Steve Farris

Steve Farris, born on May 1st, 1957 in Fremont, Nebraska was nine years old when he started playing guitar. It became hisidentity source and he wanted to be the best at it. His first guitar was his late mother Kathy's acoustic guitar which had telephone wires for strings. The first guitar riffs he learned were from songs such as "I can see for miles", "Winchester cathedral", "Stick shift" and "Secret agent". He worked his way up playing chordal arrangements like the American Breed's "Bend me, shape me".

By the age of 11 he discovered Jimi Hendrix' Experience who influenced him a lot. When Steve was in sixth grade he started taking lessons at a local music store and played in little bands through high school. Around 1970 he played in his first band named 3dog breath".

In 1975 he met jazz player Kurtis Robinson in his hometown. Steve started taking lessons with Kurtis who changed his technique dramatically.

In 1978 he moved to California with the ambition of becoming a studio musician. He mainly played jazz, rhythm & blues and funk, but didn't manage to catch the attention of record companies. However, he played with guys from Stevie Wonder's and George Benson's bands.

When he was playing in some club a member of Kiss (remember their hits "I was made for loving you" and "Sure know something") saw him and got interested in Steve. Kiss' guitarist Ace Frehley had just left the band and the other members were looking for someone to replace him for their upcoming effort "Creatures of the night". Steve went to an audition and was invited to join the band, but it never went down for some reason.

After that gig, in 1979, Steve played with Eddie Moneyfor three years. It was a great opportunity to make some money and it was fun to play straightahead rock n' roll.

In 1982 Steve went to an audition with Richard Page and Steve George. They immediately liked his guitar playing, and together with drummer Pat Mastelotto they formed Mr. mister. Mr. Mister released three albums. The second one achieved multiple platinum and spawned two #1-hits. The lack of success of their third album "Go on..." caused a lot of tension. Steve and lead singer Richard Page argued a lot about the musical direction of Mr. Mister. After the Go on-tour medio 1988 Steve decided to leave the band and went back to the session circuit.

He performed on Eros Ramazzotti's "Tutti storie" and on Céline Dion's megaseller "Falling into you". He also played on a track of Richard Page's first solo album in 1996. Also in 1996 he contributed to Edgar Winter's "Real Deal" together with Jermaine Jackson (remember his 1985- hits "Do what you do" and "When the rain begins to fall" with Pia Zadora).

In 1997 he agreed the offer to join Whitesnake on their Last Hurrah-tour. After the tour (spring 1998) he went back to his hometown Fremont. He contributed to the Nicolette Larson benefite tribute concert in February 1998. He also played a gig with Gary Wright. Steve is still very much into painting, a gift from his late mother who was known through the Midwest as a famous watercolor artist.

In September he started a tour with Gary Wright. Steve will also perform on Gary Wright's album "Human love".

In December 1998 he contributed to the "Tribute to Carlos Vega Concert".

A Steve Farris website would appear on the Internet shortly ...

Personal Discography