Steve Conte is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist, music producer, and lead singer of the band Steve Conte NYC. He has worked with Japanese composer

Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer of soundtracks for anime series, Video game, video games, Japanese television drama, television dramas and movies. She has written scores for ''Cowboy Bebop'', ''Terror in Resonance'', ''Gho ...

on a variety of anime soundtracks including ''

Wolf's Rain ''Wolf's Rain'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese anime television series created by writer Keiko Nobumoto and produced by Bones. It was directed by Tensai Okamura and featured character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto with a soundtrack ...

'', ''

Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise (company), Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, ...

'', ''

RahXephon is a Japanese anime television series created and directed by Yutaka Izubuchi. The series follows 17-year-old Ayato Kamina, his ability to control a mecha known as the RahXephon, and his inner journey to find a place in the world. His li ...

'' and '' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG''. He is a former lead guitarist of the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...

Early life

Conte was born to an Italian American family in the Spring of 1960. His father is of

Lucanian The Lucanians () were an Italic tribe living in Lucania, in what is now southern Italy, who spoke the Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages. Today, the inhabitants of the Basilicata region are still called Lucani, and so is their dial ...

descent and his mother of

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

n descent. Growing up in a musical family (mother Rosemary Conte is a

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

jazz singer), Conte followed his passion for music early at seven years old when he began playing drums. At ten years old, he picked up his brother John Conte's guitar and started making up songs. One year later, the Conte brothers recorded their first "album" in the family living room with Steve singing, playing guitar and drums, writing the songs, and "producing". He also played backup with his mother in many

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

venues. To pursue his musical talents further, he earned a full scholarship to attend

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music with a focus on

jazz guitar Jazz guitar may refer to either a type of electric guitar or a guitar playing style in jazz, using Guitar amplifier, electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars. In the early 1930s, jazz musicians sought to amplify their ...

performance. At Rutgers, his classmates included fellow musicians Terrence Blanchard, Ralph Peterson Jr., and Frank Lacy and studied under the tutelage of

Ted Dunbar Earl Theodore Dunbar (January 17, 1937 – May 29, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. Career Born in Port Arthur, Texas, Dunbar trained as a pharmacist at Texas Southern University, but by the 1970s he only did pharmac ...

Kenny Barron Kenneth Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist and composer who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Early life ...

, Paul Jeffrey, and

Larry Ridley Laurence “Larry” Howard Ridley II (born September 3, 1937) is an American jazz bassist and music educator. He is an inductee of the Indianapolis Jazz Hall of Fame. Early life Ridley was born on September 3, 1937, in Indianapolis, Indiana. ...

. Upon graduation, he moved to New York City and took his first road gig with legendary jazz-rock group

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and ...

Career

During his early years in New York (1986–1987), Conte landed a variety of gigs; he was a guitarist and musical director for Prince and The Revolution singer Jill Jones, session and live guitarist with

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

producers Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight (Conte's first record date was the Hartman-produced Joy album by Paul King), as well as a stint with New Jersey rocker Glen Burtnick and jazz fusion band Bushrock, led by keyboard virtuoso Delmar Brown. In 1988, along with blues harp master Rob Paparozzi, Conte and his brother, John, founded the blues band The Hudson River Rats, whose residency at the Acme Bar & Grill in the

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...

afforded them the chance to meet and play with many blues greats and pop stars. The brothers performed with

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American blues harmonica player and bandleader who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive the Chicago ...

James Cotton James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career. ...

Johnny Adams Laten John Adams Jr. (January 5, 1932 – September 14, 1998), was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto. His biggest ...

, Reese Wynans (

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues", and her credited guest vocals on Paul Simo ...

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

John Waite John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English rock singer and musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single "Missing You (John Waite song), Missing You", which reached No. 1 on th ...

Richie Hayward Richard Hayward (February 6, 1946 – August 12, 2010) was an American drummer best known as a founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat. He performed with several bands and worked as a session player. Hayward also joined with fri ...

(Little Feat), Will Lee,

Lou Marini Louis Eugene Marini Jr. (born May 13, 1945), known as "Blue Lou" Marini, is an American saxophonist, arranger, and composer. He is best known for his work in jazz, rock, blues, and soul music, as well as his association with The Blues Brother ...

(

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul music, soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast ...

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

, The Uptown Horns, Steve Clark (

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...

), and many others. Legendary funk and soul drummer

Bernard "Pretty" Purdie Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul, funk and jazz musician. He is known for his precise time-keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the Purdie s ...

eventually joined the band after jamming with them many times. This was Conte's entrance into the New York City studio musician scene, where he still works today. Besides numerous playing and singing on film, television soundtracks, commercials and video game music, he's been recorded on albums with many of his childhood heroes:

The J. Geils Band The J. Geils Band (formerly known as The J. Geils Blues Band) was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, h ...

frontman

Peter Wolf Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of The J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983 and as a solo artist. Early life and education Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946, in the Bronx ...

(Fool's Parade, 1998) and James Brown saxophone player

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of ...

( Funk Overload, 1998), as well as the single "Fear of the Unknown" with rock legend

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of singles that found success in Europe and Australia, with both "Can the Can" (1973) and "Devil Gate Drive" ...

. Conte first became known to the music industry in the early

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American jets fly over burning oil fields in the 1991 Gulf War; the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993; the World ...

as the songwriter and guitarist of the band Company of Wolves (

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

). After the Wolves' breakup in 1992, he went on to form the band Crown Jewels with John Conte, and in 2003, the pair made an album under the name The Contes. In 2004, Steve Conte joined the

as a guitarist and vocalist, where he would remain until 2010, when he joined Michael Monroe's new band. Conte also worked with composer

and lyricist Tim Jensen on soundtracks to various popular

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series. Those works include the opening theme to ''

'', titled "Stray", as well as the tracks "Heaven's Not Enough" and "Could You Bite the Hand?" All three appear on the OST albums. As a guest vocalist for the Kanno-led Seatbelts, Conte also sang vocals in episodes of ''

'', as well as the 2001 film, most notably the song "Call Me Call Me", as well as "Words That We Couldn't Say", "No Reply" and "Diggin'". He also sang "Rain" on the OST CD, which is sung by

Mai Yamane is a Japanese singer, known for her work on the ''Cowboy Bebop'' soundtrack with Yoko Kanno and for her 1980 hit ''Tasogare''. Early life and solo career Her career started in 1979 when she participated and won the prize in Yamaha Music Foundati ...

and featured in the series. He would later sing alongside Shanti Snyder on "Living Inside the Shell", the ending theme to 2004's '' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG''. Conte also performed on the duet "The Garden of Everything" with Japanese singer

Maaya Sakamoto is a Japanese actress and singer. She made her debut as a Voice acting in Japan, voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime ''Little Twins'', and became known as the voice of Hitomi Kanzaki in ''The Vision of Escaflowne''. Other ...

on her ''

''-related single " Tune the Rainbow". In 2007, he provided the vocals for the video game '' Sonic and the Secret Rings''. He sings the closing credits song titled " Worth a Chance", as well as the game's main theme " Seven Rings in Hand". Conte formed the band Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth and produced a debut album on October 20, 2009, which was released through Varèse Sarabande Records. In 2010, Conte joined Michael Monroe's new band, The Michael Monroe Band, where he is a guitarist, along with fellow New York Doll and bassist Sami Yaffa. In September 2014, Conte provided solo acoustic guitar accompaniment for Angelina Jordan, winner of ''Norway's Got Talent'' (''

Norske Talenter ''Norske Talenter'' (English: ''Norway’s Got Talent'', ''Norwegian Talents'') is a Norwegian talent show with a similar format to '' Britain's Got Talent,'' making it one of the ''Got Talent'' franchise programmes. The 16-year-old singer E ...

''), on the American television program ''The View''. In November 2022, Conte announced a new solo album that he is writing with XTC’s

Andy Partridge Andrew John Partridge (born 11 November 1953) is an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and record producer best known for co-founding the band XTC. He and Colin Moulding each acted as a songwriter and frontman for XTC, with Partridge writing a ...

, whom he called "one of the greatest songwriters in the world". The two worked on a total of 8 new songs via Zoom sessions.

Selected discography

With Company of Wolves

*''Company of Wolves'' (1990,

) *''Shakers and Tambourines'' (1998, Ryf Records) *''Steryl Spycase'' (2001, Ryf Records)

With Billy Squier

*''Tell The Truth'' (1993, Capitol Records)

With Crown Jewels

*''Spitshine'' (1996, Thunderdog Recordings) *''Linoleum'' (1998, Thunderdog Recordings) *"Bubble And Squeak" – a Best Of compilation with two unreleased tracks (2000, Thunderdog Recordings)

With Peter Wolf

*''Fool's Parade'' (1998, Mercury ): Steve Conte, guitar & vocals

With The Contes

*''Bleed Together'' (2003, Thunderdog Recordings)

With New York Dolls

*'' Morrissey Presents: Return Of The New York Dolls Live From Royal Festival Hall'' (2004,

Attack Records Attack Records ran originally from 1969 to 1980 as an imprint of Trojan Records. Notable artists included The Pioneers, Gregory Isaacs, I-Roy, Big Youth and The Upsetters. In 2003 it was revived for British singer Morrissey and the label ...

) *'' One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This'' (2006,

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

) *'' New York Dolls - Live at the Fillmore East'' (2008, Sony/BMG Records) *'' Cause I Sez So'' (2009,

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the com ...

)

Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth

*''Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth'' (2009

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...

)

With Michael Monroe

*'' Another Night in the Sun: Live in Helsinki'' (2010

Spinefarm Records Spinefarm Records is an international record label. Founded in Finland in 1990, Spinefarm was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2002. History Spinefarm Records began as a mailorder distribution company, founded by Riku Pääkkönen. The c ...

) *'' Sensory Overdrive'' (2011 Spinefarm Records) *'' Horns and Halos'' (2013 Spinefarm Records) *'' Blackout States'' (2015 Spinefarm Records) *''

One Man Gang George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name (The) One Man Gang. For three years in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The Africa ...

'' (2019) *''I Live Too Fast to Die Young'' (2022)

Steve Conte

*''Steve Conte NYC Album'' (2014 Thunderdog Recordings) *''Steve Conte International Coverup'' (2016 Thunderdog Recordings) *''Gimme Gimme Rockaway'' (2017 single, Wicked Cool Records) *''Recovery Doll'' (2021 single, Wicked Cool Records) *''Bronx Cheer'' (2021 album, Wicked Cool Records) *''Fourth of July'' by Conte/Partridge (2023 single, Wicked Cool Records) *''Girl with No Name'' (2023 single, Wicked Cool Records) *''I’m Fading Away'' (2023, credits theme for Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name) *''The Concrete Jangle'' (2024 album, Wicked Cool Records)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conte, Steve 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers American male guitarists American people of Italian descent American rock guitarists American rock musicians American rock singers Guitarists from New York City Living people New York Dolls members Rutgers University alumni 1960 births