Steve Passfield Bio

It was a steamy night when a young fella from a timber getting family on the high side of the Macleay River road his old Royal Enfield single cylinder motorcycle down the rough dirt road, over the low level, single lane, timber bridge to the low side of the river to an old dance hall in a little upper Macleay village called Millbank. There the young fella met a lovely young girl, the youngest of ten, from a dairy farming family just up the road from the hall. For the next few years they danced, fished, road motorbikes, laughed and courted until they became Mr. & Mrs. Passfield. It was only a year or so later that a little baby was born.
So came into the world Steve Passfield at the Macleay district hospital, Kempsey.

Steve grew up in that country environment and was schooled in Kempsey where he learnt piano from the nuns. After hearing guitar based music he took up the guitar.
Upon leaving school, Steve joined several local bands around the North Coast of NSW, some covers bands and one aptly named “Slow Combustion” outfit that performed a mix of country, bluegrass and folk music. Steve knew of a local musician who had made the move to the big smoke and was playing with some great bands around Sydney and struck up a friendship with Chris Haigh. Chris was the bassist in Goldrush and introduced Steve to Tommy and Phil Emmanuel who were generous enough to show him a little of there great guitar techniques.

Steve moved to Sydney in 1984 and played in a couple of different bands and that experience finally drove him to put together his own band called Handpicked in 1988, the Australian Bi-Centenary year. Steve has been the driving force of the band, has promoted booked and organized most things and has been the songwriter in the band.
(See Handpicked Bio below)

The year 2007 sees Steve release his first completely solo album with all original songs and tunes all played and produced by the best country musicians in the land. Two songs have been co-written, “A Man Will Risk It All” written by Steve and his producer Rod McCormack and another “This House” written by Steve and the amazing Kevin Bennett of the band “The Flood”. “This House” has the guest vocals and dobro of Bill Chambers. The recording process is a great journey at the best of times but Steve’s new album “Goin’ It Alone” sees Steve reach a new place in his musical journey. It is a superb album with a mix of song styles that has to be heard to be believed. The many musical influences on Steve over the past years certainly poke there heads through in this album. From the opening statement and title track “Goin’ It Alone”, Carter family style love song, “This House” to the rockabilly, tongue in cheek, break up song of Trouble, the Celtic influenced Phillip Cunningham and Botany Bay, hang onto your false teeth - pickin’ time with “Stump Jumpin”, thought provoking “Acceptance” and “Break Free”, mystical love song “Lady Of The Top End”, thumbpickin’ “Broke”, wonderfully clever tribute to the “King” of Australian country music – “To Sing With Slim”, another Macleay Valley country musician, the stand up and be counted- “Australian Spirit” and the reflective “A Man Will Risk It All” that was inspired by the story of Robert O’Hara Bourke of Bourke and Wills and written with Rod McCormack.

Steve, like all of us, has had his ups and downs but the album “Goin’ It Alone” is a statement of a new direction, determination and dedication from the big fella. Stay tuned!!

Handpicked Band Bio

When you think of fiddles, mandolins and banjos, what music do you think of Folk, country, bluegrass? Anything can happen, depending on the influences the players bring to the mix. When you combine the infectious and personal side of country with the traditional sounds of Celtic and infuse them with the contemporary influence of rock and funky syncopation you will get a combination that may or may not work. Steve Passfield's Handpicked Band not only has it working a treat but also is connecting in a big way with audiences around town and on tour. Like life itself, Passfield’s original songs bear the influences of many styles and experiences, with an unpretentious delivery and lyric that says the things we all feel. And with take away melodies you can't forget. Along with a touch of forgivable idiocy and a stirring grasp of the entertainment ethic, Handpicked have their audiences dancing and foot tapping into the night. More than a decade of performance has given birth to three fine CDs and a string of awards in National Band Competitions. The band has evolved into a valid part of the Australian musical landscape with regular appearances at festivals across this big land and overseas with promise of much for the future. With the ability to deliver credible and engaging performances in both genres, Steve Passfield's Handpicked Band has an unfair advantage in winning over audiences at both Country and Folk festivals. Handpicked are a show worth leaving the TV for.

History: Steve Passfield had the brilliant idea back in 1988, following many years of performing in various different bands from Kempsey to Sydney, to try and start up a band that was versatile and fun. Handpicked was born in 1988 just at the end of the bi-centennial celebrations and, in it's infancy, worked the crowds at The Vinegar Hill woolshed most Saturday nights in a lively bush dance theatre show that involved people both willingly and unwillingly in a lot of fun. The band slowly grew and changed along with Steve's passion and vision for music until what is now a very entertaining and fun mix of many styles of music, but with a strong emphasis on all things Aussie! Steve's original songs have become an important part of the Handpicked story with references to his 6th generation first fleeter family and his farming, grazing and timber getting ancestors from his hometown Kempsey. It's his way of delivering a little fresh rural influence on anyone that happens along. His energy and efforts to bridge the gap between the city slickers and the rest of the country beyond the freeways and the great divide is infectious and captivates an audience. Humorous and good spirited interaction with the crowd in any situation, and the ability to read a crowd's mood, are characteristics that few performers possess but Steve certainly does. Dale Carnegie in his bestselling book, How to Win Friends and Influence People said that "diplomacy is the ability to tell somebody to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip", get into a Handpicked show and you'll go to beyond the great divide and the freeways and certainly enjoy the trip!