Stephen B. Antonakos, aka Homeboy Steve, was born and raised on the island of Manhattan, New York City, U.S.A. As a child he pressed his ears against the window of the West End Cafe to hear Tiny Grimes and listened to Cousin Brucie on AM radio. He played tambourine in The Teacher's Dilemma ("Paint It Black", "Day Tripper"). Further musical ambitions were delayed until the needle dropped on the Allman Brothers' Eat a Peach side three, track one. After playing guitar for one month without knowing the proper tuning, progress was soon made. After years of playing, jamming, busking, practicing and listening, his love for music remains intact. He first gained notoriety in his hometown of New York City as guitar player and singer as a member of the General Sherman Band who won the 1985 Village Voice Street Performer competition. They played "classic rock" covers before it became a catch phrase. The late eighties and early nineties found him playing with the Blue Chieftains, who played Americana before that was a catchphrase. With them he did his first cross country and European tours. They recorded two 45rpm singles for the Diesel Only label and appeared on the two Diesel Only compilation CDs. This band also recorded and performed his first compositions. Among the many bands he's played with since then was 5 Chinese Brothers, the darlings of the Americana singer-songwriter set. They recorded a composition of his on each of the three records they did together, released on the 1-800-Prime CD label (now called Fifty Fifty Music). His song about girls and cars, "Pit Stop", is on 1995's Stone Soup; the working class rocker "Big Boots" is on Lets Kill Saturday Night , released in 1997: and the unabashed country weeper "Dear Santa" appeared on A Window Shopper's Christmas the same year. They toured all over the USA, Canada and Europe, playing gigs that ranged from coffeehouses to festivals. A common thread through all these years was the hundreds of gigs he played with Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue alumnus Howie Wyeth until Howie's untimely death in 1996. He also did a stint with Greg Garing, the bluegrass/trip hop phenomena. They were mainstays at the well known scene at 9C Bar in the East Village and toured extensively in the States and Europe. Currently he plays an eclectic mix of music including the cajun/zydeco sound of Dirty Water Dogs, Greek rebetiko with Dervisi, and the NYC blues legend Jerry Dugger He has released several CDs of original music. Are We There Yet ? in 2008, a “…playful, fun, staggeringly diverse mix of styles from one of New York’s most esteemed guitarists…clever, wry Americana-flavored tunes.” Poor Santa, in 2013, “…a metaphor for everything that’s wrong with the world right now and in typical Homeboy Steve fashion, it’s funny” Rock 'n' Roll Sun in 2014 “…one of the half-dozen best guitarists in New York…just as much about tunesmithing as it is about the guitars.” His newest release, Bodega Rock, continues to mine the rich roots rock mother lode with compassion and humor. It is a nine song journey into the soul of the artist, at times heartening, other times harrowing, but always authentic.. You can hear it and the rest of the album at https://homeboysteve.bandcamp.com/album/bodega-rock Homeboy Steve thinks that there's one or two good songs left that haven't already been written and he presents his attempts to write and perform them accompanied by his guitar and other friends. In the meantime, playing live is his passion, which he attacks with a vengeance. http://homeboysteve.com