Steve
Originally from Waltham, Massachusetts, Steve Lynnworth started playing guitar at age 17. He was fortunate to study early on with Boston area jazz great and Berklee graduate Gerry Beaudoin, giving him a strong foundation in jazz and music theory. Later, he was mentored by blues virtuoso Ronnie Earl, who gave his lessons on stage; he'd hand over his vintage Stratocaster and let Stevie front the band at the Sit'n'Bull Pub, Harpers Ferry, and The House of Blues. Since moving to Maine with his wife Nadine in 1994, Steve has played in numerous local bands. His own group, the Swinging Blue Matadors, playing original compositions, won the 1996 battle of blues bands sponsored by the Portsmouth NH Blues Bank Collective. He has backed up national artists Shirley Lewis and Pinetop Perkins, jammed onstage with Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson, and opened shows for Johnny Winter, Dickie Betts, and B.B. King. In 1998 he was asked to take over the guitar chair for the band Big Chief, and has been playing with them ever since. He has been teaching private lessons at Musician's 1st Choice in Augusta since 2002, and is the guitar instructor at the University of Maine in Farmington. Steve is also the author of Understanding The Chords, an instructional reference book for guitarists who want to understand music theory and their instruments without having to learn to read music.
Steve always had a love for jazz guitar, but didn’t really get bitten by the “Gypsy” bug until 2008, after stumbling across a Joscho Stefan video on YouTube. He was lucky enough to find a Gypsy style guitar at a local music store, and immediately started practicing the new and demanding techniques. A workshop with the French Gypsy guitarist Stephane Wrembel in 2009 was life-changing, completely revamping Steve’s approach to practice and playing. Ameranouche lead guitarist Richard Sheppard’s recommendation to get Michael Horowitz’s book Gypsy Picking was also extremely helpful.
In 2010, Toby Tyler came to see Steve for lessons in Gypsy Jazz. Steve quickly realized the two really just needed to play music together, and shortly thereafter they formed Mes Amis. In 2013 the band released their debut CD Tomorrow Is Another Day, featuring thirteen songs, including seven of Steve’s originals.
Lead Guitar & Vocals
Steve Lynnworth