Dan Stevens is a musician who thoroughly enjoys being on the road. Stevens has lived the lifestyle of a traveling delta bluesman for years, making a living from a string of steady of gigs night after night. Stevens’ latest recording release, “Broke Down and Hungry”, has earned him even further recognition from a broader geographic audience. He had recently completed a trip to Memphis, Tennessee, including a number of stops in Virginia, West Virginia, Nashville, and Baltimore along the way. During the trip, Stevens also earned semi-finalist honors in the prestigious Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Sound Waves caught up with Dan Stevens during a rare break from touring and performing.

SOUND WAVES: What are you working on right now and what are your plans for the rest of the year?

DAN STEVENS: Well, in the fall I’ll be working on some local stuff, but I’ll be going to Germany in October for two weeks. At the end of this month, I’m up in New Hampshire and Maine. The rest of the time is filled in with local dates.

SW: Tell me about Germany. What is your schedule like when you’re over there and how did you get hooked up to play there?

DS: I play every single night. Yeah, I’m all over the country. Well, I’ve been to England three times, and when I was playing up in Boston recently, someone told me about this guy who’s a musician over in Germany. I contacted him and he said that he was planing on coming over here in March. So we kinda worked out an exchange.

SW: How does the audiences take to your music over there versus here in the States? What type of response do you usually get?

DS: Well, it’s a good response. Europeans are real into American culture, especially blues. In this country, it seems that most people are usually into the newest thing. But in Europe, people are into the old stuff, so blues is big over there. And acoustic blues, especially, is very well received all over Europe. I’ve had a real good response from England.

SW: How much do you like traveling? Do you enjoy playing different places and being out on the road?

DS: Oh yeah, I mean, that’s my whole life. I spent a lot of years heading up and down the East Coast, establishing my contacts, and playing wherever. But now, I’m looking for more concentrated trips; a little more of a tighter schedule. Before, I used to be gone almost all the time. Now the trips are a little more concentrated.

SW: Tell me about the new CD?

DS: It’s doing real well. It’s getting a lot of airplay all over the country; in Atlanta, out in Colorado. As far as promoting, I’m kinda doing it in waves because I’m doing all of the promoting myself, and my wife is helping me. Right now, we’re concentrating on the Boston and New York markets. So far, it’s been very well received. It just got a great review in a London magazine called “Traditional Music Maker” which was real good. And the New England Blues Society has a magazine that they send out which just gave me a real good review as well. Things have been kind of rolling in. You know, I’m independent; only one person, so you kinda do what you can do, plus I’m touring as well.

SW: What is you live set like now when you tour? Are you just by yourself when you play live?

DS: Actually, locally, I’ve been playing quite a bit with Glenn Hardy, a keyboard player who was on my record. That’s been a lot of fun. And I’ve also been playing with Andy Gray up in Hartford, a harmonica player, so we’ve been doing kind of a trio thing. When I travel it always solo.

SW: What is your live set like? Obviously, you’ll do a lot of material from your new CD. Do you go back and play a lot of traditional stuff as well?

DS: Yeah, I do a little bit of everything. I do just about everything from the record, and then I do some stuff off the first record, and I throw in some traditional stuff. I take three guitars with me. I take an acoustic; probably 50% of what I do during a live show is on acoustic. And then I take a custom guitar that I got from guy in Colorado with a hubcap on the front; I play slide on that. And then I always take a hollow-body electric. Right now I’m primarily using an old Silver Tone from the fifties. I play electric slide on that; some old Chicago-type stuff and a little bit more rock. And I’ve also been playing a hi-hat cymbal lately with my show. Like I’ve said, I’ve been playing with Glenn quite a bit, locally, and that’s been going real well.

SW: What were your influences for the new CD?

DS: My two biggest influences have been the same throughout, which are Paul Rishell, who taught me how to play slide. I knew fingerpicking before I met him, but he really got me into slide and the delta blues stuff. I had a real change in direction when I met him. And then I took lessons from Dave Van Ronk in New York for two years, and he influenced me heavily in terms of chords. Dave was big in the sixties in the Greenwich Village folk scene; he’s still playing and he’s teaching in Greenwich Village. I still stay in touch with him. He was a huge influence on me. So between those two, there’re really my main influences. But part of the influence on this record were that I had Marty Richards (drums) and Marty Ballou (bass), Duke Robillards’ rhythm section from Boston, to play with me on this record, and Sugar Ray Norcia as well. So I’ve got this kind of Rhode Island influence. So I’m a little bit pulled by that scene that was happening out there, you know, the Roomful of Blues sound. And Jack Gauthier recorded all of that stuff live in the studio, that portion of it, and did the mixing. He was an influence on the sound also. You know, I’m kind of a strange mixture of the delta blues, the New York folk thing, and the Rhode Island rockin’ deal.

SW: How has your playing changed from when you first started out?

DS: I’ve been playing since high school, and I’ve been playing professionally for about 10 years. I’ve been doing a lot more writing; the new record is mostly originals. That’s been kind of a shift for me. In terms of style, I guess it’s just the melting of these different influences. But I’m playing a lot of clubs, so I also try and keep going in a rock direction as well.

SW: How much do your live shows vary?

DS: It kinda depends on the venue because I play all kinds of places. Like if I’m playing a concert, I tend to tell more stories and I’ve got a ton of stories. I mean I did all of that hitchhiking and hopping freight trains; I did all of that stuff. And I’ve traveled all over, so I’ve got a ton of stories. Where in the clubs, they just kind of want to rock a little bit, so it depends on the venue.

SW: What keeps you going after all these years? What keeps you inspired?

DS: I guess I have this inner kind of drive or desire. And just the traveling; I just love traveling and being in different places. Traveling to new places and playing always keeps it interesting. New material and new places always keep it fresh. But I have a natural fit towards traveling. For me, it’s a lifestyle and not just a job.

SW: What are the plans for the future?

DS: Well, I’m working on my next record already and I’ve got as bunch of tunes written. And I’m going to England in the spring. I’m trying to do one major trip every month. I’ve been setting up a southern tour in November. In February, I’m going to be touring down in West Virginia. And I’ll be going to the Caribbean again in January. I’m also working on some festivals and concerts for the summer. I guess that the traveling is where it’s at.