Jeff Stevens’ storied, successful music career leads back home to the WV Music Hall of Fame
By Joe Severino, RealWV
One childhood Christmas present more than five decades ago jump started Jeff Stevens’ long and successful music career.
Stevens’ parents gifted him and his brother, Warren, some old, cheap Stella guitars. It was one of the first landmark moments of Stevens’ musical career, and now more than 50 years later has led to his induction into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
“It just took off from that, man,” Stevens said of that Christmas morning in a phone interview. Music became increasingly important to his life and family.
His mother sewed sequined, rhinestone performing outfits for Stevens and his brother. His father wanted to turn them into country music superstars, he said. This was one of many business ventures Stevens’ father embarked on during his childhood. He’d try about anything to see if he could be successful.
“My dad was a dreamer,” Stevens said.
After about a year of lessons and practice, Stevens said they entered a local talent show and won. This inspired the confidence to keep playing.
Growing up in Alum Creek, Lincoln County, the church became the place for Stevens to hone his craft. Practicing with his congregation each week made him better. Gospel music also became an early inspiration to his sound.
Other early influences derived from his father’s record collection, which included Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Hank Locklin, and Merle Haggard. Stevens was particularly fascinated by Porter Wagoner, whose flashiness and storytelling style of songwriting became a core influence for the young artist.
“We watched the Porter Wagoner show every weekend. I loved it,” Stevens said. “That was about the time that they got us those guitars.”
The mid 1980s brought Stevens and his band, Jeff Stevens and the Bullets, their first deal with Atlantic Records. He and his family moved to Nashville, and the hitmaking commenced. He wrote some popular songs and things were going good, he said, but the well ran dry toward the end of the decade. The band broke up as their music reached less and less ears.
“Real things were happening,” Stevens said of the 1980s. “And then for about eight years after, nothing happened.”
With three children and a wife to provide for, Stevens said his dreams nearly fell apart in the early 1990s. He pawned his two guitars, his wife’s wedding ring and other cherished collections in that time. He was close to returning to West Virginia from Tennessee and giving up on the dream entirely, he said.
A string of hits as a songwriter in the early and mid 90s saved his career, he said. John Anderson’s “I Fell in the Water” and Alabma’s “Reckless” became radio hits, with Stevens lending his songwriting skills to help create these tunes. He’d work with George Strait, Tim McGraw, and other country music stars over the next decade.
Then came the discovery of Luke Bryan, who “was just a kid out of Georgia” at the time Stevens met him. Stevens became Bryan’s producer, and co-wrote Bryan’s breakout single “All My Friends Say.” For four or five years they worked their tails off, Stevens said, which led to the monster decade of songs and albums that anointed Bryan one of the most popular country artists in the world.
The albums “Tailgates and Tanlines,” “Crash My Party,” and “Kill the Lights” released between 2010 and 2015, and they all went number one. Together, they sold almost nine million copies, on top of hundreds of millions of streams.
“A producer is like being the big brother in the band,” said Stevens. He credited the low moments of his personal career as being a guide to develop Bryan.
“He just needed somebody that could be honest with him about his music, and be an honest sounding board,” Stevens said. “And I had a lot of experience. I had a failed record deal on my own, so I used all of the ways I failed to point him in the right direction.”
“I know what it’s like to be hungry, literally and figuratively,” Stevens said of those low moments. “But I have to look back upon that – I’m not sure that you can appreciate the really good times unless you’ve experienced some hard times.”
Stevens will return to his home state this month for his induction to the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 12, at Charleston’s Culture Center. He will be inducted alongside The Valentinos/Womack Brothers. Daniel Johnston and Cameron LaVelle Mullins will be inducted posthumously.
In addition to performances and appearances by the inductees, the ceremony will feature appearances by Kathy Mattea, John Ellison, Larry Groce, Barbara Nissman, Bob Thompson, Charlie McCoy, and many more. A “meet and greet” will also be held on Friday, April 11, at the Governor’s Mansion in Charleston.
‘I’m super excited [to come home],” said Stevens. “That’s who I made my music for. That’s who shaped my music, the people of West Virginia. I’m really looking forward to coming back.”
For more information about the WV Music Hall of Fame, visit wvmusichalloffame.com.
