Steven Yardley is as comfortable on a big stage as he is in an intimate corner of a brewery or farmers market. His deep knowledge of the rock ’n’ roll songbook makes him a walking jukebox, weaving classics and hidden gems into his sets alongside his own original tracks.

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Yardley has spent years honing his craft on the guitar. He keeps performances fresh with a glass slide, alternate tunings, flatpicking and fingerpicking. He wanders from the Mississippi Delta, hitches across Highway 61, throws an afterparty on the porches of Appalachia, and nightcaps with MTV Unplugged. While he can strum numbers from the last 50 years of radio, his vast knowledge of guitar takes what could be a background music into the foreground.

 

Lyrics are a major part of his original compositions. Yardley is storyteller, a surrealist, and prolific—penning hundreds of songs since he learned to write. His themes stretch from modern American life, love and heartbreak, odes to important experiences and relationships, the absurd, the human, and the comical.

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With his blues and folk chops on harmonica, Yardley’s presence lights up the room and perks up the ears. With this syzygy of lyricism, harp, and guitar, Yardley’s solo performances are richly layered, rooted deeply, and highly engaging.