Steve George – 2005 INDUCTEE
Steve George, current featured vocalist with the Bob Pace Band, remembers his earliest memories of music came in church and at home hearing his mother’s 78-rpm records. He eventually went from singing in mixed chorus in high school to belting out Motown tunes at parties.
In 1967, he got up the nerve to ask to sit in with The Norman Henderson Trio, a Jazz group from Denver, Colorado that was performing at a club on Center Street in Des Moines. It went well, and George was offered the job as frontman. His first paid gig with the band was at the Knights of Pithius Hall in Waterloo, Iowa.
The Stax and Motown recording artists of the day influenced Steve’s singing style, and later he grew to love the horn-driven Funk of bands like Tower of Power, Earth, Wind & Fire, and the Ohio Players.
George was in the band The Soul Pushers from ’69 to ’72, before forming We The Band, playing a mixture of Soul, Funk, R&B, and Blues.
In 1975, George joined Antelon, a 7-piece horn band that performed original material and played all over the Midwest, and recording in the late ’70s. They played a showcase at the Sahara in Las Vegas in ’81, put together in hopes of landing a recording contract. When terms could not be agreed upon at the time, the members parted ways, with some of them going on to other success in the business.
George opened up his own construction business in Des Moines, while keeping up his singing chops while sitting in at Blues jams locally and on the road. He has sung at venues in Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, and even Hawaii. He has performed with many name artists including Son Seals, Otis Clay, Big Time Sarah, Chico Banks, Dion Payton, Kenny Neal, Billy Branch, Bob Margolin, and Preston Shannon, among others.
In 2003, George found himself leading the band The Other Brothers, releasing two CDs with the group.
In 2005, he joined The Bob Pace Band, and is currently keeping a very busy schedule of gigs all around Central Iowa.
Don “T-Bone” Erickson
Photo by Jen Taylor
