CLICK HERE to read the Boston Globe Feature Article about Steven & Glen Hansard

"Glen Hansard said he traditionally plays a few songs by himself, midway through each set. But after the first, he spoke in his thick Irish accent about a street performer they came across as they were walking on Commonwealth Avenue before the show. He asked everyone to be quiet as he asked Steven Bacon, the performer, to stand up, and invited him onstage to sing one of his own songs. Bacon, who seemed surprised by the gesture, walked onstage, awestruck, as Hansard gave him his guitar and promptly left the stage, giving Bacon time to play an original song. When he was finished, Bacon received a standing ovation as he looked out at the crowd."

Concert Review: A 'Swell' time, Oscar winners (from the movie ONCE) play at Agganis - by Daniel Wilets

The Boston Globe September 21, 2008

".....A sweet midshow moment occurred when Glen Hansard invited Steven Bacon, a busker he’d seen on Commonwealth Avenue earlier Friday, onstage to perform one of his own tunes. Those impromptu moments don’t usually happen at arenas. But Hansard and Irglova don’t seem to care about arena protocol."

Hub Crowd Falls for Swell Season. By Christopher Blagg

Portland Phoenix 10/10/08

You probably remember singer/songwriter STEVEN BACON, who moved to Portland from Alaska, helped out with founding CAT & MOUSE RECORDS, and then moved on down to Boston, where he now works daily playing on the streets and in the subways. Well, he’s got a pretty good story. He’s a big Once fan (you know, the movie starring Glen Hansard of the Frames and Marketa Irglova, where they play on the streets and don’t have names?), so when he heard Hansard and Irglova were coming to Boston with their band, SWELL SEASON, he got tickets. Then he set up outside Agganis Arena and played for three hours before the show, when who should show up in front of him but Hansard and Irglova, who’d been tipped off by a friend and came over to see him. They threw a tip in the case, and that would have been cool right there, but then Bacon goes into the show and Hansard actually calls him up to the stage (seriously — and in a weird coincidence, the “Sibilance” staff is following a story about LOST ON LIFTOFF’s WALT CRAVEN getting up with WEEZER) and lets him play one of his original songs. The crowd goes nuts, and now everyone’s interested in the guy who played with Swell Season. ANTJE DUVEKOT has asked him to come and play with her, ELLIS PAUL invited him to a show, and CD BABY recorded a podcast with him, all just as a start.

Portland Scene Report, October 10, 2008 by Sam Pfiefle,

Performer Magazine. August, 2007.

In his third release, Sparrow, award-winning singer/songwriter Steven Bacon flirts with British-style pop melodies, forays into funk and loops with abandon. The alt-folk artist is equally likely to plunge into the just-plain-folk side of his repertoire; in fact, the lyrics of the rousing hillbilly ballad “Upswing Again” could have been written generations ago. Bacon croons, “Holdin’ my head up high / The sun is sittin’ on a brand new sky / Water flowin’ where the river run dry / Hell, I don’t know, no reason why.”

Bacon’s vocals are understated, perhaps for the better — all the more to showcase the intensity of his lyrics. After a thorough listen, it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that Bacon is as much a poet as he is a musician. He has a knack for subtle alliteration, concrete metaphors, and allusive imagery. The phoenix, the empty tomb and the sparrow are the sorts of archetypes Bacon gathers from the past to reuse for his own purposes. The extended metaphor even makes an appearance in “Sweet Melody,” where “major” and “minor” chords work out their differences in both the lyrics and the music.

The final track, “Desperate,” a song about homeless youth, gives Bacon a chance to showcase not only his talent, but also his passion. The bursting chorus, with its layered vocals and rhythms, makes it hard to believe that this recording is the work of one man.

It’s surprising that Bacon’s CD was composed as part of February Album Writing Month, with all 10 songs being written in a single month. It makes one wonder what Bacon could come up with in two. (Self-released)