki - McGill Tribune

"What's in the water back East? Steve Gates is yet another singer-songwriter living in Halifax, and making absolutely stunning records. His new one, "A Bee in Her Mouth," was produced by Dan Critchley (Elliott BROOD, Dan Mangan), and sees Gates joined by Maritime heroes Jenn Grant, Dan Ledwell and Rose Cousins.

Gates' day job is as a social support worker - a job that's taken him all the way up to Watson Lake - so he knows sorrow, and knows redemption too. It's no surprise, therefore, that this new album is sensitive, tasteful and true. We hear echoes of Tweedy, Cohen and Lanois in the tunes, and are eager to get to know Steve Gates." - Dawson City Music Festival Website

Recorded with a large cast of friends, this full-length from Nova Scotia singer-songwriter Steve Gates (Caledonia) is as spare and beautiful as anything touched by either Neil Young or Daniel Lanois in his solo work. Gates is at his most soulful on “Bright Blue Candy Suns”, his most honest on “Five White Tigers”, the title track, and “Godforsaken”, and at his best throughout. We never lose our connection with him as a vocalist but his voice transforms throughout, easily moving between the late-night soul singer and the north woods oracle when the song demands, lending each of the 12 here a unique character for maximum impact. - Popmatters

‘A Bee in Her Mouth’ comes hot on the tail of ‘Hello Jesus!,’ an EP that Steve Gates released late last year as a warm up for this album. As good as aspects of that effort were – especially the wonderful take on ‘Always on My Mind’ as a heart-felt duet between Gates and Prince Edward Island singer and songwriter, Catherine MacLellan – the songs on ‘Hello Jesus’ often felt tentative and under-developed. That’s certainly not the case with ‘A Bee In Her Mouth’, for it’s easy to hear how all of the woodshedding and experimenting with approaches to presenting a song have paid off and resulted in one of the finest acoustic based albums I’ve heard this year.

Steve Gates has long been a part of the critically acclaimed Canadian group, ‘Caledonia’ but after many years of criss-crossing the country and playing every club and dive from Charlottetown to Victoria, he must have thought it was time to take a break and try something a little different. After hearing a lecture by Daniel Lanois where he encouraged musicians to take risks and be reckless in the studio, Gates decided to record ‘A Bee In Her Mouth’ in his kitchen with a group of friends he brought along for support to create this loose and heartfelt acoustic gem.

Gates’ songs are full of a hurting kind of regret that swoops between world-weariness and an almost naïve sense of excitement. The opening cut, ‘Proud Convey It’ sounds like a vintage Bert Jansch outtake with its engaging guitar driven melody and plaintive vocals while the title track and ‘Down to the River’ evoke the great Canadian folk singer, Stan Rogers channeled through a Tim Buckleyesque dramatic filter. As great as all of the songs on this record are, special mention must be made of ‘Godforsaken’, a biting song about how the promise of the ‘new world’ that North America embodies has been squandered. It is a powerful and dark track that pulls no punches and is, by itself, more than reason enough to check ‘A Bee In Her Mouth’ out. Add to that, warm and subtle back up vocals and instrumentation from Halifax stalwarts such as Jen Grant and Rose Cousins, and Steve Gates has got a winner on his hands. ‘A Bee In Her Ear’ is a very worthwhile album that will continue to grow on listeners the more often they hear it. - No Depression

‘A Bee in Her Mouth’ comes hot on the tail of ‘Hello Jesus!,’ an EP that Steve Gates released late last year as a warm up for this album. As good as aspects of that effort were – especially the wonderful take on ‘Always on My Mind’ as a heart-felt duet between Gates and Prince Edward Island singer and songwriter, Catherine MacLellan – the songs on ‘Hello Jesus’ often felt tentative and under-developed. That’s certainly not the case with ‘A Bee In Her Mouth’, for it’s easy to hear how all of the woodshedding and experimenting with approaches to presenting a song have paid off and resulted in one of the finest acoustic based albums I’ve heard this year.

Steve Gates has long been a part of the critically acclaimed Canadian group, ‘Caledonia’ but after many years of criss-crossing the country and playing every club and dive from Charlottetown to Victoria, he must have thought it was time to take a break and try something a little different. After hearing a lecture by Daniel Lanois where he encouraged musicians to take risks and be reckless in the studio, Gates decided to record ‘A Bee In Her Mouth’ in his kitchen with a group of friends he brought along for support to create this loose and heartfelt acoustic gem.

Gates’ songs are full of a hurting kind of regret that swoops between world-weariness and an almost naïve sense of excitement. The opening cut, ‘Proud Convey It’ sounds like a vintage Bert Jansch outtake with its engaging guitar driven melody and plaintive vocals while the title track and ‘Down to the River’ evoke the great Canadian folk singer, Stan Rogers channeled through a Tim Buckleyesque dramatic filter. As great as all of the songs on this record are, special mention must be made of ‘Godforsaken’, a biting song about how the promise of the ‘new world’ that North America embodies has been squandered. It is a powerful and dark track that pulls no punches and is, by itself, more than reason enough to check ‘A Bee In Her Mouth’ out. Add to that, warm and subtle back up vocals and instrumentation from Halifax stalwarts such as Jen Grant and Rose Cousins, and Steve Gates has got a winner on his hands. ‘A Bee In Her Ear’ is a very worthwhile album that will continue to grow on listeners the more often they hear it. - No Depression

I thought it’d be cool to combine a Hell, a Hello, and a Jesus in one post. Plus, they’re two terrific EPs. “Hello Jesus” is Steve Gates' debut EP–three originals and a cover of Willie Nelson’s “You were always on my mind” as a duet with a lady named Catherine MacLellan. It’s mellow country rock, well written, well performed…And Steve’s got a really cool voice. I wouldn’t say it’s as bad as Bob Dylan, but it also isn’t as good as Lyle Lovett. It’s unique, special, and perfect for the songs he plays. - Berkeley Place

Of all the local bands made good, I’m always surprised by how little attention we give Caledonia. The boys write solid songs, stand for something and aren’t afraid to pile in the van and tour the shit out of their songs. In this era of blog TUMBLR-born and praised bands, it’s refreshing to see a band still go out and earn fans the old fashioned way.

The band has taken a pause, but refuse to idle. Zac Crouse just completed an epic Ottawa-Halifax sea kayaking journey to show we don’t need to rely of gasoline (watch the webisodes, they are fantastical), and Steve Gates has been holed up in vans touring with The Warped 45s to introduce friends and fans to his new solo material.

Gates will release the full length LP in 2012, but in a few days you can pick up the Hello Jesus EP and I suggest you do. The four-song trailer shows why Gates is such an engaging performer and song writer. The songs offer a sense of humor and compassion alongside his appreciation of where he comes from and the songs that helped him find his voice. The title track oozes Prine; Gates sings of true love, passion and drunken stumbles without regret or judgment. Life is meant for living, and whether that’s an extra drink or the shameless display of making love under the stars you can feel the warm embrace Gates offers our city by the sea.

The most immediate song on the EP is the touching tribute to the women that have disappeared on Highway 16. I first heard the song at Crouse’s solo LP launch, and I’ve been waiting for a year to hear it in recorded form. The “oh oh ohs” added to the chorus will warm the hearts of any Caledonia fan, but the message will tug at your heart strings.

The cherry on top of this audio Sunday is the sincere rework of the Brenda Lee classic, “You Were Always On My Mind.” Gates shares vocal duties with the criminally underrated Catherine MacLellan and while their version might not reach the same stratospheric heights of Willie Nelson or Elvis’ take, it represents what a solo record is all about. It’s a chance for Steve to share songs that mean a lot to him and sit outside of the Caledonia sound, and if these four songs are an indication of that love, we are in for a treat. - Hero Hill

I have a confession. Please don’t tell my boyfriend…but I have completely fallen in love with Steve Gates after listening to his debut EP, Hello Jesus.

On some debut albums, the sound of the artist can get lost in the bustle of too much percussion, sounds and tracks. Gates doesn’t get caught up in this–focusing on the quality, not quantity of tracks, which comes out in his vocals and melodies.

The Halifax singer-songwriter’s EP plays like a four-course meal, with each track representing an exquisite dish. - The Take Media

By Luca Morellato

Steve Gates of Halifax's Caledonia is venturing into the world of solo singer-songwriters. His debut release, titled Hello Jesus, is set to be released October 18 independently.

The EP was recorded in his apartment and then mixed John Critchley (Dan Mangan, Elliot Brood). It features four tracks, including a cover of "Always on My Mind" with Catherine Maclellan (the song was originally by Brenda Lee and made famous by Willie Nelson) and a tribute to the missing women of Highway 16 in British Columbia ("Highway of Tears").

You can listen to the EP's title track below. According to the press release, "Hello Jesus" is one of Gates's first songs and was written years ago while busking on Vancouver's Granville Island. "It is a mildly blasphemous love song dedicated to the city of Halifax with the friendly wit of a John Prine song," the release adds.

Gates is set to tour in support of the Hello Jesus EP in select Canadian cities this fall. He's also gearing up for a full-length, which is to be released in 2012.

Hello Jesus:

1. "Bright Blue Candy Suns"
2. "Hello Jesus"
3. "You Were Always on My Mind" (ft. Catherine Maclellan)
4. "Highway of Tears" - Exclaim

By Luca Morellato

Steve Gates of Halifax's Caledonia is venturing into the world of solo singer-songwriters. His debut release, titled Hello Jesus, is set to be released October 18 independently.

The EP was recorded in his apartment and then mixed John Critchley (Dan Mangan, Elliot Brood). It features four tracks, including a cover of "Always on My Mind" with Catherine Maclellan (the song was originally by Brenda Lee and made famous by Willie Nelson) and a tribute to the missing women of Highway 16 in British Columbia ("Highway of Tears").

You can listen to the EP's title track below. According to the press release, "Hello Jesus" is one of Gates's first songs and was written years ago while busking on Vancouver's Granville Island. "It is a mildly blasphemous love song dedicated to the city of Halifax with the friendly wit of a John Prine song," the release adds.

Gates is set to tour in support of the Hello Jesus EP in select Canadian cities this fall. He's also gearing up for a full-length, which is to be released in 2012.

Hello Jesus:

1. "Bright Blue Candy Suns"
2. "Hello Jesus"
3. "You Were Always on My Mind" (ft. Catherine Maclellan)
4. "Highway of Tears" - Exclaim

“You know, for a folk singer and songwriter, Steve Gates really knows how to piss people off.” Review of "We Are America" Review of latest record by Caledonia (Steve wrote the title track). - Ottawa Sun

"a sparsely tinted emotive feast...there is an inherent darkness, possibly quelled from hours of Leonard Cohen or Wilco consumption...Sometimes you reach resolve by not resolving anything." -Shain Shapiro reviewing "Lost Balloons", Leeds Revue, UK - Leeds Review, UK