Firebird was born in 1999, the brainchild of guitarist, singer/songwriter Bill Steer. To those in the know, Firebird is synonymous with bluesy hard rock, the kind that hasn’t been heard in Britain (or anywhere else, for that matter) since the early seventies.
Steer first picked up the guitar at the age of twelve, having heard Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Hendrix for the first time. A few years later he was playing with Midlands noise merchants Napalm Death. Still a teenager, he quit the band in 1989 after completing their second album and hooked up with fellow northerners Carcass.
Often cited as the most influential death metal outfit of all time, they released five highly successful LPs before disintegrating in 1995, and by then Steer was ready to return to his first love - rock.
Hiding out in Sydney, Australia, the idea for Firebird began to take shape. With his passion for the likes of Johnny Winter, Cream and Terry Reid as his starting point, Steer submerged himself in the blues, going back to Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton and Junior Kimbrough, teaching himself bottleneck and harmonica.
Back in London experimenting with one line-up after another, he was eventually tracked down by Japanese label Toy’s Factory with the offer of a solo deal. Preferring a band format he drafted in two old friends, Leo Smee of Cathedral and Ludwig Witt of Spiritual Beggars. In the autumn of 1999 they laid down the first Firebird record at Chapel .....
