Americana-inspired singer songwriter Bethel Steele has traveled from Portland, Maine to Austin, Texas slinging songs, sharing stories, smiles and hugs with listeners. Bethel was born and raised in upstate New York, has been based out of Boston, MA for the past 7 years and will be residing in Fort Collins, CO beginning in the Fall. Something of an amalgam of Lori McKenna, Ani DiFranco, Lucinda Williams and Neil Young, Bethel’s sound is the combination of a smoky alto voice and a guitar playing style that ranges from percussive and driving to delicate and sweet. While exploring the intrinsic beauty in whiskey-soaked one night stands, the stories of thrill-seekers and the unrelenting passage of time, Steele’s songs will pick you up, set you to soar, and deliver you safely back to your seat. Steele’s newest release, an EP called "Shadows and Light," is a 6-song project produced and engineered by Neale Eckstein of Fox Run Studios in Sudbury, MA. The intention of the record was to create a record that was both vulnerable and uplifting. The EP features performances by local music man Tom Bianchi (bass), multi-instrumentalist Charlie Rose (electric guitar) and gentle human and amazing musician Pat Wictor (electric guitar, dobro). Kelly Walker, Folk DJ of the Sundilla Radio Hour (WKCC, WITH), says this of the new project: "Bethel draws the listener in with songs that are clearly intensely personal, but reveal themselves to be true for us all. You cannot help but be moved and perhaps changed a little for the better in listening to them." Two other studio records have resulted from Bethel and Neale’s friendship that was established in the summer of 2011 at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival: ‘Of Love and Whiskey’ (released in 2012), co-produced by Neale Eckstein, of Fox Run Studio/Fox Run House Concerts and Jagoda, NYC percussionist of Swamp Cabbage and ‘Broken Record,’ an acoustic 5-song EP that has influences from the blues, bluegrass and the story-telling folk genres. John Apice, a reviewer for NoDepression.com, writes this about Bethel's music: "Steele knows how to tell a great story, adorn it in bright musical colors and deliver confidently... [with a] deep, beautiful cognac flavored voice surrounded by a wealth of original material. Bethel is confident and sings with authority... Bethel has eyes, ears and heart open, pencil sharpened and sees what many other artists seem to miss." In 2013, Bethel was recognized as a Kerrville New Folk Finalist and as a Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist. Additionally, Steele was awarded a grant from Club Passim’s Iguana Music Fund to share music and speak in schools and LGBTQ-focused youth groups presenting “The Skin You’re In: how to be yourself in world that tries to fit you into a box.” "The singer-songwriter movement started in the early 1970s. By now, it can be called a tradition, and with Bethel Steele, it is in good hands." - Darius Ripps of 'Oliver di Place' music blog