John Stephan Band – Talking Out Loud
Independent
10 Tracks – 38 Minutes
John Stephan was born and raised in Palmer, Alaska. He started playing guitar in 1956 at age 8 and started playing in groups in 1960, which continued until 1968 when he was relocated to Death Valley, California by the U.S. Army. He continued to play in the San Francisco Bay area and stayed on the road to Chicago. He moved permanently to Seattle in 1974, where he played with Isaac Scott, Little Bill and the Blue Notes, and Albert Collins. After start-ups in several various eclectic bands including pop group Matinee Idols, Afro-pop group Je Ka Jo, and a stint with Isaac Scott from 1992 to 1998, the John Stephan band joined together in 2000 with John on vocals, electric, acoustic and slide guitar, Keyboard player Bily Reed, bass player Walter White, and drummer Zak Stoldt. Know Your Driver released in 2010, and Hen House, released in 2017 precede this album.
Billy was born in Flint Michigan. Upon moving to Seattle, he became ingrained in that music scene and in 2023, the Washington Blues Society voted him their Keyboard Player of the Year. Walter was born in Chicago. He initially played Oboe and tenor sax but worked to become a master player of the bass mixing his insert into various rock and jazz bends, before joining with John. Zak hails from Indiana but currently lives in Los Angelses. In addition to playing in John’s Band, he also plays in an organ trio, The Queen Street Gang.
The album features nine original songs written By John Stephan and one cover. The album opens with John exclaiming that “It is no fun getting” “Old and In the Way” with Billy’s organ kicking up the sound. “Mighty Strange” gets things rocking as John notes that “some folks just take care of their own, but how about throwing others a bone” as Billy moves from a rollicking piano and shifts to the organ. On “Not the Way I’m Going”, he testifies that he only wants the “best for you…I love you baby, you know it’s true.”
“Razor Clam” brings the funk with John pulling out the slide guitar and Billy adding organ on an instrumental. The story of “George Floyd (2024)”, who was killed by police in 2020 in Minneapolis and who died pleading, “I can’t breathe” features some haunting slide guitar. “Jane” “was a light, I wish she was still here” and “she was taken away too soon”.
They slow things down on “Good Things”, as John notes “I’ve been carrying the same old loads, but it gets lighter every day now. Time takes it tolls but it has its rewards, and I am thinking about the good things I’ve got.” An up-to-date topic is addressed in “Microplastic Blues” which addresses the finding of plastics in our oceans, water supplies and infiltrating our bodies, sea creatures and the meat from the animals we eat. There is a “Revolution Going On” with “a lot of changes going down” causing “a struggle for survival” Willie Nelson’s well-known “Funny How Time Slips Away” is the sole cover on the album and is given a fairly traditional approach that offers some connection to the opening track.
The album varies from the social commentary dealing with our environment and social injustice to exploring the changes in life from old age and the loss of loved ones. Topics that many of us now face and must consider in our lives and for the futures of our families.
