Wikipedia

David Steinhart

David Steinhart is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for the bands Pop Art, Smart Brown Handbag, and the Furious Seasons.[1][2][3][4][5] He has been active in the Los Angeles pop scene since the 1980s.[6]

David Steinhart
Steinhart performing in 2016
Steinhart performing in 2016
Background information
Birth nameDavid Steinhart
Genrespop, folk
Years active1984–present
LabelsStonegarden Records

Career

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Steinhart has been a staple of the Los Angeles indie pop scene since the 1980s. His career spans 30 years and over 20 releases.[6][7][8][9][10]

He founded the band Pop Art in 1984 with his brothers, Jeff and Richard, and bassist Tony Ortega. Other players such as keyboardist Lyn Norton, drummers Steven Weisburd and his cousin, Steve LePatner, contributed to the band's albums over the years.[7][9][11][12] Pop Art was active for 6 years and released 5 records.[7][9]

After Pop Art disbanded, Steinhart released two solo albums before starting Smart Brown Handbag in 1993. Smart Brown Handbag included Norton, Cindy Albon, Steinhart's brother Jeff on bass, and John ‘Slim’ Glogovac on drums and percussion.[13][14] SBH was active until 2006 and released 10 full-length albums.[7][9][15]

Steinhart has been active in the Furious Seasons since 2008.[7][16][17] Band members have included Jeff Steinhart (bass), Paul Nelson (guitar/vocals), Bob Gannon (drums/percussion), Eric Marin (keyboards), Nate Steinhart (guitars) and Ray Chang (violin/guitar/vocals).[16][17][18][19] In late 2015, after the release of My Love is Strong, the band changed their focus to modern folk music. The band became an acoustic trio consisting of Steinhart and Nelson on acoustic guitar and vocals, and Jeff Steinhart on standup bass. The trio perform in the Los Angeles area, and has played shows with John Hiatt and David Lindley.[20][21] Look West, the band's fifth album, was released in September 2016.[22][23] It was Steinhart's first entirely acoustic studio album.[22][24] The Furious Seasons have released 5 full-length albums and are still active and continue to record.[7][8][25] In May 2017, the Furious Seasons released the single "We All Belong", a folk style protest song.[26]

Steinhart's music has also been used in television and films.

Musical style and reception

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Music magazine the Big Takeover describes Steinhart's musical style as “soft, finely crafted, windswept pop,” commenting that Steinhart sings and writes, “warm, literate, sober, preoccupied folk pop, always well-crafted, and full of small, conspicuous, workmanlike extras (pacific strings, mellotron, piano, guitar tweets, a southern blues harmonica), [with an] aptitude for unpretentious, poppy hooks.”[16][17]

Steinhart's music is often understated and driven by his distinct vocals, which critics have called a “privilege of craftsmanship”.[16][17][18][27][28] His voice is noted for its range and has been called “soaring... redemptive... at once world-weary and angelic”,[28] “cynical and charming at the same time.” The Arizona Daily Star labeled Steinhart's vocals in Pop Art, “clear, crisp, and angst-driven.”[29]

Steinhart composes songs about relationships and heartbreak, earning him a reputation as “especially adept at chronicling complicated reunions with faded flames.”[30] LA Weekly wrote that, “For anyone who needs a little reassurance about that thing called love (or has had it with whiny dirges on the radio), Smart Brown Handbag's ouch-that-hurts anti-luv songs, harmonies, bouncy bass lines, and-peppy rock-style riffing are just what the therapist ordered,” praising Steinhart's honesty in his lyrics.[31]

Rolling Stone commended Smart Brown Handbag's The Big Sigh, writing that "Smart Brown Handbags catchy guitar pop has been rumored to be on the edge of greatness for a long time and we believe the hype."[32] The Orange County Register defined SBH's sound as, “early R.E.M jangle-pop with Johnny Marr guitars and slightly, off-kilter Paul Weller-influenced vocals.”[15]

Discography

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Solo

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Year Album Details
1992 Everything She Says
  • Stonegarden Records
1993 The Almighty Night
  • Stonegarden Records
2001 Clean
  • Stonegarden Records

Pop Art

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Year Album Details
1984 Radio Tokyo Tapes Vol 1: Ancient Art
1984 Pop Art
  • US 12-inch EP (Stonegarden SGN 266)
1985 A Perfect Mental Picture
  • US LP (Stonegarden SGN-267)
  • GER LP - White Vinyl (Full Blast Records 941701)
1986 Long Walk to Nowhere
  • US LP (Stonegarden SGN-115)
  • GER LP - White Vinyl (Full Blast Records)
1986 Live at KCRW
  • Bootleg
1987 Snap Crackle Pop Art
  • US LP (Stonegarden SGN-829)
  • UK CD (Blue Moves BMCD 3001) (1988)
  • UK LP (Blue Moves LPBM 3001) (1988)
  • UK CS (Blue Moves)
1989 Never No
  • UK 7-inch Single (Blue Moves SBM 2)
  • UK 12-inch EP (Blue Moves TSBM 2)
1989 Neon Fire
  • UK 7-inch Single (Blue Moves SBM 3)
1990 Later on in the Same Life
  • US CD (Stonegarden SGN 903)
2000 Really Blind Faith: A Retrospective, 1984-1990
  • US CD (Stonegarden SGN 954-2)

Smart Brown Handbag

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Year Album Details
1993 Smart Brown Handbag
  • David Steinhart, Jeff Steinhart, Lyn Norton
  • Stonegarden Records
1994 Silverlake
  • David Steinhart, Jeff Steinhart, Lyn Norton, Steve LePatner
  • Stonegarden Records
1995 Sabrina
  • US 7-inch EP
  • Stonegarden Records
1996 Monkey in the Middle
  • Lineup change: David Steinhart, Cindy Albon, John Glogovac
  • Stonegarden Records
1997 Lullabies for Infidels
  • Stonegarden Records
1999 Little Things Are Everything
  • Stonegarden Records
2000 Just Like Driving Backwards
  • Stonegarden Records
2002 Fast Friends
  • Stonegarden Records
2004 The Big Sigh
  • with Jeff Steinhart
  • Stonegarden Records
2005 Harry Larry
  • Stonegarden Records
2002 Fast Friends
  • Stonegarden Records

Furious Seasons

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Year Album Details
2008 The Furious Seasons
  • Stonegarden Records
2009 Thank You for Saturday
  • Stonegarden Records
2011 My Analog Face
  • Stonegarden Records
2015 My Love is Strong
  • Stonegarden Records
2016 Look West 
 2018
 Now Residing Abroad
 2020
 La Fonda
  • Stonegarden Records

References

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  1. ^ "Stonegarden Records". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  2. ^ "The Furious Seasons: My Analog Face". 6 November 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  3. ^ "Smart Brown Handbag". Archived from the original on 2005-02-08. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  4. ^ "IUMA: David Steinhart". Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  5. ^ "Artist: Ethan James & Cindy Albon". SecondHandSongs. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  6. ^ a b "100 Favorite Albums of 2004". Hoboken Rock City.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Smart Brown Handbag". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  8. ^ a b "David Steinhart". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  9. ^ a b c d "David Steinhart". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  10. ^ Spurrier, Jeff (1986-01-19). "Pop Art: Pop-folskters Pop Off". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  11. ^ Raymond Ecke (Nov 1994). "Striking Gold on Silverlake". Vol. 8, no. 9. Cover Magazine.
  12. ^ Jeff Spurrier (January 19, 1986). "Pop Art: Pop Folksters Pop Off". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ^ Eric Layton (November 1987). "Smart Brown Handbag: Just Like Driving Backwards". Entertainment Today.
  14. ^ "COAT". Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  15. ^ a b Ben Wener (May 4, 1996). "An 'Argument' for the band with a sound and sensibility". The Orange County Register.
  16. ^ a b c d "The Beauty of Folk Music". Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  17. ^ a b c d "the furious seasons". Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  18. ^ a b "Music Review: The Furious Seasons – My Analog Face". 6 May 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  19. ^ "Special Night at Yamashiro Farmers Market to Benefit Ellen "Twinkles" Meyers". Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  20. ^ Shelagh Dolan (10 October 2016). "The Furious Seasons Look West On New Album". Indie Band Guru. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  21. ^ Emily Hinde (January 6, 2017). "The Furious Seasons "Look West" with New Release". No Depression. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  22. ^ a b "The Furious Seasons: Look West". CMuse. September 27, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  23. ^ Jake Tully (September 15, 2016). "The Furious Seasons Release Look West". Turnstyled Junkpiled. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  24. ^ Cody Conard (November 6, 2016). "The Furious Seasons - Look West". The Big Take-Over. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  25. ^ "Releases". Archived from the original on 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  26. ^ Gonda, Christopher (May 11, 2017). "The Furious Seasons- "We All Belong"". PureGrainAudio. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  27. ^ "David Steinhart – Clean". Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved 2013-11-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  28. ^ a b C. Darling (April 11, 1986). "Reviews: Pop Art". BAM.
  29. ^ M. Scot Skinner (1986). "Metaphoric ballads form Pop Art's trademark". The Arizona Daily Star.
  30. ^ "Smart Brown Handbag". Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  31. ^ Libby Molyneux (November 7, 1996). "Good Times: Smart Brown Handbag". LA Weekly.
  32. ^ "The Big Sigh". Rolling Stone Online. April 11–13, 1997.
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