The Stepkids are an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

psychedelic soul Psychedelic soul (originally called black rock or conflated with psychedelic funk) is a music genre that emerged in the late 1960s and saw Black soul musicians embrace elements of psychedelic rock, including its production techniques, instrument ...

band composed of Tim Walsh,

Jeff Gitelman Jeff "Gitty" Gitelman (born February 5, 1982) is a Grammy-nominated record producer, musician and songwriter from Chișinău, Moldova. He is known for his work with the band The Stepkids, which formed in 2010. He is also known for his compositi ...

, and Dan Edinberg. Their early live performances were characterized by kaleidoscopic projections by experimental video artists David Pond and Jesse Mann, consuming the stage with light for a multi-sensory experience while the band plays. The Stepkids Oct 5,2012 SD HoB

Music

The Stepkids' music is a fusion of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, 1960s folk, neo and classic soul, classic funk,

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

and 20th century classical. In October 2010, the band was signed to Stones Throw Records. In Fall 2011, the band went on tour with

The Horrors The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spu ...

. On September 27, 2011, the band released their debut album, '' The Stepkids''. ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

'' placed the album at number 25 on its list of "Top 50 albums of 2011." '' SPIN'' also placed the album at number 19 on the list "20 Best R&B albums of 2011”. On October 4, 2011, the band released a music video for “Legend in My Own Mind”, starring

Wyatt Cenac Wyatt John Foster Cenac Jr. (; born April 19, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He was a correspondent and writer for ''The Daily Show'' from 2008 to 2012. He starred in the TBS series ''People of Earth'' and in Barry ...

, and Kurt Braunholer and directed by

Tom Scharpling Thomas John Giuliano II (born February 9, 1969), known professionally as Tom Scharpling, is an American comedian, television writer, producer, music video director, voice actor, and radio host. He is best known for hosting the weekly Internet r ...

. In 2011, the band performed at the South by Southwest festival in Austin,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

CMJ Music Marathon CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and the

Big Chill Festival The Big Chill was an annual festival of alternative, dance and chill-out music and comedy, held in the grounds of Eastnor Castle during early August. The 2011 line-up included The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Jessie J, R ...

in Ledbury,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 2012, the band performed at the Sydney Festival in Sydney, Australia. Bassist/Vocalist Dan Edinberg was formerly the bassist of ZOX. Guitarist/Vocalist Jeff Gitelman was formerly the touring guitarist for

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

. Having spent most of 2012 touring with

Kimbra Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and s ...

Mayer Hawthorne Andrew Mayer Cohen (born February 2, 1979), better known by his stage name Mayer Hawthorne, is an American singer, producer, songwriter, arranger, audio engineer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, California. Cohen performs a ...

& The County,

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are an American rock band from Vermont, formed in 2002 in Waitsfield by drummer Matt Burr, guitarist Scott Tournet, and singer Grace Potter. They began their career as an indie band, self-producing their albums an ...

, and

Mates of State Mates of State are an American indie pop duo, active since 1997. The group is the husband-and-wife team of Kori Gardner (born June 16, 1974) (vocals, organ, synthesizer, piano, electric piano, and occasional guitar and drums) and Jason Hammel ...

, along with tours of Australia and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, the Connecticut trio was busy finalizing the details for their second album,Troubadour released September 10, 2013. This follow up to their critically praised self-titled 2011 debut included both "Sweet Salvation" and "Bitter Bug", which were released on the "Sweet Salvation EP" in October 2012.

Discography

* The Stepkids (2011) * Direct To Disc - Stones Throw Records Live Album (2012) * Troubadour (2013) * Wanderers EP (2014)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepkids American soul musical groups Musical groups from Bridgeport, Connecticut Psychedelic musical groups