Home of Ghostwriter, Independently operated since 2002
Home of Ghostwriter, Independently operated since 2002
BRIEF BIO
Steve Schecter has performed as the strip-down roots act Ghostwriter since 2002, wielding primarily a guitar and homemade foot-percussion device, blending influences from country-blues to post-punk to create an original, lyrically driven portrait of gothic American roots.
GHOSTWRITER DISCOGRAPHY
Ghostwriter Albums:
Ghostwriter Singles & EPs:
Compilations featuring Ghostwriter:
LISTEN TO GHOSTWRITER'S LATEST RELEASE:
GHOSTWRITER FULL BIO:
Born and raised in the rural community of Friend, Oregon, Steve Schecter grew up working at a family sawmill and started playing music as a teenager in the Portland area before moving to Austin, Texas, in 1996. By 2002, after stints with a small handful of bands, Schecter began recording and touring under the name Ghostwriter with little more than a guitar, homemade foot-percussion device, and Nissan pickup.
Early on, in 2003 and 2004, Ghostwriter paired up with Dex Romweber (Flat Duo Jets) for a series of tours through the Midwest and East Coast, the same years he would be featured consecutively at the festival Sleazefest in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. BY 2005, Ghostwriter would be invited to play the Not the Same Old Blues Crap festival in London, England, alongside T-Model Ford, and featured on the compilation This Is Punk Rock Blues with a number of other emerging roots artists.
In 2008, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds asked Ghostwriter to open for their Dig Lazarus Dig tour at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon. Ghostwriter was hand-selected for this show by members of the Bad Seeds after listening to his 2004 album, Road Angels & Torrential Rain (Travel, Murder, and Loss).
In addition to years of touring, Schecter has released a prolific number of albums under the name Ghostwriter on his own End of the West Records label, most recently the double-release, The Antique Tractor Pull & Last Hayride, a collection of new originals celebrating rural fortitude accompanied by an EP of '50s Rockabilly paying tribute to the often-misrepresented Hillbilly-Wildman.
Beyond songwriting, Steve Schecter's first book, No One at the Circus: The Story of Ghostwriter through Place and Song, was published in 2022 by Gob Pile Press, followed by a short piece, No Funeral: The True Story of Richard Petrowski, published in 2023 by in the literary journal The Writing Disorder.
Currently, Ghostwriter can be seen on the first Tuesday of every month performing at The Parlor in Austin, Texas, or at any number of local and regional venues.
PRESS FOR GHOSTWRITER:
Ghostwriter's sound ranges from bombastic Southern rock and boogieing punk to troubadour folk storytelling and lo-fi bluesy rockabilly. His brilliance is made all the more impressive due to the fact that he performs as a one-man band, emphasizing his undeniably visceral songwriting and DIY rock and roll sensibility.
- Tom Hilton, Aldora Britain Magazine
To these ears, one of the best purveyors of down and dirty blues triumphalism.
- Robert Ham, Willamette Week
A one-man junk-folk-blues act with knitting-needle guitar, footstomp percussion, and a holler that sounds like a less lysergic Captain Beefheart.
- Ned Lannamann, Portland Mercury
"A raw blast of primitive rock ’n’ roll... 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."
- Whisperin' and Hollerin' UK
Live, Ghostwriter can put the fear of God in you... unleashing some serious power through his minimalist approach.
- Mark Lore, Chico News & Review
A haunted road hog with a brimstone growl and guitar mixed hotter than Lucifer... imagines Nick Cave waking up on the wrong side of the bed, fighting cottonmouth and arrest warrants in several Southwestern states.
- Christopher Grey, Austin Chronicle
If some voices can be described as fingernails on a blackboard, Ghostwriter’s voice can be described as the sonic equivalent of fingernails digging their way out of a grave. And every one of his creepy, haunted folk songs has the weirdly thrilling impact of that moment when the hand bursts through the dirt, looking for revenge!
- Roctober Reviews
A raw, gritty, organic sound, full of heart and guts, and sweat and spit and backbone... referred to as "anarcho cowpunk," "blue-collar blues-punk," and a "one-man existential blues machine." Not the most fitting descriptive terms, to be sure, save perhaps for "blue-collar blues-punk," which at once sums up the man and the artist pretty accurately.
- James Carlson, National Examiner
GHOSTWRITER - The Last Leg Home
Ghostwriter Upcoming:
Tues. April 2nd at The Parlor - Austin, TX.
Fri. April 5ht at The Vinyl Beauty Bar - Austin, TX.
Thurs. April 25th at Enoch's - Monroe, LA.
EMAIL: Booking@endofthewest.com
Voice and Text: (512) 554-4888