Steve Gibb

Stephen Thadius "Steve" Crompton Gibb (born 1 December 1973) is an English-American musician and the first-born son of Barry Gibb and Linda Gibb. As a musician, he was a member of numerous bands including 58, Black Label Society, Crowbar, Kingdom of Sorrow, The Underbellys and SkilletHead.

Early life

Gibb was born in London, England. At the age of three, Gibb began playing piano, but when he was about thirteen he decided he would like to play guitar. After attending a Van Halen gig he was inspired to work harder at this instrument.

Career

1980s

On 14 October 1988, Gibb and nine other students at The Lear School in Miami performed their first concert. This group was put together by Isaac Ersoff, a mathematics teacher at the school with a background in music. The students performed at lunchtimes and for special events at the school. Despite the fact that their high school closed in early 1989, Gibb and friends, Mike Wolofsky and Matt Ackerman, maintained their friendship.

That same year Gibb and friends formed their own band, which was indecisively christened NNY for No Name Yet. Later they would settle on the name ZEX, and in February of that year they landed a gig at Woody's, a Miami club owned by The Rolling Stones' second guitarist Ronnie Wood. Later in the year Gibb would work as a guitar technician on the Bee Gees One For All tour.

1990s

In 1991, after being his father's guitar technician for two years, Gibb enrolled in a music school in Miami where he got his degree. He began writing songs, the first of which was a solo effort, "Whiskey Jam". Other songs penned during this time were "Shadow of Your Dreams" with Emerson Forth and Deniz Kose, "Hole in My Soul" also with Kose, and "Ren and Stevie" with Middle Ear Studio engineer, Scott Glasel and his girlfriend, Amanda Green. This song was a take off on the Nickelodeon cartoon series Ren and Stimpy.

In 1992, Gibb and others including Forth, formed a metal band, SkilletHead, which performed the club circuit in and around Miami. That year Gibb also made occasional appearances as a guitarist backing the Bee Gees. In February 1997, Gibb joined The Underbellys. This five piece band included Billy Velvet (lead vocals), Joel Dasilva (guitarist), Sean 'Evil' Gerovitz (bass), Randy Blitz (drums) and Gibb on guitar. The band played venues including the Viper Room in Los Angeles and Don Hills in Greenwich Village. The Underbelly's, including Gibb, recorded for Columbia Records with Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens as their record producer. This did not result in a recording contract, and the band split up. In November 1997, Gibb performed live with his father and uncles for their 'One Night Only' concert in Las Vegas. He also toured with the Smithereens between 1997 and 98.

2000s

Gibb joined Nikki Sixx, Bucket Baker and Dave Darling in 58.^[1] The concept Sixx had in mind when he formed 58 was of a non-touring, internet promoted entity, that would feature on his new record label, Americoma Records. The name of the band stemmed from the year 1958, in which both Sixx and Darling were born. Their sound, as exemplified on the band's one and only album released in early 2000, was a self-described mixture of "glam, hip hop, rock, pop, funk and a car crash.". Gibb co-wrote "Who We Are", which featured on Diet for a New America. Gibb appeared in the music video for Counterfeit God from their 2000 release Stronger Than Death, as the skulls and chains guy. The band did not have a permanent bassist at the time (for the video Mark Wahlberg was stand-in) Gibb joined Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society as bass player in the spring 2000.

Alcohol Fueled Brewtality, Black Label Society's (B.L.S.) live album was recorded in October 2000 and released on 16 January 2001. Gibb's backing vocals can be heard on tracks like Stronger Than Death. The Ozzfest 2001: The Second Millennium album included the track Superterrorizer recorded at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, Somerset, Wisconsin on 9 June. Shortly after this, just weeks into the American Ozzfest schedule, Gibb left the band for personal reasons. Kirk Windstein (founder of Crowbar) planned a rebirth for Crowbar in early 2004, and rebuilt the band with Gibb as guitarist, Pat Bruders on bass and Tommy Buckley on drums.

Their European tour of 2004 was a success, the highlight of which was their performance at the With Full Force Festival in Leipzig, Germany. This became the core of the 2007 released DVD "Crowbar: Live With Full Force" Gibb, assisting John-Martin Vogel, produced a mix of live footage, backstage capers and interview pieces.^[2] The band has consistently toured Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. The band's 2005 album, Lifesblood for the Downtrodden, was mastered at Middle Ear Studios (owned by Gibb's father).

In 2005 Kirk Windstein teamed up with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed to form a new side venture called Kingdom of Sorrow. The band's self-titled debut album was released on 19 February 2008 by Relapse Records. It debuted at No. 131 on the US Billboard charts and sold 6,000 records in its first week of release. The album was recorded at Planet Z with producer Zeuss, known for his work with Shadows Fall and many others. Stephen performed some solos and leads on a few tracks^[3] on this album and also went on the initial promotional tour I late February early March 2008.^[4] In 2007, Gibb played on his father's single "Drown On the River".

Gibb left Crowbar in 2009 citing family and business commitments in Miami.^[5]

2010s

When his father Barry Gibb put together a show band to take around the world on his first solo tour, called the Mythology Tour, Stephen joined as guitar lead as he had for numerous annual Love & Hope Ball's (see below).

The first leg of the tour took in Australia and New Zealand in February 2013.^[6] Steve performed as a solo the bluegrass track written by Maurice Gibb "On Time", and took second vocals on the Bee Gees hit "I've Gotta Get a Message to You". The second leg went to England and Northern Ireland in September 2013.^[7] The Track "Fight (No Matter How Long)" was added as Stephen's second solo. The track had been written in 1986 as part of the Bunbury Tails.^[8] The third leg was six US dates in May 2014,^[9] as part of the promotion Stephen performed with Barry on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, 21 May 2014. ^[10] In 2015 Steve toured North America as the guitarist for the band Jasta fronted by Jamey Jasta.

Stephen joined the line-up of Saigon Kick at the Broward County, Florida centenary celebrations, the free street festival in Fort lauderdale on 3 October 2015. ^[11]

Film

The Outkast Talent Agency in Miami were asked to find numerous extras for the Michael Bay film Bad Boys II released in 2003. Gibb appeared briefly in the opening scenes as a klansman.^[12]

The track "Stormy" performed by 58 was used in The Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Rock n' Roll Musical in 2003. It was nominated for Best Film Score at Europe's Fennec Awards.

In September 2006, Gibb, his father and brother Ashley, wrote "Drown on the River", which is included in the Burt Reynolds 2007 film Deal.

The Oliver Schmitz film Shepherds and Butchers 2016 film features the track "Angels" during the closing credits that was co-written by Gibb with his father and brother Ashley ^[13]

Personal life

He married Gloria Levas in November 2002. They have one daughter, Nina Lyn (born 27 December 2002) and one son, Angus Miles (born 6 February 2006). Currently Gibb and his family live in Miami, Florida.

Charity performances

For many years Stephen's parents have been International Chairpersons of the Love and Hope Committee for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation based in Miami, Florida. Annually a black tie gala is held to raise funds for research and frequently Barry Gibb performs. In 2009,^[14] 2012^[15] and 2014^[16] Stephen accompanied his father. In 2009 Stephen performed his own composition "Living in the Rain", dedicating this debut performance of the song to his wife Gloria.

At the 34th Love and Hope Ball, held at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in 2008, Stephen, his siblings and their partners were inducted as the first Young Society Honourees.^[17]

References

External links

• Unofficial Stephen Gibb website
• Barry Gibb website
• Crowbar Official website
• Black Label Society