Arliss Nancy‘s “Little Steven” is a gritty rocker with a Springsteen-themed conception. We captured the song at the Fort Collins alt-punk-rock band’s Aug. 20 Slowdown show with Red City Radio, and you can also hear it on the band’s new Suburban Home Records LP, Simple Machines. Frontman Cory Call — a North Platte native — detailed the song’s booze- and The Boss-soaked origin via email:

“The band was on tour for a few weeks, and it was one of those tours that was either hit of miss every night,” Call says. “GB (bassist) caught pneumonia, we were with another band (Elway/ formerly 10-4 Eleanor) working our way up the East Coast. Most the nights were awesome, but it becomes stressful — we had 10 people crammed into a suburban, it was the heat of the summer, and by the time we got to Jersey we were all ready to get out of the van for as long as possible.

“However, downtime on the road is not always a good thing for a bunch of thirsty dudes. Me and Chris (organs/keys) got fucking hammered — a good ol’ fashioned day drunk as we explored the boardwalk of Asbury Park. I was so stoked to be there as I am a big fanboy for Bruce Springsteen. Anyway, I had never seen the ocean, ever, and I drunkenly stumbled out onto some rocks right where the waves broke.

“I remember looking out and an overwhelming sense of my own smallness. Long story short, on those rocks I spent time just thinking about life and where I wanted mine to go. It was kind of a heavy moment. But that is what that song is about: being there, letting the waves crash under me, and deciding I have to go as far as I can with the awesome dudes in my band. Being I wrote it about these revelations I had in Bruce’s old stomping grounds it seemed only fitting to title the song accordingly.”

Shooters: Django G-S, Angie Norman, Andrew Norman
Audio: Django G-S
Editing: Andrew Norman

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