Mark Stepakoff

Some Assembly Required Mark Stepakoff

Stepakoff is a New England writer with a keen perspective laced with Zevonesque deadpan humor and John Prine-like wordplay. With a sensibility reminiscent of contemporary songwriters like Robbie Fulks and Todd Snider, Stepakoff's rich lyrics and ingenious rhymes seasoned with acoustic guitar, fiddle and mandolin provide plenty of laughs. And Stepakoff displays his versatility on several more poignant numbers as well on his latest release, "Some Assembly Required." Stepakoff's typically wacky perspectives, clever wordplay, and deadpan presentation are all present in this acclaimed writer's latest collection. Starting with the title track's rhymes for "quagmire" and "congeal", through the firmly tongue-in-cheek "Vicarious" and the rollicking ode to the hangover breakfast "Huevos Rancheros", we get just what we expect from Stepakoff, the accomplished and humorous wordsmith. Elsewhere, such as on "Worst Kept Secret," a classic jazz-style cheating ballad, the spooky "Dead Man's Hand" and the reflective "Chevy Biscayne", Stepakoff cements his reputation as one of the finest overall songwriters around. Straight through to the final track - a slow, beautiful Southern culture song "When Vernon Moved From Tupelo" that depicts the Presley family's move to Memphis when Elvis was 13 - this is truly a classic collection, co-produced by Tom Eaton (Ellis Paul, Vance Gilbert) and featuring backing by some of New England's finest musicians, including Duke Levine (guitar), Joyce Anderson (fiddle) and Sean Staples (mandolin). Even prior to it's release, four of the tracks from "Assembly" have earned Stepakoff songwriting awards from, respectively, the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, the Great American Song Contest, American Songwriter magazine, and the Dallas Songwriters Association. Stepakoff, a Boston-based songwriter, is a former First Prize winner in both the Great American Song Contest and American Songwriter magazine's lyric contest and a two-time finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition. In a city with no shortage of songwriting talent, long-time Boston indie-music journal The Noise dubbed him 'Boston's biggest songwriting secret.' His previous release, "There Goes The Neighborhood," reached number 21 on the national Folk-DJ chart in 2005 and was called "unbeatably original" by Performing Songwriter magazine.