A gifted singer-songwriter is growing in Boston. Bethel Steele has been writing music since the age of 14, continuing through high school, college and a short post-collegiate career in the sciences. When Steele moved to a small town outside of Poughkeepsie, New York, the music that had been written and played behind closed doors finally showed its face to a listening audience. After a few months of playing in the area, Steele recorded an 8-song EP, Beautiful Woman. "It was literally the result of an ultimatum," says Steele about the 2006 release. "One of the bartenders at the venue where I played most often told me that he wouldn't let me perform again if I didn't have something to sell. So I recorded Beautiful Woman, burnt some copies of it, used a picture of a sunset that I had taken a few weeks earlier as the cover image and 'released' the CD the next time I played at the bar." Steele released a long-awaited first full-length CD, Come Home, in June of 2009. This effort is the result of more than a year of being in and out of the studio, bringing a range of musicians and different sounds to the soulful lyrics and driving rhythmic guitar that has become a trademark of Steele's music. The album has tastes of a country upbringing as well as dashes of pop and rock, but is firmly entrenched in the folk genre. "Come Home is a reflection on my moving to Boston," Steele reveals. "I was torn between wanting to be out in the country with the open fields and wanting to have a community to be a part of, both musically and otherwise."