Grace and Melody Review from Hittin' The Note Magazine Issue #59

By Rob Turner |Hittin' The Note

Crackling with gritty energy and featuring strikingly direct lyrics, Grace And Melody demonstrates that Steepwater Band is a bluesed-based rock group with a considerable amount of depth and nuance. This may be due in part to the wizened oversight or producer Marc Ford; the veteran guitarist first met the band at a festival in Spain and now has guided them to an impressive and inspiring release. Ford even dons a guitar for a few tracks, most notably the intriguing twin-guitar romp through the 13+ minute, "Waiting To Be Offended," which is vibrant yet clutter-free.  The Neil Young-influenced piece is adorned with exquisite guitar interplay and some hauntingly melodic bass lines from Tod Bowers. The slow fade at the end also serves as appropriate terrain from which the amped-up Delta blues of "Roadblock" sprouts.

Jeff Massey brings forth a consistently engaged vocal throughout the disc. His soulful deliver compels the listener to feel the angst of "It's amazing how you convince yourself, to believe what you say" during "Fire Away" as much as it does the hope of "gonna wash the bad times away" on the title track, or the anguish during the powerful disc-closing lament "World Keeps Moving On" - the vibe here buttressed by some mesmerizing guitar work.

While there is some similarity in compositional approach, Grace And Melody is certainly worth diving into.  Massey never overplays, interplays with his airtight rhythm section well and offers a variety of tones over the course of the disc.