Jeffrey LeVasseur
(born August 27, 1961 in Burbank, California [1]) is an American country music singer and songwriter, more commonly known by the name Jeffrey Steele
. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than sixty hit songs for such artists as Montgomery Gentry, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts and others.
Between 1990 and 1996, Steele was the lead singer and bass guitarist in the country music band Boy Howdy, which recorded two albums and an EP on Curb Records, in addition to charting seven singles on the Billboard
country music charts. After Boy Howdy disbanded, Steele embarked on a solo career, recording seven studio albums (one of which was not released). He also charted four singles as a solo artist, with the highest-peaking ("Somethin' in the Water") reaching #33 on the country charts in 2001.
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JEFFREY STEELE TICKETS
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Biography
Jeffrey LeVasseur was born in
Burbank, California to a musical family. His mother was a singer, and his father had aspirations to become a country music songwriter.
He first gained his own interest in music at age eight, when he sang
Three Dog Night's "
Joy to the World" at a church function. This rendition earned him a standing ovation, so he sang the song an additional seven times.
[2] Later, he shifted his focus to songwriting; by age seventeen, he was performing with local groups, and playing
keyboards at various gigs on the
Sunset Strip in
Los Angeles.
In 1987, after the death of his father, LeVasseur changed his last name to Steele as a tribute to his father, who processed steel for a living.
[3]
Boy Howdy
In 1990, Steele and three other California musicians — Hugh Wright, along with brothers Cary and Larry Park — formed the band
Boy Howdy, in which he served as lead vocalist and bass guitarist.
[4] Boy Howdy signed to
Curb Records in 1992, recording two albums and an
EP for the label, in addition to charting seven singles on the country music charts.
While in Boy Howdy, Steele was named Best Bassist and Best Male Vocalist by the California Country Music Association.
As the band's primary songwriter, he also earned
BMI awards for co-writing their highest-charting singles, "She'd Give Anything" and "They Don't Make 'em Like That Anymore".
Solo career and success as songwriter
Steele re-located to
Nashville, Tennessee in 1994, two years before Boy Howdy disbanded. In 1996, he released three solo singles, as well as a self-titled solo album which was never shipped.
[5] Steele was eventually signed to a songwriting contract, however, and he began writing singles for other artists. Among his first hits as a songwriter were "If You Love Somebody" by
Kevin Sharp, "
Unbelievable" by
Diamond Rio, and "
Big Deal" by
LeAnn Rimes, all three of which earned him additional BMI awards.
He also sang backing vocals on Sharp's first two albums.
In 2001, Steele was signed to his second solo recording contract, this time with
Monument Records. His solo debut album,
Somethin' in the Water
, was issued late that year. In addition to producing the album, Steele wrote or co-wrote every song on it.
The album's title cut reached a peak of #33 on the
Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, becoming Steele's only Top 40 hit as a solo artist.
Meanwhile, he continued to write songs for other artists, with
Faith Hill,
Tim McGraw,
Trace Adkins, and
Montgomery Gentry all recording songs he had co-written.
Steele earned his first Number One song with
Tim McGraw's "
The Cowboy in Me" in 2002. In addition,
Rascal Flatts reached Number One on the country charts in late 2002 with "
These Days", their first Number One single. Steele also continued to record studio albums even while writing hits for other artists; his albums
Gold, Platinum, Chrome and Steele
and
You Gotta Start Somewhere
were both released in 2003, the same year that he was named Songwriter of the Year by both BMI and the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI).
[6] [7] 2004 saw the release of his fourth studio album,
Outlaw
, on the
Lofton Creek Records label.
[8] By 2005, more than sixty of his songs had become chart hits for other artists;
that same year, he received a second Songwriter of the Year award from the NSAI.
[9].
His most successful single as a songwriter is "
What Hurts the Most", a Number One single on both the
Hot Country Songs and
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts for
Rascal Flatts in 2006, which was also a chart single for
Cascada. Another one of Steele's compositions,
Steve Holy's Number One single "
Brand New Girlfriend", earned him yet another BMI award in 2006, as well as the Rascal Flatts hit "
My Wish" just as Steele released his album,
Hell on Wheels
.
[10] "What Hurts the Most" would later earn him the Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year awards from BMI, as well as the Songwriter of the Year award from
Music Row
magazine.
[11] Steele has since released two other albums, his second greatest hits record "Gold, Platinum, No Chrome, and More Steele" was released in 2007 and his country classics tribute album "Countrypolitan" which was released in 2008. Steele also produced
Keith Anderson's two studio albums: 2005's
Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll
and 2008's
C'mon!
, as well as Montgomery Gentry's 2004 album
You Do Your Thing
and 2006 album
Some People Change
In April 2008, Steele joined
Jewel and
John Rich of
Big & Rich as judges on the talent show
Nashville Star
.
[12] Steele also guest hosted for
Bob Kingsley on "
Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40", a weekly radio countdown show based on the
Mediabase
country charts, for the week of September 13-14, 2008.
[13]
In September 2008 The Country Music Hall of Fame honored Jeffrey as a Poet & Prophet in the Hall of Fame's quarterly series.
[14]
Steele signed a deal with
Best Buy to release 3 of his albums November 18, 2008: "Hell On Wheels", "Gold, Platinum, No Chrome, and More Steele: Greatest Hits Vol. II", and "Countrypolitan"
[15]
Jeffrey Steele and Miley Cyrus also co-wrote the main track for the 2008
Disney animated film
Bolt
.
[16]
Discography
The following is a table of all albums and singles released by Jeffrey Steele as a recording artist.
Albums
Year
| Title
| Label
|
1996
| Jeffrey Steele
(unreleased)
| Curb
|
2001
| Somethin' in the Water
| Monument
|
2003
| Gold, Platinum, Chrome, and Steele
| 3 Ring Circus/Lofton Creek
|
You Gotta Start Somewhere
|
2004
| Outlaw
|
2006
| Hell on Wheels
|
2007
| Gold, Platinum, No Chrome, and More Steele
|
2008
| Countrypolitan
| 3 Ring Circus
|
Singles
Year
| Single
| Chart Positions
| Album
|
US Country
| CAN Country
|
1996
| "Roots of Country"
| —
| —
| Jeffrey Steele
|
1997
| "A Girl Like You"
| 60
| —
|
"My Greatest Love"
| —
| 90
|
2001
| "Somethin' in the Water"
| 33
| —
| Somethin' in the Water
|
2002
| "I Can Give You Love Like That"
| —
| —
|
"Good to Go"
| 49
| —
| Gold, Platinum, Chrome and Steele
|
2004
| "Good Year for the Outlaw"
| 54
| —
| Outlaw
|
"Twenty Years Ago"
| —
| —
|
"Once a Cowboy"
| —
| —
|
2005
| "Just the Way We Do It"
| —
| —
|
"She Must Be So Happy"
| —
| —
|
"—" denotes the single failed to chart or wasn't released
|
Music videos
Year
| Video
| Director
|
2001
| "Somethin' in the Water"
| Paul Holahan
|
Songs written by Jeffrey Steele
References
- Jeffrey Steele: Biography
- allmusic (((Jeffrey Steele > Biography)))
- Jeffrey Steele
- allmusic (((Boy Howdy > Biography)))
- Jeffrey Steele
- Jeffrey Steele, Jesse Harris, Butch Walker, & Pat Green: Songwriters on Songwriting
- Jeffrey Steele named Songwriter of the Year by NSAI
- Jeffrey Steele Anticipates Arrival of "Outlaw"
- Five Members Welcomed to Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
- BMI Honors Writers of Steve Holy's Hit
- "These Days", It’s Good To Be Jeffrey Steele
- Jeffrey Steele, Jewel bound for 'Nashville'
- Calendar
- http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/news_detail.aspx?cid=3861
- http://www.countrystandardtime.com/news/newsitem.asp?xid=2267
- http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081106/TUNEIN/81106042