GHOSTWRITER: The now-time punk-folk troubadour on End of the West Records.
Since 2002 Austin musician Steve Schecter (Billy Swamp, The Standards, End Of The West) has hit the road in true troubadour form as Ghostwriter. With a homemade foot-percussion device, hollow-body guitar, and sometimes banjo or harmonica, his music falls somewhere between rusty old folk and noise-punk. Ghostwriter has been dubbed everything from an ‘anarcho cow-punk’ to a ‘one-man existential blues machine.’ An Austin rag once even touted Ghostwriter as ‘the most punk rock mother f*#ker in town right now.’ Whatever you want to call it, Ghostwriter transcends genres, making honest music at a time when it is scarce.
Ghostwriter is opening for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR. September 22nd 2008. In October and November of 2008 Ghostwriter will be touring the States supporting a new release on End Of The West records.
Over the last few years Ghostwriter built a distinct reputation through his relentless touring and intense live shows. In 2006, Ghostwriter was invited to open for the Legendary Shack Shakers on their West Coast tour. Ghostwriter toured opening for Dex Romweber (Flat Duo Jets) through the Midwest and East coast in 2003 and again in 2004. He has played in festivals from Sleazefest in Chapel Hill, NC, to Not The Same Old Blues Crap in London. From 2004 to 2006, if not on the road, Ghostwriter could be seen playing a happy hour show every Friday at Beerland in Austin, TX.
Ghostwriter has released three full-length albums on End Of The West Records, plus his latest: "Hobo Nouveau," a collaboration with San Antonio's no-wave blues trio Boxcar Satan. Ghostwriter's songs have been featured on compilations "This Is Punk Rock Blues" and "Attack of the One-Man Bands" alongside artists like T-Model Ford, Immortal Lee County Killers, and Reverend Beat-man. In 2007 Ghostwriter moved to central Oregon where he continues to carve his niche as today's punk-folk troubadour.
Complete Discography:
“Every band down here who purportedly plays “punk” music should actively seek out Ghostwriter performances, and try to learn a little something from this man.”
-Max Dropout. Let Them Eat Lead.
“…pulling you into the strange world of a perpetual outsider that embodies the American spirit at its most gritty, true, and vital. Part John Wayne, part Charles Bukowski..”
-Ben Lybarger. Rock n’ Roll purgatory
“A haunted road hog with a brimstone growl and guitar mixed hotter than Lucifer. Road Angels and Torrential Rain imagines Nick Cave waking up on the wrong side of the bed, fighting cottonmouth and arrest warrants in several Southwestern states.”
-Christopher Gray. The Austin Chronicle.
"Bad Seed and NTSOBC friend Jim Sclavunos made us aware of this dude, when we heard him we had to drag him from his home in Austin, TX. to play at the 'Not The Same Old Blues Crap' punk blues festival with T-Model Ford."
-from the liner notes of "This Is Punk Rock Blues Vol #1" 2005 Punk Rock Blues Records- London,UK.
“Minor chords into the dark trails of the night, the best new artist of the 2000’s.”
-Dex Romweber. (Dex Romweber Duo, Flat Duo Jets)
“This was recommended to me on the basis of an intense and moody live performance that saw an unsuspecting, trendy, London audience being reduced to open-mouthed shock and awe."
-Christopher Stevens. Whisperin and Hollerin.