Editor’s Note: Due to technical difficulties, we could not upload the reaction video to “I’m Broken” by Steve N Seagulls, which is a bluegrass cover originally done by Pantera. Here is John Nelson with his commentary from it!
If you haven’t heard of these guys, you must be living under a rock. They are from Finland, they’ve been around for a decade, and they are not just another ordinary band, they are a bluegrass band!
This band really blew up in 2014 when they released their own rendition of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. The video blew up for them. They got millions of views and tons of people were asking for more. They ended up signing with Spinefarm Records, where they already released a couple of albums, which they did so well that they debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Bluegrass Charts. They are the only band from Finland who has ever done that.
A recent video that they did was a song called “I’m Broken”, which was originally done by Pantera. When I heard this version, I’m thinking, “how does Steve ‘N’ Seagulls even try to remotely cover that”?. This song can be found off of “Grainsville”.
Overall, the cover is really great! I can’t believe that Steve ‘N’ Seagulls was able to get that same sound. If you are familiar with Pantera, they just nailed it! The notes were the same, but the tempo definitely wasn’t the same, but when you’re doing bluegrass you do need to speed it up a bit. I can’t get over the banjos and the accordions, and the mandolins, it’s terrific. All of the band members were singing too, and I loved that part!
I would bet to say that these guys are amazing live. The only thing that I’m not sure that would work out for them at the end of the day is that they’re known as a cover band. However, “Grainsville” has three original songs on it. There’s only so far that you can go with covers. It’s not like you’re really going to run out of songs, but once you hear the song, how many times are you going to listen to it. Personally, I would listen to the song a lot, but it’s an acquired taste, and it’s right up my alley. There’s no way that you can play bluegrass and be upset after listening to this! I think when people see it and hear it, especially with a song like this, they’re going to tell their friends, “hey, check out these group of hicks, they’re a bunch of dudes that play bluegrass but they cover your favorite songs”, and I think that is really cool, I like these guys a lot!
I can only imagine how fun their live show would be. Where else can you go where you’re dressed in bibs, a straw hat, and have tobacco rolling down your mouth and being the cool guy in the room. I recommend checking out all their YouTube videos!
Steve ‘N’ Seagulls will be on tour to support “Grainsville”. Check out the tour dates below:
Fri. 3/15- SXSW in Austin, Texas
Sat. 3/16- Gas Monkey Bar N Grill in Dallas, Texas
Sun. 3/17- Tower Theater in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Tue. 3/19- The Green Room in Flagstaff, Arizona
Wed. 3/20- 191 Toole in Tuscon, Arizona
Thu. 3/21- The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix, Arizona
Fri. 3/22- The Soda Bar in San Diego, California
Sat. 3/23- The Echo in Los Angeles, California
Sun. 3/24- Virginia Street Brewhouse in Reno, Nevada
Tue. 3/26- Dante’s in Portland, Oregon
Wed. 3/27- Volcanic Theatre Pub in Bend, Oregon
Thu. 3/28- Tractor Tavern in Seattle, Washington
Fri. 3/29- The Pin in Spokane, Washington
Sat. 3/30- Remington Bar in Whitefish, Montana
Mon. 4/1- Vail Ale House in Vail, Colorado
Tue. 4/2- Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom & Cervantes’ Other Side in Denver, Colorado
Wed. 4/3- Hodi’s Half Note in Fort Collins, Colorado
Thu. 4/4- Norton’s Brewing Company in Wichita, Kansas
Fri. 4/5- George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Sat. 4/6- Four Quarter Bar in North Little Rock, Arkansas
Thu. 6/13- Festival le Printemps de Perouges in Saint-vulbas, France
Sat. 6/15- Festival Save The Kouign in Penmarch, France
Fri. 7/12- Norsk Countrytreff in Breim, Norway
Sat. 7/20- Art Sonic Festival in Briouze, France
Fri. 7/26- Der Krater Bebt Open Air Festival in Megesheim, Germany
Fri. 8/2- Montelago Celtic Festival in Serravalle Di Chienti, Italy
Sun. 8/4- Pyynikki-ilmio in Tampere, Finland
Fri. 10/11- Farmer’s Bash 2019 in Belfast, United Kingdom
For tickets and further information on any of the shows listed above, click here!
Fans can find STEVE ‘N’ SEAGULLS at the following locations:
www.facebook.com/Stevenseagulls
www.stevenseagulls.mycashflow.fi
