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Steve Brosky and soundtrack of Allentown
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Photo C/O LehighValleyLive
When you think of Allentown, images of the old Mac Truck
business, the PP&L building and the local Muhlenburg and Cedar
Crest colleges might immediately spring to mind. The area, heavy
with its Pennsylvania Dutch history, certainly hosts a series
of sights that are as old and dear as the nickname, Queen City,
that was given to it. Yet, there's more to the city than just
the sights. For the past 29 years, Steve Brosky has been working
hard to supply the blues meets rock and roll sounds of
Allentown, PA. And if you haven't heard of him yet, then you
haven't been listening.
Working in the clubs and restaurants of the common, hard working
people he grow up with, Broskey got his start in music later
than most of his generation after what he calls being a
"colorful youth". It was with this inspiration that he would
later put together the music that would garner the high amounts
of acclaim he would see in his career. From being awarded the
key to the city of his home in 1983, to sharing the stage with
guitar legends Warren Zevon and B.B. King, his hard work has
definitely not gone unnoticed. His musical style has played out
as varied as the city itself over the course of the years and
all of his 7 albums, the music of the city he grew up with
changing, smoke stained and hard-knock, tempered in the running
waters of the Lehigh river.
So who is Steve Brosky? Let's find out.
Examiner: Hi Steve, thanks for taking the time to speak with me
today, looking at your schedule, you've definitely been busy. As
far as home grown musicians go, this is really exciting as
you're something of a local legend, playing with B.B. King...
Steve Brosky: Yeah, I actually just played recently with Robin Trower, a
real guitar legend, back in Penn's Peak. That was something.
Examiner: So, I have to ask you, you came into music at a later
age than a lot of musicians who achieve not even one tenth of
the accolades you have. What made you pick up the guitar when
you did?
SB: I got into music and playing guitar in my early twenties, I
guess about 10 years later than most musicians of the generation
would have. It was really my being a colorful youth, mostly
kind of sowing my wild oats. I would attribute it to a wild
youth, I guess. it's easy to just say that it was because of
drugs, or alcohol, but I got all that out of my system when I
was young, and have been clean ever since.
Examiner: So, you got your first shot of fame then with your
song, Doing the Dutch, kind of poking fun at Billy Joel. That
was interesting, because a man from the area actually wrote
about that area, as Joe's song, Allentown, was really about
Bethlehem. What made you take this direction?
SB: well, I got definitely got my big break with my Allentown
song, Doing the Dutch, yeah, and I guess it was kind of poking
fun at Billy Joel's song. But, the Pennsylvania Dutch, the
spirit of it, has always been here. It's always been around, and
it was really, in my own style, just bringing that to light.
And then, the first real hit I had was the Ballad of John
Lennon. That was a tribute to the tragic death of Lennon, and
Paul Willistein and I, started writing it that same night. We
were in the studio for 4 days and had it recorded. We weren't
trying at all to cash in on the tragedy of the thing, I mean,
John Lennon was one of the most important musicians of the time,
we just wanted to show our respect. WZZO played it on the air
that weekend. That was it. But, it's been a huge transition since then. I've definitely
grown, musically improved, and have grown as a singer since then
into really, my own style. my own voice.
Examiner: Now, with you mentioned transitions, and I would
definitely agree with that. you really have come a long way from
your early days, your musical style changing a lot a long the
way, and with your newer music I’m picking up a lot of different
influences, from even all the way to tom waits.
SB: Yeah, I'm definitely a fan of Tom Waits. For an artist, its
sometimes easy to get sometime taken by someone like tom waits.
on some songs I could see myself wanting to paraphrase some
Waits, but, you've got to be able to draw a line and really find
your own voice. Tom Waits has certainly influenced me and
certainly many, many others.
Examiner: So, we talked a bit about where you come from,
musically, but what's next?
SB: I think what I have in mind is, I'm trying to write a book,
entitled, "I've never worked at Bethlehem Steel."
The whole idea of the book, well, I was at borders one day, and
I noticed they had a local book section. and it’s about all these
local people who have worked at Mac and all, and I wanted to
play around that. it's all really about music and some of the
stories I have on the road from playing in the area.
Also, right now, I'm playing with Jimmy Meyer, a fabulous guitar
player who's been playing for a long while in the area. But my
next project is, I'm going to write a kind of folk music. I'm
trying to get away from like an orchestrated sound, to move onto
something kind of sparser. to do something different. that's
really what I have in mind. I think that most kinds of music,not even just now
revival, but it all comes full circle. There's so many styles of
communication, that every style of music has a new market. Years
ago, if you wanted to hear that kind of old pop sound, you
wouldn't hear it on the radio. You'd have to go to the library.
And who wants to go to the library to listen to music?"
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