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Welcome to Steve Carter Connextion

The Steve Carter Connextion formed in "The Fan" section of Richmond, Virginia, August of 2006, when vocalist/guitarist Steven Boone decided to let veteran keyboardist/organist Christopher Redd hear a couple of songs that he had written on acoustic guitar. At the time, Steven was part of a local "jam" band by the name of "Bella Blue" but he wanted to try a few new musical ideas as a solo act. On a late night after a Bella Blue practice, Steven invited Chris to listen to a couple songs that he had written. Right there on Cary Street in Richmond, Steven pulled out his guitar and began to sing. A crowd of listeners insued and Chris immediately made plans to put a group of veteran musicians behind Steve in order to create a "new" sound for the Richmond area.

For the next couple days, Chris and Steve "pounded" the pavement with the intent of finding the right group of musicians to help them form "The Connextion". After continued thoughts, Francisco "Bubbie" Rollins and bassist Michael R. Bear aka "Bear" were called in to assistance with this "original" music project. Bubbie Rollins, a highly requested local gospel/R&B drummer, was asked to play with the purpose of bringing in a high energy style of playing to the acoustic foundation. Bear, who found success as a stand out soccer player for VCU, was also willing to dedicate time in the forming of this band. His ability to play several different genres of music would really be instrumental during the initial recordings. Based on the recommendation of Steve, local dynamo jazz saxophonist Jason Arce was asked to join the group with the intent of rounding out this group of highly talented musicians. After only a few practices, Bubbie Rollins had to leave the group due to a tragic family emergency. Through recommendation of Jason, jazz drummer C.J. Wolfe volunteered to join the group completing the band. With this line up – "Steve Carter Connextion" was formed and ready to enter the local music scene.

For the next several weeks, the Steve Carter Connextion practiced relentlessly and continued to add to their list of "originals" in order to may be ready to record their first demo album. Steve Carter Connextion was created with the idea of becoming a local and locally recording touring band, so they did everything they could to avoid becoming known as a local "cover" band. With this in mind, the band decided to "hone" their skills in the living room of Steve's house by inviting friends to come over during their long practices. During the practices, friends were asked to give constructive criticism and suggestions to what they thought would give their sound the "edge" they were looking for. Just 2 months later, in October 2006, the Steve Carter Connextion entered a local "home" studio, Millennium Studios, under the ownership of Justin Tanner, step brother of C.J. Wolfe to record their first demo album. "Brad", "Silhouette", "Susie", "Inch x Inch", & "Nine 2 Five" were selected out of approximately 12 original songs to go to press. Remarkably, after 6 takes, the foundation of the demo was finished. Chris and Jason then added their magic the following night in overdubs. Steve added in the vocals and guitar overdubs the next week. After mixing and editing, the first demo was ready.

To date, the circulation of that demo has exceeded some 1000 copies amongst locals, as well as friends in nearby Charlottesville, Northern Virginia, Harrisonburg and the Tidewater area. The first public performance of the Steve Carter Connextion occurred at the local "Fan" hot spot "Hyperlink Café" in November of 2006. After the success of that gig, booking management for the club asked if the band could do another gig in a few weeks. At that time, it was stated by those who attended, that the Steve Carter Connextion truly had an "infectious and incredibly contagious sound that ranked amongst the best bands in Richmond". The second gig was November 27, 2006, at the Hyperlink Café with a crowd of about 150 people in attendance. Gigs at Virginia Commonwealth University, local fraternity parties, local clubs, and private parties soon followed giving the band the opportunity to better hone their bond in the band. With all of these performances, the band started to see how their fan base was growing at an incredible rate.

In March 2007, the band suffered a lost in the departing of drummer C.J. Wolfe. C.J. decided that he wanted to follow his personal dreams of becoming a jazz drummer and further do this by moving to NYC to play with friends from the VCU music department. This was definitely a blow to the core of what they did as a "family" of musicians - as brothers. Nevertheless, they wished C.J. luck in his future endeavors and assured him that they were still brothers in the arts. "We do understand your decision and with the up most level of respect to you - we want you to "go get em' C.J. We are still family and we look forward to hearing great things from him in the near future" stated the existing band members. The absence of a drummer was filled immediately by multi-talented, music prodigy Devonne "Chocolate" Harris. Upon his arrival in the band, this music dynamo breathed a new breath of life into the young band. Devonne possessed the ability of not only play every instrument in the band, have perfect tonal pitch, but to also interpret difficult polyrhythm's to the bands new material. With him on board, the band has begun to arrange their new material with a new approach, giving it a fresh new originally unique sound. This sound will take them to the next level. In the next following months, the Steve Carter Connexion has truly buckled down and realized that the time has come for them to be taken seriously amongst the best band in Richmond and Virginia.

During the summer, they plan on completing their next demo album with the hopes of presenting it to major and mid-major record companies. They have planned on entering several local and national talent search/band competitions with the hope that they will be heard by music industry artist development representatives and top executives. To date, their list of originals has grown to a remarkable 55 songs not including some 10-15 songs that are being finished today. Even with this number, they are continuing to write better material each day.