25 Facts About Seasick Steve

Steven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, is an American blues musician.

Seasick Steve plays mostly personalized guitars and sings, usually about his early life doing casual work.

Seasick Steve pursued other works, including producing an album for Modest Mouse.

Seasick Steve achieved his breakthrough, initially in the UK, at the end of 2006 when he appeared on Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny as Seasick Steve.

Seasick Steve has since released a number of commercially successful albums, including I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left, Man from Another Time, and Sonic Soul Surfer.

Seasick Steve claimed that he had worked at a carnival, as a cowboy and as a migrant worker.

Seasick Steve took the surname Wold in the early 1980s, from that of his second wife.

Seasick Steve claimed that as a child he was taught to play the guitar by K C Douglas, who worked at his grandfather's garage, and later realised that he had been taught the blues.

Seasick Steve's mother remarried, to a Korean War veteran who Wold characterized as abusive, and, at the age of about 13, Wold claimed that he left home following a violent confrontation with his stepfather.

Seasick Steve attended the Monterey Pop Festival, regularly saw bands such as The Grateful Dead perform in the area, and became acquainted with Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

Seasick Steve left California in 1972 and moved to Paris, France, where he busked in the Metro.

Seasick Steve occasionally returned to California where he married Victoria Johnson in 1974; they had two sons together but later divorced.

Seasick Steve has claimed to have played with other musicians including Son House, John Lee Hooker, Albert King, and Joni Mitchell around this time.

Seasick Steve sang on the first album released by Mike Love's side project Celebration, a collaboration with members of the Paris-based band King Harvest.

Seasick Steve met Elisabeth Wold in a blues bar in Oslo, Norway, and adopted her surname after she became his second wife.

Seasick Steve later claimed to have run a recording studio in Europe before selling it.

Seasick Steve was acquainted with Kurt Cobain, and began producing records by local musicians, including Kathleen Hanna and Fitz of Depression.

Seasick Steve worked closely with a local band, the Tremens, and with them started to form a band, Dr Steel and the Forty-nines, with himself as singer and lead guitarist, but this fell through.

Seasick Steve was well received in the UK, winning the 2007 MOJO Award for Best Breakthrough Act and going on to appear at major UK festivals such as Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury.

Seasick Steve was joined on stage by drummer Dan Magnusson.

In 2009, Wold was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist, That same year, BBC Four broadcast a documentary of Wold visiting the southern USA entitled Seasick Steve: Bringing It All Back Home.

Seasick Steve says, 'There's 50 solid citizens here in Como who'll tell you this guitar is haunted.

Seasick Steve released his eighth album on 7 October 2016, called Keepin' the Horse Between Me and the Ground.

Seasick Steve was given the guitar by a friend who had it nailed to his wall as a decoration, but at his gigs, he often tells the story that he bought it for US$75 in this condition from a man who later told him he only paid US$25 for it the day before, and claims to have vowed never to add another string, and that he would tour the world telling his story of how the seller ripped him off.

Seasick Steve has since performed with Wold frequently, playing washboard, shakers, tambourine, floor tom and occasionally guitar.