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Steve Louw (born 16 September 1955) is a South African musician and singer-songwriter who specialises in
album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM broadcasting, FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of Rock music, rock albums and is currently associated ...
,
blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...
,
country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...
and
Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...
music. He was born in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
and has been active as a musician since 1981. He was inducted in the South African Rock Hall of Fame in 2003. Louw, who was born Stephen Geoffrey Louw, learnt to play the guitar after being inspired by the music of
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
and
Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...
, and formed his first band, Atlantic Rose, while in high school in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
in the late 1960s. While a student at
Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...
in the 1970s he became involved in the local music scene, playing his own songs in various line-ups. His career as a professional musician began in the early 1980s when he formed the band All Night Radio with fellow former Stellenbosch University students Nico Burger (guitar) and Rob Nagel (bass). The group recorded two albums – ''The Heart's the Best Part'' (1984) with US producer John Rollo, and ''The Killing Floo''r (1986), on which Louw began a partnership with producer
Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley, also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer, audio mixer, and musician. He has produced music for many artists, including Silverchair, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Angels, and C ...
that still continues. Louw then formed the band Big Sky and in 1990 released their debut album, ''Waiting for the Dawn'', again produced by Shirley. The album arrived just as South Africa began moving away from
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
rule and the group's music helped soundtrack a decade of positive revolution. The title track is today considered a South African rock classic. Big Sky released another five albums over the next 15 years: ''Horizon'' (1995), ''Going Down with Mr Green'' (1997), ''Best of the Decade'' (1999), ''Beyond the Blue'' (2002) and ''Trancas Canyon'' (2008); as well as the concert DVD ''Heart and Soul'', filmed at Cape Town's Little Theatre in 2008. Louw and Big Sky achieved considerable success in South Africa with sell-out tours and several major radio hits including "Kathleen", "Mr Green", "One Cut With a Knife", "Strange Room" and "Diamonds and Dirt", and in 1996 the band won the FNB South African Music Award for Best Pop Music Performance, Best Rock Album for the album "Horizon". In 1998 Big Sky opened for US singer-songwriter Rodriguez on his triumphant debut tour of South Africa, with the musicians in the band also backing the US artist. The tour is chronicled in the 2012 Oscar-winning documentary ''
Searching for Sugar Man ''Searching for Sugar Man'' is a 2012 documentary film about a South African cultural phenomenon, written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul, which details the efforts in the late 1990s of two Cape Town fans, Stephen "Sugar" Segerman and Craig ...
''. Louw gained an international profile after he collaborated with
Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...
(
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
) and Dave Stewart (the
Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British New wave music, new wave duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band t ...
) on the track "Amandla", recorded for the 46664 Aids awareness project inspired by the work of
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
. In 2021 Louw returned with the album "Headlight Dreams", produced by Shirley and recorded in
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
with crack studio musicians and featuring a guest appearance by US guitar legend Joe Bonamassa. The album received critical acclaim and the first single, "Wind in Your Hair", become a
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
hit. In September 2022 Louw announced his sophomore solo release "Thunder and Rain", available November 11, 2022 through BFD. The album was produced by Kevin Shirley and features Joe Bonamassa and Doug Lancio. On September 6th, 2024, Louw released his third solo album ''Between Time'', produced by Kevin Shirley.


Discography


Albums

* ''The Heart's The Best Part'' (1984) All Night Radio * ''The Killing Floor'' (1986) All Night Radio * ''Waiting For The Dawn'' (1990) Big Sky * ''Horizon'' (1995) Big Sky * ''Going Down With Mr Green'' (1997) Big Sky * ''Best Of The Decade'' (1999) Big Sky * ''Beyond The Blue'' (2002) Big Sky * ''Trancas Canyon'' (2008) Big Sky * ''Headlight Dreams'' (2021) * ''Thunder And Rain'' (2022) * ''Between Time (''2024'')''


Personal life

Louw married Erna Pienaar in 1988 and has three children.


Sources

* http://rock.co.za/stevelouw/family_tree.html * http://sarockdigest.com/archives/issue_113.html


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louw, Steve South African musicians 1955 births Living people