About me

Throughout my career as an entertainer and more recently as a songwriter, I have been presented with challenges and opportunities all along the way

Starting way back in the 1970s, learning the basics of the guitar and music and having the confidence and courage to go out and perform in front of people.

Alongside a handful of friends, we formed a group (Ohm Brew) that went on to be (Gyro), performing covers of mostly pop songs from that era.

With a few changes in personnel, we moved into a heavy rock band for a short time (Blitzkrieg ) before returning to a show/cabaret band in the late 1980s ( Harmony Plains ).

This was where I learned my trade playing the pubs and clubs of the East Midlands, and of which there were plenty in those days. Enough to keep us in constant work. I was also working a day job at that time, but was young and could take the pressures of working late and still getting up for work the next day.

So I started out with just a guitar and a small PA on what was to be a lifetime change of my career. Soon, adding a drum Machine to my arsenal, I learned how to program rhythm patterns to my performances and went full-time working consistently in pubs and clubs, especially the Home Brewery Circuit, which in those days you could work 5 or 6 nights a week..

In 1983, after seeing Raymond Froggatt in concert at Scarborough, my mind was made up that a change to a solo artist on the Country Music scene was where I wanted to go

I continued to work solo but also teamed up with our ex drummer (Shane Martin), who now played guitar, to form the duo ( Double Top). This lasted a few years and was great fun 2 guitars and a drum machine.

Then came the next challenge, TAPE BACKING, should I go down that route? This was very much frowned upon in the country music circles at the time.

I decided I would and started to produce my own tracks with a small multitrack recorder, keyboard, and later a sequencer.

I met my mate (Middy) sometime in the 90s after playing at his local club, and we hit it off immediately. Although we were great friends, both working solo, we didn't actually get together as a duo (Best of Friends) until 2010.

I continued producing my own backing tracks as things evolved and progressed to working with a computer and went from using cassette tapes to DAT ( Digital Audio Tape ), Mini disc and finally iPad on stage.

Strangely enough, the use of backing tracks had by now come to be accepted on the country scene, but not so much in pubs, where live music is most respected. With that in mind, still working solo and with Middy as Best of Friends, I teamed up with another lifelong friend that I had lost contact with since Junior school some 50-odd years ago ( Andy Sissons ) and formed a purely live no tracks duo called Country Folk.

Then Covid Stuck, and everything changed. That's when I found my next big change.

Unable to go out and perform and stuck at home, I decided to use the time to develop my songwriting and took some online songwriting courses. I also spent a lot of time learning various recording techniques and learning how to use (Band in a Box), a sophisticated program, and also Cakewalk, a DAW (Digital Work Station) to produce full-sounding music. This was a big step forward for me, and most enjoyable learning hearing my creations come to life. I also started to do some work creating Videos for my songs that now can be found on my YouTube channel Wishgiver Videos

COVID came to an end, and I was able to resume working both Solo and in duos Best of Friends and County Folk, although Middy had suffered a serious dose of COVID, which greatly reduced his ability to work as much as before, but we continued and do so to this day

Then I was challenged again, and this is probably the biggest to date

For a while, I had been hearing about this thing called AI and how it was being used in music production.

Should I get involved or not?

I weighed the ups and downs and came to the decision if I want to keep growing and not get left behind, I should at least take a look at it. It was going to happen anyway, with or without me.

So here we are today with the latest Albums (Now Is The Time and Another Time, Another Day, Another Place ) created with the help of AI.

Let me make it clear: it is not, as many believe, a matter of pressing a button and hey presto, there you go. It takes me many hours of crafting the results into something acceptable, taking more work than anything I have done in the past, but I love it and look forward to whatever my next chapter will be. Many of my songs are available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and iTunes and most music apps. Just search for Steve Hamlin- Chase and on Sound Cloud as Chaseys the music of Steve Chase links can be found in the Contacts section below