Collaborators 1: Steve Lawson

You might have heard this quote before:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

(I always thought it was Nelson Mandela who said this but after googling the quote I found out it was written by someone called Marianne Williamson)

Anyway…..

When I decided I wanted to write a blog about Steve Lawson, this was the quote that came to my mind.

Steve is an immensely talented individual who is one of the most creative, intelligent and innovative people I know. He’s a bass player who plays solo much of the time using looping, effects and a myriad of pedals to make some of the most beautiful music you’ll ever hear. He’s also a bass teacher and one of the leading thinkers in the music industry today, especially when it comes to social media, the internet and the effects they are having on musicians, songwriters and record labels.

I’ve known Steve since 1992 and I’ve always been inspired his ability to ‘let his own light shine’ and ‘give other people permission to do the same‘. Whatever Steve learns and discovers, he’s always keen to share it with others and encourage people to become better at what they do.

With particular regard to my Jesus is for Losers album, I recorded the whole album using this:

A Roland U-8 USB Digital Studio which was given to me by Steve. It introduced me (rather belatedly!) to the world of PC recording and I doubt I would have recorded the album without it. It’s now a pretty dated piece of hardware (as is the Cakewalk software that came with it) but it was new to me and made it possible for me to do far more than I would have been able to do with my old equipment. Thanks Steve!

If you’re a songwriter, musician or are involved in the music industry in any way you could do far worse than suscribe to Steve’s blog here and follow him on twitter here.

If you want to hear his music you can buy his latest solo album here or if you want to start small I’d download this song.

Steve and I recorded an album together a while ago (of which I’m incredibly proud) which you can download from CDBaby,  iTunes or Steve’s online shop.