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Personnel: Steven Delopoulos (vocals, acoustic guitar); Scott Dente (acoustic guitar); Gary Burnette (electric guitar); Chris Joslin (banjo); Gretchen Priest-May (violin); Mike Haynes (trumpet); Barry Green (trombone); Jeff Roach, Matt Stanfield, Monroe Jones (keyboards); Francis Cunningham (bouzouki); Mark Hill, Rod Guarnera (bass); Ken Lewis (drums, percussion); Teddy Pagano, Dan Needham (drums); Scott Barksdale (percussion); Michael Mellett, Chris Rodriguez, Jennifer Day Morrison (background vocals); Lovesponge Strings; Come And Go Choir.
Steven Delopoulos is founder and frontman of the quirky yet inspired late Burlap to Cashmere. On Me Died Blue, the first release from Eb + Flo, producer Monroe Jones' new label, he steps out on his own with a singer/songwriter album that should make his East Coast peers take notice. In fact, perhaps these folks should reexamine their motives for having that vocation. Hearing a record like this makes the listener realize that there are those who create from inspiration, a fierce devotion to excellence in craft, and a searing emotional honesty for the material to ring true. This happens while others, more well-known and perhaps jaded by time, too much or too little success, personal excesses, or boredom, just go through the motions and record album after album of literate but uninspired and predictable tomes about all the safe topics, leaving story and symbol to spirit away on the winds of history. The East Coast singer/songwriter scene has been in a creative stasis for a long time. Its most promising newcomer was Patty Griffin, but she moved to Texas. Simply put, people in this profession, and fanatic music fans in general, seldom get a debut album like this, where something so clean, genuine, artful, and inspired by greatness comes and falls in front of them. Delopoulos made a name for his band with his oddly off-center melodic structures that borrowed as heavily from his beloved traditional Greek folk music as from musical theater and the American singer/songwriter tradition as it came down from people like Harry Chapin, Fred Neil, David Ackles, Harry Nilsson, and others.
Me Died Blue is a dramatic, animated collection of tunes in the grand tradition of American storytelling and songwriting that borrows from various musical traditions, from the theater and cabarets and the ephemera of dying or dead popular culture -- aka history. The title track, with its wildly strummed guitars, balalaikas, and chanted choruses, offers a view of the song as an experience contributed to from many external sources and purified through an individual's vision. The inhabitants of the words welcome the listener to join not only the story as told, but as it continues. On "Here I Go Again," with its beautiful accordion lines and strings, a shimmering series of jazz chords comes slipping through underneath Delopoulos' voice -- which has a faint resemblance to Joe Henry's -- where pondering is reported as the various actions one takes while in deep thought. The track sounds melancholy, but it is actually a prayer to the Muse; it asks, no, pleads for deliverance from the ordinary. "Another Day," the album's opener, enters with a faint, shimmering keyboard before Delopoulos' nimble fingerpicking -- think Dave Van Ronk, Jack Elliott, Woody Guthrie, and early Dylan's tradition -- covers it over. But a ghost enters in the lyric; it is Chapin's as he observes life in the process of being lived either as life or as existence via the stunning hooky complexity of Delopoulos' melody and singing voice. His characters, first and third person, have no time for false parades and tinny shining surfaces. These people are marked by brokenness, lost dignity, and unfulfilled dreams; they are fearful of what is to come, yet are unrepentant for the past as the refrain comes from all of them simultaneously: "Another day, another day/Where dreams they're not so far away/Where seeds they grow to land and branch/Harmonies and second cha
Steven Delopoulos - Me Died Blue Songs
| 1 | Another Day | 4:28 | $0.99 | |
| 2 | Jungle Trail | 3:49 | $0.99 | |
| 3 | 12 West Front Street | 4:11 | $0.99 | |
| 4 | Me Died Blue | 3:13 | $0.99 | |
| 5 | Here I Go Again | 4:15 | $0.99 | |
| 6 | Daisies and Sandalwood | 5:12 | $0.99 | |
| 7 | Seasons | 4:16 | $0.99 | |
| 8 | Rocky Boat | 3:52 | $0.99 | |
| 9 | Holy Sunlight | 3:41 | $0.99 | |
| 10 | Mediterranean Waters | 3:58 | $0.99 | |
| 11 | Runaway Train | 3:16 | $0.99 | |
| 12 | People Come and Go | 4:37 | $0.99 | |
Me Died Blue Music Review
Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)   Simple Amazing...
This man is a musical genius. He is going to be big, more people should hear this, this cd is so good. He has a very similar voice to Bruce Springsteen. I can't get enough of this cd...
Submitted by Sean (Freehold,NJ)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Criminally Underrated and Undiscovered Masterpiece!
'Me Died Blue' is a singer/songwriter's dream! The mostly melodic acoustic music is played and sung most passionately by Steven Delopoulos, with the vigor and soul of an early Springsteen and then some. The acoustic (and some electric) fretwork on this CD is indicative of a master guitarist as well! Steven is one of those incredibly giften musicians who knows when to 'let it rip', and when to slow the song down. The songs are very accessible and passionate, with mellower as well as uptempo numbers as well, all consummately performed. Even his backround musicians shine, but don't overdo their parts. In my opinion, this is leagues above the John Mayers of the world. Simply, a beautiful release, and one which, if this world was fair, would have catapulted Steven into multi-platinum territory. In the meantime, I have turned on about 5 family members and friends to this CD. Run, do not walk, to obtain this masterpiece!
Submitted by GTI24VVR6 (Cleveland, Ohio)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Not since Burlap to Cashmere....
Has Steven Sounded so wonderful. His gutsy balads and wonderful sounds move him right up to the top of the Folk genre.
"Me Died Blue' kind of emulates Steven's life, just listen the the joyous sound of his voice, and he will carry you with him on his journey. Find peace in his music.
Submitted by a reviewer (Napa, California)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Songs and Music for the Picky Music Lover
Delopoulos shoots and scores with Me Died Blue. Finally a cd I can recommend to all of my friends. The acoustic playing on this cd is simply amazing. The songwriting is world class. Steven's voice is classic sounding with a little bit of a Greek edge. My favorite two songs are Seasons and Another Day. He's like Cat Stevens meets Springsteen meets Paul Simon all wrapped in a classic yet current vibey production.
Submitted by a reviewer (Franklin, TN, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Majestic!
The phrase “me died blue” somehow portrays the image of songs too concrete for the simple cheer of “color me yellow.” Steven Delopoulos has written “Me Died Blue” to convey emotions that the human heart struggles with. Such thought has allowed Delopoulos the opportunity to share his life stories with listeners.
Upon hearing this album, I am refreshed with ballads of love and songs of revelation. Not only does “Me Died Blue” transmit a poignant message, this album also receives the helpless hand of those longing for a fresh release.
Delopoulos has written songs such as “Jungle Trial” and “12 W. Front St.” to intrigue listeners with a vibrant honesty of life’s moments. We hear of the struggles Delopoulos himself faced as he conquered an irresolute world. “I was tossed along that jungle trail / there was nothing there just thorns and nails / had no skin no fur to wear / but I straggled through the storm / in a search to find my home.”
“Me Died Blue” truly shows Steven Delopoulos at his most vulnerable stage of authentic songs. Listening to this album will leave you as a listener hopeful yet bursting for a story all your own. As each song rushes through your veins, be prepared to see a chromatic “blue.”
Submitted by a reviewer (Denver, Colorado)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No | Have you heard this album? |  |
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