CD Review: Eve ‘n’ Stephen “Now’s the Time”

Cleveland-based duo (and husband and wife) Evie Morris and Stephen Morris have existed in the Cleveland music scene for many years now as they perform under the moniker of Eve ‘n’ Stephen. Throughout the time they have been a songwriter team, Eve ‘n’ Stephen have created a nice collection of music that they play during their concerts. The music they play is nicely varied as it changes from one genre of music from one track to the next. The duo has just completed an album of both original compositions and cover versions of other people’s songs. The newly created album from Eve ‘n’ Stephen is called Now’s the Time.

For the album, Eve ‘n’ Stephen called upon friends and family to help create the album. Throughout the album, Dan Shramo plays guitar and banjo, Ray Deforest plays the upright bass, Carlos Jones plays congas and percussion, Al Moss plays pedal steel, Roy King plays drums, David Krauss plays harmonica, Shelly Rosen plays fiddle, Bettyjeane (Boojie) Quimby plays clarinet, Christine Dorbish Fader sings and Jake Fader adds a lot of creative elements to the release including producing duties.

Now’s the Time from Eve ‘n’ Stephen begins with an Evie Morris original composition called “I Want My Spirit to be Holy”. As the title of the track suggests, the track contains a generous amount of spiritual feeling in its lyrics. The track begins with Evie and Stephen singing the lyrics a-cappella. Once the duo finishes singing the intro to the song, the rest of the musicians that have come together to help create the album join in and the song takes on a Bluegrass approach. The Bluegrass music on the track goes well with the lyrics and the resulting track will satisfy any Bluegrass music lover’s need for a good dose of the music.

Eve ‘n’ Stephen’s new CD continues with the Stanya Montalvo-penned song “Gypsy Soul”. While “I Want My Spirit to be Holy” has a Bluegrass feel to its music, “Gypsy Soul” changes the feel of the release as the song takes on an early Rock ‘n’ Roll feel. While the first track on the release features the vocals of Evie Morris, “Gypsy Soul” features both of the singers as they create a duet with the song. The piano from Evie Morris is the driving force in the song and really brings out the early Rock ‘n’ Roll feel in the song.

The new release continues with the track “Down on the Keys”. This track was composed by Lizzy Gulick and helps to add a little variety to the album as the music takes on a sound that is very reminiscent of Leon Redbone. The ragtime approach to the music gives the track a very Old Timey feel and helps to add even more variety to the tracks that are included on the Now’s the Time release.

Eve ‘n’ Stephen adds just a little humor to their new release with the original song “Put Down Your iPhone Tonight”. The Country-flavored track features lyrics about the difficulties of trying to have a relationship when all of today’s technology seems to eat up valuable time. The Country music on the track seems like the perfect style to complement the lyrics and the playing of steel guitarist Al Moss brings the song to life. When much of today’s music seems to be rather cold, it’s always nice to come across someone who will add a little humor to their music.

With the Now’s the Time album beginning with the Bluegrass tune of “I Want My Spirit to be Holy,” the release seems to make a return visit to the music style as the Annie Laurie Rosen-penned track “Ezra” also contains a generous amount of Bluegrass flavor and once again features a sound that feels very Old Timey. The banjo playing of Dan Shramo helps to bring the song to life and makes the song feel very authentic. The song ends up being one of the strongest tracks on the release.

As the album continues, the music seems to cross more and more genres. With the track “Junkie Mama,” Eve ‘n’ Stephen creates a song that features a very Bluesy sound to the music. The lyrics about a woman on the wrong path are very poignant and the Blues music adds even more sadness to the track. Throughout the release, Eve ‘n’ Stephen change musical directions from one track to the next while still staying within certain sound and feel to the music.

The Now’s the Time album features songs that all seem to fall into a certain genre of music and all seem to connect with each other. On the track “Since I Found You,” however, the track seems to come out of nowhere as the song features a sound that is reminiscent of Pop-Rock music from the seventies. The track would easily have felt right at home on AM radio back then. The track ends up being one of the strongest songs on the album, no matter how out of place it feels when compared with the rest of the album.

Now’s the Time from Eve ‘n’ Stephen is a strong album. The ever-changing style of the music and the many different musical influences present on the release create an album that could fit in almost anyone’s musical collection as there is something for almost anyone in the music.

Click HERE to view a live performance of “I Want My Spirit to be Holy”.