written by - Stephen Wrench
“Songwriter / Composer / Lyricist / Producer / Guitarist”
Stephen grew up in Syracuse, New York. As a child, he always had a love for music. As a five-year-old, while driving down to Florida to visit his mother’s family, Stephen came across a jukebox and started singing along with it. As an eleven-year-old, he had no interest in music or performing but was more inclined towards sports like football. However, his older brother, Dan, was a musician and worked for a band. Knowing that Stephen could sing, he bribed him for the Optimist show in Fairmount, NY. They won the show and a grand prize, which kickstarted Stephen’s career in music.
Stephen then played in a soul band in high school. After high school, he was offered 5 football scholarships. After visiting Boston College in the summer of 1969, on his way back home to Syracuse, New York, he saw a sign that read “Rock Concert.” He followed the sign not knowing that the concert was Woodstock, and he landed there for ten days, which eventually changed the course of his life. Later, Stephen got invited to Lynyrd Skynyrd, a band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. He worked with them on and off over the next four decades, playing, writing music, and managing tours with them.
Stephen put together several former members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and did about twenty shows throughout Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. Stephen also performed in Baton Rouge, in Grant Street Music Hall, believed to be the oldest music hall in the US. His performance there lasted for over 3 hours where shows usually lasted for 60 to 75 minutes.
In the mid ’80s, Stephen recorded an album with producer Neil Wilburn, who later walked it into Columbia Records, wherein a deal was offered to him. As a father to 2 young boys back then that he considered as his priority, Stephen declined the offer from Columbia. Later, Neil and Stephen formed a record label, Vine Street Records, which became part of RCA . They did a few semi successful releases, one of which was on the Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden.
Stephen worked with several artists and has produced shows for The Voices of Classic Rock and the Survivor.[3] The partial list of people he has worked with in different capacities include Lynyrd Skynyrd, Toto, Loverboy, Missing Persons, Foghat Eddie and the Cruisers, Dr. Hook, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Bad Company, Tommy Tutone, Survivor, Rossington Collins Band, Rick Springfield, John Anderson, David Allen Coe, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot, Ozzy Osbourne, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Ryan Starr, Sister Hazel, Blessid Union of Souls, Craig Campbell, Grand Funk Railroad, ABBA, Chad Brock, Michael Peterson, Daryl Worley, Lonestar, Mona Lisa Twins, Sheandoah, Collin Raye, and many more.
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