Local band Even Steven has been overwhelmed with the positive reception to their latest tune, 37, which was released on YouTube last Friday.
The song features 37 Beatles song titles and speaks to the theme of living in a pandemic. The idea for the song came to singer Steve McEown when he was sitting at home with some downtime due to the pandemic.
“I started strumming the guitar and was thinking about some old Beatles tunes and I thought to myself. 'They have a lot in their catalogue,'” said McEown, an Essa Township resident who works as a producer at Rogers TV in Barrie.
“I started throwing a couple of lines together and I thought, 'I could make a song that could relate to the current conditions.' I just continued on with it and played it to my partner (Springwater Township resident Steve Eyers), he made some suggestions, and then we decided we aren’t playing any gigs right now, so let's record this thing.”
McEown and Eyers have been performing and making music together for 43 years. The duo recently recorded 37 with the help of Steven K. Henry who lent Even Steven his recording studio in Warminster, and even got in on the song by playing the drums.
After releasing the song last week, McEown was shocked to see the song has more than 5,000 views on YouTube. Due to the song's early success, the band plans on releasing the track on other digital platforms, including Spotify, in the coming days.
“The reaction has been overwhelming,” McEown said. “People are loving it, they love the lyrics and they love the challenge to see if they can find all 37 Beatles tunes.”
Even Steven typically plays at local bars, clubs, and private events on a weekly basis. But because of the pandemic, the band has been sidelined from doing live performances. McEown says working on 37 and sharing it with the community was a way for him and Eyers to once again engage with their audience.
“We’ve felt very disconnected this year, so it’s very important that this project happened,” McEown said.
“This is kind of a calling card to let people know we are still in this game, we aren’t quitting and when this is all over we will be back in the community performing again," McEown explained.
While Even Steven has seen more success with some of their other songs in terms of reach and numbers, McEown calls 37 the band's most important song because of the times we are living in and the message at the beginning of the song’s music video that encourages viewers to donate to the local food banks.
“It’s very important because as a band we’ve had a lot of support from people and we’ve done a lot of charity events. The community has been great for us, so I think it’s important for us to give back,” McEown said.
McEown adds that he has heard back from many of Even Steven's fans who say they will be making a donation in the near future in a show of gratitude for the new song.
You can hear 37 by Even Steven here.
