Steve Bell (musician)
Encyclopedia
Steve Bell is a Canadian singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 and guitarist based in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He is among the best-known Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 musicians in Canada and is an accomplished songwriter and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

. Steve has an extensive catalogue of songs including "Deep Calls to Deep", "Eventide" and "Fresh and Green". Before embarking on his solo career he was a long-time member of the group Elias, Schritt, and Bell. In 1989 Steve founded the independent
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 recording label Signpost Music. His first solo album Comfort My People was released on Signpost that same year. Bell now has seventeen albums to his credit. Among his many awards are two Junos.

Musical career

Steve Bell has been performing music since childhood. His recording career began at 13 when his family's gospel band, The Alf Bell Family Singers, recorded an LP. The album contains some of his earliest songwriting. After graduating from high school he was a member of a succession of bands playing a number of different musical genres. For three years he played with the secular folk trio Elias, Schritt and Bell, along with Tim Elias and John Schritt. The group released one commercial studio album, Awakening, in 1982. Steve quit the band and performed with various artists (Rocki Rolletti, Rhonda Hart, Byron O'Donnell, Bob King) until 1988 when he withdrew from performing. It was during this period that his childhood Christian faith became reanimated and over a six-month period wrote most of the material for his first four solo projects. Faced with a lack of interest from established labels he formed the Indie record label Signpost Music in 1989 and released his first solo album. The first edition of Comfort My People comprised 300 Cassettes.

Steve has gone on to release fifteen solo albums. His tours have taken him all over North America and the world. In 1994 Signpost Music received a boost when Steve became business partners with his co-producer Dave Zeglinski. Bell was the Juno Award's first winner in the Best Gospel Album category in 1998. That category was created from the former Blues/Gospel Album category, which represented the industry's recognition of Contemporary Christian Music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...

 in Canada. He has also won and been nominated for several Gospel Music Association Canada
GMA Canada
GMA Canada is the Gospel Music Association of Canada . Created in 1974, the organization is a not for profit association whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music arts in Canada...

 Covenant Awards
Covenant Awards
The Covenant Awards are handed out annually by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada . Created in 1974, the association is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music arts in Canada...

, including Male Vocalist of the Year, Recorded Song Of The Year and Album of the Year. Steve performed at the 30th annual Covenant Awards night on October 24, 2008.

In recent years Bell created two symphony series for concerts (scored by Mike Janzen), and has performed 22 sold-out or capacity-crowd concerts with symphonies across Canada. Steve's concert DVD, Steve Bell in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, won a 2009 International Christian Visual Media Gold Crown Award for Best Music Video.

Elias, Schritt & Bell albums

Solo albums

All of his solo albums have Canadian distribution through Signpost Music.

Collaborations

  • Co-wrote "Tremble" with Glen Soderholm
    Glen Soderholm
    Glen Soderholm is a Canadian, singer-songwriter, minister, praise and worship leader, speaker and teacher based in Rockwood, Ontario, Canada.-Musical career:Glen Soderholm is an ordained Presbyterian minister who has five albums to his credit...

     on his album By Faint Degrees (Pilgrim Gargoyle Recording, 2000)
  • Co-wrote "These Are The Ones" with Glen Soderholm on his album This Bright Sadness (Signpost, 2008)
  • "Everything We Need" (2009, video) (with Fresh I.E.
    Fresh I.E.
    Rob Wilson is a Christian rap artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His albums Red Letterz and Truth is Fallin' in tha Streetz were both nominated for Grammy Awards. Wilson is the first Canadian Christian artist to have been nominated for a Grammy Award...

    )

Notable appearances

  • Mandolin and vocals on Glen Soderholm's album In The Belly Of The Fish (Pilgrim Gargoyle Recording, 1997)
  • Background vocals on Glen Soderholm's By Faint Degrees (Pilgrim Gargoyle Recording, 2000)
  • Mandolin and guitar on "It Has To Be You", on Carolyn Arends
    Carolyn Arends
    Carolyn Arends is a Contemporary Christian musician, songwriter, and author based in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.-Musical career:Arends began her career as a songwriter at Benson Music Publishing. In 1995, Carolyn began touring and releasing albums as a singer and guitarist. Her debut release...

    ' album Travelers (Signpost, 2001)
  • Duet on "Who You Are" on Carolyn Arends' album Under the Gaze (2B Records, 2004)
  • Duet on "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross" with Lianna Klassen
    Lianna Klassen
    Lianna Klassen is a Canadian Christian Celtic/Christian New Age influenced musician, songwriter, speaker and worship leader. A Juno Award nominee and GMA Canada Covenant Award winner, Klassen has released six albums to date. Her compositions are chants, hymns and meditations on the themes of...

     on her album Out Of Borderland (Dawntreader Productions, 2004)
  • Harmony vocals on "All Is Made Well" on Glen Soderholm's World Without End (Signpost, 2006)
  • Background vocals on "Tonight I Am The Wind" with Kerri Woelke
    Kerri Woelke
    Kerri Woelke is a Folk/Roots/Alt-Country singer–songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She is currently represented by Signpost Music.-Biography:...

     on her album Where We Were (Signpost, 2008)
  • Background vocals on "Never Say Goodbye" on Carolyn Arends' album Love Was Here First (Signpost, 2009)

Song books

  • The Music of Steve Bell (1989–1995)
  • Romantics & Mystics (1997)
  • Simple Songs (2000)
  • Waiting For Aidan (2001)

Songs in other projects

  • Window of Hope, "Here By The Water", "Burning Ember", "Ready My Heart" and "Psalm 32" (Gospel Music Foundation, 2002)
  • Signpost Collections Vol. 1, "Ever Present Need", "Stay Awake" (Signpost, 2003)
  • Sea to Sea: Filled With Your Glory
    Sea to Sea: Filled With Your Glory
    Sea to Sea: Filled With Your Glory is the first release in the annual Sea to Sea praise and worship music series. The album comprises thirty Christian worship songs on two CDs performed by Canadian artists...

    , "Jesus My Glory" (CMC, 2004)
  • Canadian Bible Society centennial CD: Good News Celebration, "Eventide" (CMC, 2006)
  • GMA Canada presents 30th Anniversary Collection
    GMA Canada presents 30th Anniversary Collection
    GMA Canada presents 30th Anniversary Collection is a three-CD collection commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Gospel Music Association of Canada. It showcases the history of Christian music in Canada...

    , "Deep Calls To Deep" (CMC, 2008)
  • Sea to Sea: Christmas, "Coventry Carol" (Lakeside, 2009)

Video

  • Steve Bell - In Concert, At Home, and With Friends (1996)
  • Steve Bell Band In Concert (1999)
  • Steve Bell in Concert with The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
    Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
    As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to country...

    (2007, review)

Awards and recognition

Note that years indicated represent award ceremony dates, not the years in which qualifying albums were released.

Gold Crown Award
  • 2009 Best Music Video: Steve Bell in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra


Gospel Music Association of Canada
GMA Canada
GMA Canada is the Gospel Music Association of Canada . Created in 1974, the organization is a not for profit association whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music arts in Canada...

 Covenant Awards
Covenant Awards
The Covenant Awards are handed out annually by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada . Created in 1974, the association is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music arts in Canada...

  • 2001 two nominations: Favourite Male Artist of the Year, and Favourite Song of the Year: "Burning Ember"
  • 2002 Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year: Waiting for Aidan
  • 2006 four nominations, including: Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year: My Dinner with Bruce,
    Folk/Roots Album of the Year: My Dinner with Bruce and Recorded Song of the Year: "Lord of the Starfields"
  • 2007 nominee, Male Vocalist of the Year
  • 2008 Producer of the Year (with Dave Zeglinski)
  • 2009 Jazz/Blues Song of the Year: "Embrace The Mystery"


Juno Awards
  • 1998
    Juno Awards of 1998
    The Juno Awards of 1998 were presented in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The primary ceremonies at GM Place before an audience of 10 000 on 22 March 1998....

     Best Gospel Album: Romantics & Mystics
  • 2001
    Juno Awards of 2001
    The Juno Awards of 2001 were held in Hamilton, Ontario Canada during the weekend of 3-4 March 2001.The primary ceremonies were hosted by Rick Mercer at Copps Coliseum on 4 March 2001 and broadcast on CBC Television...

     Best Gospel Album: Simple Songs
  • 2002 nominee
    Juno Awards of 2002
    The Juno Awards of 2002 were presented in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada during the weekend of 13-14 April 2002.Nominations were announced 11 February 2002 at a news conference hosted by Mike Bullard...

    , Best Gospel Album: Waiting For Aidan
  • 2010 nominee
    Juno Awards of 2010
    The Juno Awards of 2010 honoured music industry achievements in Canada for the latter part of 2008 and for most of 2009. These ceremonies were in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada during the weekend ending 18 April 2010...

    , Best Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album: Devotion


Prairie Music Awards
Western Canadian Music Awards
The Western Canadian Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony for music in the western portion of Canada, that originated in its current form in 2003...

  • 2001 Outstanding Christian Recording: Simple Songs
  • 2001 Outstanding Producer (with Dave Zeglinski): Simple Songs
  • 2002 Outstanding Christian Recording: Waiting For Aidan


Shai/Vibe Awards
  • 2003 Male Vocalist of the Year
  • 2004 Artist of the Year
  • 2004 Male Soloist of the Year
  • 2005 nominee, Male Soloist of the Year


Western Canadian Music Awards
Western Canadian Music Awards
The Western Canadian Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony for music in the western portion of Canada, that originated in its current form in 2003...

  • 2004 nominee, Outstanding Christian Recording (with Sarah Bell): Sons & Daughters
  • 2004 nominee, Outstanding Producer (with Dave Zeglinski): Sons & Daughters
  • 2008 Outstanding Contemporary Christian/Gospel Recording: Symphony Sessions
  • 2009 Contemporary Christian/Gospel Recording of the Year: Devotion

Personal life

He has three children (Sarah, Jesse and Micah) with his wife Nanci. In addition the couple has also raised a foster daughter, Kendara. His daughter Sarah was a featured vocalist on the 2003 release Sons & Daughters.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK