Steven Lawrence Wynn (born February 21, 1960) is an American singer and songwriter. He led the band

The Dream Syndicate The Dream Syndicate is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1981 to 1989, and reunited since 2012. The band is associated with neo-psychedelia and the Paisley Underground music movement; of the b ...

from 1981 to 1989 in Los Angeles, afterward began a solo career, and then reformed The Dream Syndicate in 2012.

Career

Growing up in Los Angeles

Wynn was born February 21, 1960, at St. John's Hospital in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He played in his first band The Light Bulbs at age 9 and followed with another band Sudden Death Overtime a year later while attending Emerson Junior High School. He later attended

University High School (Los Angeles) University High School Charter, commonly known as "Uni", is a public secondary school, built 1923–1924, and founded 1924, located in West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, West Los Angeles, a district in Los Angeles, California, near the c ...

with classmates

Darby Crash Jan Paul Beahm (better known by his stage name Darby Crash, formerly Bobby Pyn; September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was an American punk rock vocalist who, along with longtime friend Pat Smear (born Georg Ruthenberg), co-founded the punk ro ...

and

Pat Smear Georg Albert Ruthenberg (born August 5, 1959), better known by his stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles-based punk band The Germs and for being a rhythm guitar ...

who would later go on to form the Germs. He left Los Angeles to attend the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

in 1977.

College Years in Davis, California

Before forming

, Wynn played guitar in the

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

-based band Suspects, whose members included vocalist

Kendra Smith Kendra Smith (born March 14, 1960)Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, is an American musician who was a founding member of The Dream Syndicate, a member of Opal, and later recorded as a solo artist. Biography Afte ...

(with whom he later founded The Dream Syndicate), and

Russ Tolman Russ Tolman (born August 15, 1956) is a singer-songwriter who came to international attention in the 1980s as guitarist, songwriter, and producer of True West, a band associated with the Paisley Underground. Early life and career Tolman was ...

and Gavin Blair (who would form True West). In 1979, Suspects released a single, "Talking Loud" b/w "It's Up to You", and the band remained active through 1981. After Suspects disbanded, Wynn formed the trio 15 Minutes with two members of

Alternate Learning Alternate Learning (or ALRN) was a power pop/ new wave band from 1977 to 1982, based in Davis, California and fronted by Scott Miller, a singer-songwriter later known for his work as leader of the 1980s band Game Theory and 1990s band the Loud F ...

, bass player Carolyn O'Rourke and drummer Eric Landers. With 15 Minutes, Wynn wrote and produced the 1981 single "That's What You Always Say," b/w "Last Chance For You," which he engineered with Alternate Learning's frontman, Scott Miller. The A-side, "That's What You Always Say," was later performed by the Dream Syndicate.

The Dream Syndicate (1981–1989) (2012-present)

The Dream Syndicate's eponymous EP was released on Wynn's own label, Down There Records. They were signed a few months later to

Slash Records Slash Records was an American record label originally specializing in local punk rock bands, active from 1978 to 2000. It was notable as one of the first and most successful independent record labels in alternative rock, alternative music, befor ...

where they made ''

The Days of Wine and Roses ''The Days of Wine and Roses'' is the second record and the debut full-length album by American alternative rock band the Dream Syndicate. Produced by Chris D. (of the Flesh Eaters/Divine Horsemen), it was recorded in Los Angeles in September 1 ...

'', a record often cited as one of the cornerstones of both the

Indie Rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

and

Americana (music) Americana (also known as American roots music) is an amalgam of Music of the United States, American music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the musical ethos of the United States, specifically those sounds ...

scenes that followed. In the spring of 1983, they toured the US with U2 for three weeks and then signed with A&M Records. They recorded their second album ''

Medicine Show Medicine shows were touring acts (traveling by truck, horse, or wagon teams) that peddled "miracle cure" patent medicines and other products between various entertainments. They developed from European Charlatan, mountebank shows and were common i ...

'' with

Sandy Pearlman Samuel Clarke "Sandy" Pearlman (August 5, 1943 – July 26, 2016) was an American music producer, artist manager, music journalist and critic, professor, poet, songwriter, and record company executive. He was best known for founding, writing for, ...

and then toured the US for eight weeks with

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

before embarking on their first European tour. Lineup changes followed along with the albums ''Out of the Grey'' and ''Ghost Stories'' and extensive touring before the band broke up in 1988. Though they were popular with critics and had an influence on other musicians, the Dream Syndicate were not commercially successful. The band did establish the fan base on which Wynn built his solo career. The Dream Syndicate reformed in 2012 for a series of gigs in Europe and USA. They continued touring sporadically for the next few years and eventually went into the studio in 2017 to record their first album on new material since reforming. The album, ''How Did I Find Myself Here?'', was released on September 8, 2017, on the

Anti- Anti- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label to Epitaph Records. While Epitaph's focus has mostly been on punk rock, Anti-'s roster includes gospel (Mavis Staples), country (Merle Haggard), hip hop (Sage Francis, The Cou ...

label. In 2019 Dream Syndicate released their second album of original material since reforming, ''These Times''. A more improvisational album, '' The Universe Inside'', followed in 2020.

Solo career and Side Projects

Wynn broke up The Dream Syndicate in 1989 to redefine (or "undefine") himself, and has since released a number of solo albums exploring various musical styles. His first solo album, ''Kerosene Man'' (on which Dream Syndicate bassist Mark Walton played also) included a duet with

Johnette Napolitano Johnette Napolitano (born Jonette L. Napolitano; September 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and bassist for the alternative rock group Concrete Blonde. Early life Johnette Nap ...

Concrete Blonde Concrete Blonde was an American alternative rock band from Hollywood, California. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and reunited twice: first from 2001 to 2004, and again from 2010 to 2012. They were best known for their album ''Bloo ...

, backing work by bassist

Fernando Saunders Fernando Saunders is an American musician, singer and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He is perhaps best known for his longtime partnership with musician Lou Reed, from 1982 to 1987 and again from 1996 to 2008. Biography Fernando Saund ...

, drummer

D. J. Bonebrake Donald J. Bonebrake (born December 8, 1955) is an American musician who first emerged as the drummer of the punk rock band the Eyes (also featuring Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Go's). He is best known as an original member of and drummer for punk ...

from the L.A. punk band X, Howe Gelb of

Giant Sand Giant Sand is an American musical group from Tucson, Arizona, United States. Its most constant member is singer-songwriter Howe Gelb. The group started as Giant Sandworms in the late 1970s post-punk and paisley underground scenes. They later s ...

and saxophonist Steve Berlin from

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") are an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, ...

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his car ...

, from

, played on its follow-up, ''Dazzling Display,'' and co-wrote the title song. After 1994's ''Fluorescent'', he left Los Angeles for New York. Backing on '' Melting in the Dark'' (1996) was provided by the Boston band

Come Come may refer to: *Comè, a city and commune in Benin *Come (Tenos), an ancient town on Tenos island, Greece Music *Come (American band), an American indie rock band formed in 1990 *Come (UK band), a British noise project founded in 1979 **Come ...

. In 1997, Wynn recorded ''Sweetness and Light'' in Hoboken, New Jersey with Rich Gilbert, Armistead Wellford and

Linda Pitmon Linda Pitmon is an American drummer known for her work with the supergroups The Baseball Project and the Filthy Friends. Pitmon played percussion in band and orchestra in high school. She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and drumming was a he ...

. The record also marked the first collaboration with producer/engineer John Agnello. ''Here Come the Miracles'' (2001) won the

American Association of Independent Music The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a trade association that represents independent record labels in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in New York City, with chapters located in Nashville, Chicago, North ...

award for Best Rock Alternative album in 2002. The record was the first of three albums, later known as the Desert Trilogy, that Wynn made in Tucson at Wavelab Studios with producer/engineer and studio owner

Craig Schumacher Craig Schumacher is an American Record producer, producer and audio engineer based in Tucson, Arizona. He is known for recording and mixing albums by Calexico (band), Calexico, Devotchka, Neko Case, Giant Sand, The Jayhawks, Friends of Dean Martin ...

. He toured behind these albums in the following years with his band the Miracle 3, consisting of Jason Victor, Dave DeCastro and

, often augmented live and in the studio by Chris Cacavas (

Green on Red Green on Red was an American rock band, formed in the Tucson, Arizona punk scene, but based for most of its career in Los Angeles, California, where it was loosely associated with the Paisley Underground. Earlier records have the wide-screen psy ...

) on keyboards. Dutch native and resident Erik Van Loo substituted for DeCastro on several tours and on the 2006 ''Live Tick'' album, recorded in Geislingen, Germany. Wynn's song "Amphetamine" from ''Static Transmission'' was re-recorded by the cast of the movie ''

Bandslam ''Bandslam'' is a 2009 American musical romantic comedy drama film directed by Todd Graff who co-wrote the screenplay with Josh A. Cagan. The film stars Aly Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, Lisa Kudrow, Scott Porter, Ryan Donowho, and ...

'' and performed in its entirety in the film. In 1985, Wynn wrote a collection of songs with Dan Stuart of

, and recorded and released them as Danny & Dusty, ''The Lost Weekend''. The two reunited in 2007 for a second album, ''Cast Iron Soul'', followed by two tours of Europe. In the 1990s, he was a part of the indie supergroup Gutterball along with Stephen McCarthy of

The Long Ryders The Long Ryders are an American alternative country and Paisley Underground band, principally active between 1982 and 1987, who have periodically regrouped for brief reunions (2004, 2009, 2014, 2016). In 2019 they released a new studio album � ...

, Bob Rupe of

The Silos The Silos is an American rock band formed by Walter Salas-Humara and Bob Rupe in New York City, United States in 1985. History Prior to starting the Silos, Salas-Humara had been a member of The Vulgar Boatmen, and Bob Rupe was in Florida ban ...

and Cracker, and

Bryan Harvey Bryan Stanley Harvey (born June 2, 1963) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to for the California Angels of the American League and the Florida Marlins of the National Lea ...

and

Johnny Hott Johnny Hott was the drummer for the House of Freaks, a musical duo with singer/guitarist Bryan Harvey. He was also one of three drummers for the band Cracker. He has also played drums for indie supergroup Gutterball and drums and keyboards fo ...

House of Freaks House of Freaks was a two-man band formed in Richmond, Virginia in the mid-1980s. Bryan Harvey played guitar and sang, and Johnny Hott played percussion. The band managed to achieve a remarkably full sound, mostly because of Hott's inventive dr ...

. The band recorded and released three albums and toured Europe extensively between 1993 and 1995. The double CD ''From a Man of Mysteries: A Steve Wynn Tribute'' was released by the German label Blue Rose in 2004 and features Wynn's songs performed by the likes of

, the Silos,

Chuck Prophet Charles William Prophet (born June 28, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. A Californian, Prophet first achieved notice in the American psychedelic/desert rock group Green on Red, with whom he toured and rec ...

The Minus 5 The Minus 5 is an American pop rock band headed by musician Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, often in partnership with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. Band history McCaughey formed the band in 1993 as a side project with Buck, Jon Auer and ...

, Russ Tolman of True West and others. In 2007, Wynn formed

The Baseball Project The Baseball Project is a supergroup composed of Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon formed in 2007. The performers came together from discussions between McCaughey and Wynn at R.E.M.'s March 21, 2007 induction i ...

with

Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He was also an auxiliary member of the American rock band R.E.M. from 199 ...

and

. The band's debut album '' Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails'' came out the following April with their first live performance coming on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

''. The band has gone on to make four albums about the national pastime, later adding

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

to the lineup. The album ''Crossing Dragon Bridge'', recorded in Ljubljana, Slovenia and produced by Chris Eckman of

The Walkabouts The Walkabouts were an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. The core members were vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman. Although the rest of the line-up changed occasionally, for most of the time ...

, also came out in 2008 and was called "Wynn's masterpiece" by Thom Jurek of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Wynn was hired by Norwegian film and TV director Øystein Karlsen to write the score and provide the soundtrack for the fourth and final season of the hit series ''Dag'' and then hired him again for the first season of ''Exit'', which was the highest streamed show in Norwegian history. In 2020, Real Gone Music released ''Decade'', an 11-CD box set containing all of the official albums Wynn released during his first 10 years of living in New York City, along with 57 previously unreleased tracks of home demos and rarities.

Discography

The Dream Syndicate

* ''The Dream Syndicate'' EP (1982) * ''

'' (1982) * ''

Medicine Show (album) ''Medicine Show'' is the second studio album by The Dream Syndicate. It was released in 1984. The Dream Syndicate left Slash Records, a small label that released the band's first album ''The Days of Wine and Roses'' (1982), and signed with the ...

'' (1984) * ''This Is Not the New Dream Syndicate Album......Live!'' (1984) * ''

Out of the Grey Out of the Grey is a husband-and-wife Contemporary Christian music project consisting of Scott and Christine Denté. Christine provides lead vocals, while Scott plays guitars and sings background, along with the occasional lead vocals. They have r ...

'' (1986) * ''Ghost Stories'' (1988) * '' Live at Raji's'' (1989) * ''Tell Me When It's Over – The Best of Dream Syndicate 1982–1988'' (1992) * ''3: The Lost Tapes 1985–1988'' (1993) * ''The Day Before Wine and Roses'' (1995) * ''How Did I Find Myself Here?'' (2017) * ''These Times'' (2019) * '' The Universe Inside'' (2020) * ''Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions'' (2022)

Solo

* ''Kerosene Man'' (1990) * ''Dazzling Display'' (1992) * ''Fluorescent'' (1994) * '' Melting in the Dark'' (1995) * ''Sweetness and Light'' (1997) * ''My Midnight'' (1999) * ''Momento'' (2000) with Australian Blonde (Spain) * '' Here Come the Miracles'' (2001) * ''Live in Bremen'' (2008) * ''Crossing Dragon Bridge'' (2008) * ''Live in Brussels'' (with the Dragon Bridge Orchestra) (2009) * ''Solo! Electric vol.1'' (2015) * ''Solo! Acoustic vol. 1'' (2020) * ''Decade'' (box set) (2020)

Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3

* ''Static Transmission'' (2003) * ''...tick...tick...tick'' (2005 Europe, 2006 USA) * ''Live Tick'' (2006) * ''Northern Aggression'' (2010)

Danny & Dusty

* '' The Lost Weekend'' (1985) * ''Cast Iron Soul'' (2007) * ''Here's to You Max Morlock'' (2007)

Gutterball

* ''Gutterball'' (1993) * ''Weasel'' (1995) * ''Turnyor Hedinkov'' (1995)

Smack Dab

* ''Smack Dab'' (2007)

with Australian Blonde

* ''Momento'' (2000)

The Baseball Project

*'' Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails'' (2008) * ''

Broadside Ballads A broadside (also known as a broadsheet) is a single sheet of inexpensive paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between th ...

''SteveWynn.ne
Broadside Ballads
The Baseball Project = One song per month for free download in ESPN.com's The Life * '' Volume 2: High and Inside'' (2011) * ''

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

'' (2014)

Compilations

* ''Advertisements for Myself'' (1998) - limited edition compilation * ''The Emusic Singles Collection'' (2001) - 12 internet singles released each month in 2000. * ''Riding Shotgun'' (2004) - limited edition compilation * ''What I Did After My Band Broke Up / Visitation Rights'' (2005) *
Up There - Home Recordings 2000-2008
' (2012) - Limited edition (1,000 copies) compilation of home demos.

Other

* ''Take Your Flunky and Dangle'' (1994) – Outtakes 1990–1994 * ''The Suitcase Sessions'' (1998) – Sessions from Melting in the Dark Era * ''Pick of the Litter'' (1999) – Outtakes 1996–1999 * ''Wynn Plays Dylan'' (2009) - Limited edition LP documenting a live performance of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

songs.

Tribute

* ''From a Man of Mysteries: A Steve Wynn Tribute'' (2004)

Singles

* "Carolyn" (1990) * "Tears Won't Help" (1990) * "Conspiracy Of The Heart" (1990) * ''Kerosene Man'' EP (1991) * "Drag" (1992) * "Tuesday" (1992) – promo * "Carelessly" (1994) * ''Shelley's Blues pt.2'' EP (1996) – includes "James River Incident" * "Why" (1996) – promo * "The Way You Punish Me" (1996) – promo * ''How's My Little Girl'' EP (1997) * "Nothing But The Shell" (1999) * "There Will Come A Day" (2001) * "Sustain" (2001) * ''California Style'' EP (2003) * "Cindy It Was Always You" (2005) * "Bruises" (2006)

Singles charts

References

External links

The Official Site of Steve Wynn

Steve Wynn collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Wynn, Steve 1960 births Living people People from Davis, California American rock guitarists American male guitarists American male singers American rock singers Songwriters from California Singers from California The Minus 5 members The Baseball Project members Place of birth missing (living people) American rock drummers Zero Hour Records artists Guitarists from California University of California, Davis alumni 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American guitarists Rainy Day (band) members The Dream Syndicate members 20th-century American male musicians Yep Roc Records artists Glitterhouse Records artists American male songwriters