Steve McCarty  

Legendary Recording Artist: Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist

  Classically trained, Steve was singing in coffee houses by the time he was 12; usually blues or folk songs. Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, John Denver, Gene Autry and Johnny Cash were big influences, and he was an excellent Flamenco Guitarist.  He wrote and recorded his first song when he was only thirteen.  He was 16  years old in  1967 when he met Steve Miller because he was giving Steve Miller’s little brother, Jimmy, guitar lessons at school. Steve Miller had been working with Boz Skaggs at the time and had just started living in California after moving from the Chicago Blues scene. Steve McCarty was in school in Dallas at St. Mark's Boys School where Steve Miller and Boz had also been to school several years prior.

    Steve Miller was born in 1943. Steve McCarty, born in 1951, was still pretty young when he went to California to pursue a rock career in San Francisco with Steve Miller. They worked on "Fly Like An Eagle" for nearly two years before they thought it was good enough to release. Steve Miller had negotiated one of the most lucrative music contracts in history with Capitol Records which proved successful when the album was released in May 1976 and went Platinum shortly afterward. The album has sold over 16 million copies and had multiple single hits. "Wild Mountain Honey" written by Steve McCarty was the only song that Steve McCarty kept solo publishing rights because of the way it was written. Steve felt that it was channeled one morning, as he awoke and thought this song demonstrated his great concern for the environment. The song remains one of Steve McCarty's favorite today and one he feels is an important statement for today's environment.

Steve McCarty lived with Steve Miller and continued to write and perform songs with him and many others during the late 70's around San Francisco and throughout the country. While the Steve Miller Band was gaining popularity, Boz left to do his own thing and Steve McCarty decided to quiet down and buy a house in the San Geronimo Valley to submerge himself back into songwriting and less into performing. Steve wrote songs with many of the great artists at that time and surrounded himself in the music scene around northern California.

    Steve McCarty's dad, John was very close and a tremendous support for Steve but was struggling with his health in Santa Fe during the 80's and Steve wanted to spend more time with him. Steve didn't feel like he fit in the music scene during that era,anyway. His music was thoughtful, deeply meaningful and connected to a lot of spiritual philosophy, not something for the disco scene, so other than working with a few country music stars, Steve chose not to release any of his music.   

His father had been a co-founder of Frito and had negotiated the first restaurant in Disneyland with Walt Disney. He had helped to build St. Elizabeth's, a Homeless Shelter in Santa Fe and had lost two wives to cancer, Steve's mother, Elizabeth when Steve was 10 years old and Steve's stepmother, Jackie, a talented Flamenco guitarist, singer, and artist in Santa Fe.

For the next several years Steve McCarty lived parttime in Santa Fe, New Mexico, collecting art, befriending artists, continuing to write songs and care for his father. Steve had a son, John Dylan, in 1988, also a musician. Wanting to keep close to Santa Fe, he bought a home in Arizona and raised his son away from the celebrity status of California. He continued to write and perform in his studio but chose to live a quiet life, performing for a few benefits and personal friends.

Steve believes that the world's people are longing for a more meaningful existence and ready to embrace thoughtful music again. Steve's first solo album will feature his revised version of "Wild Mountain Honey" along with songs that he has been working on perfecting for years, ready for the right time.

Steve is deeply concerned for youth. For over fifteen years, Steve was the Music Director and  Teacher for StarShine Academy, a charter school in a high-crime area of Phoenix. His ideas about the environment start with changing human behavior toward one another. This message was one he was invited to share with Pope Francis and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican in Rome.