We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mike Steppe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mike , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

I was raised on a working farm in Central PA. My Dad was a Forman at Bethlehem Steel Williamsport and my Mother was a homemaker. As a parent of two teenagers, I’ve come to appreciate the guidance I received from my parents, but it felt more like a hinderance at the time. My Dad taught me that I could handle anything situation that came my way…whether it be a broken down tractor in the middle of a 100 acre farm, or developing my creativity. I still have confidence today because he believed in my ability to solve problems and handle difficult challenges as young man. My mother sang in church choir and has a lovely voice. Her and I had many struggles, but we connected on music and I always learning about her musical taste.

Mike , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My musical journey began in 1990. My father became ill and couldn’t work for a few months. During that time, he purchase an Alvarez Regent acoustic guitar for less than $100 from Robert M Sides music in Williamsport with the plan of learning to play. His father was a full time farmer and part time Accordion player at square-dances in the area before he passed away in his early 60’s. My dad never barely got the chance to pick up the guitar-I confiscated that and the Mel Bay’s Guitar Method book and never looked back. My sister Pam also aspired to play, so I saw it as a challenge to learn faster and play better..mostly just to beat her at something, but then I got completely hooked. In my early teens, it was me and the guitar…late at night in the cellar, slowly (and quietly) struggle with the F shape barre chord. I spent countless hours on a John Deere 2630 (with a FM radio) mowing hay and heard all of the classic and new country hits on the only radio station that would come in, WILQ. I would come in after the sun went down and sit with the guitar and try to figure out the chords to songs by Kenny Rogers, Roger Miller, Tom T Hall, Merle Haggard and more. That was over 30 years ago.

Today, I’m a Dad, high school teacher, musician and carpenter. My children and growing up fast…Nate is 18; Leah is 16. Fortunately, both of my parents are still alive and still living and working on the farm where I was raised, along with my 8 siblings. To say I’ve been blessed would be an understatement.

In 2018, I began recording songs that I had written during my divorce from my children’s mother. I had recently met Paul Smith (The Badlees) and started recording sessions at his studio (Eight Days a Week) in Northumberland, PA. I enlisted my friends Mike Wrench Jr., Nick Laylon and a few regional musicians to record the 5 song EP that would eventually be released independently under the Boom Town Boys moniker. A few days before filming the music video for the first single “Baby Wants”, the actress for the scene dropped out and I needed to find a replacement. I reached out to a friend who suggested Cass Chatham. I had never met Cass before the day of the video shoot. During rehearsals for a scene, Cass mentioned that she loved to sing, so we sat down at a piano and she jumped right in with a harmony. Her sultry smooth harmonies are on every song of that Boom Town Boys “The River Song” EP.

Cass and I immediately began performing acoustic shows. Even though she had never sang publicly; Cass was a natural and people fell in love with her stage presence and vocal style. We formed “Cass and The Bailout Crew” with Mike Wrench Jr., and Nick Laylon in 2019 and have performed around 300 shows in PA, NY, NJ and WV and released a full length album in 2021 and six more singles and several music videos.

Today, we are just getting set to release another single “DIE IN PAIN,” writing new material and working our busy 2024 show schedule. Our musical journey started in 2019 and has been starting gain some momentum; last year we played our first national festival; this year we are playing our first out of state festival and have shows at over a dozen new venues. We are not social media darlings, so I don’t have big stats to boast, but that is good with us. We grow slowly and still believe our time for biggest musical success is in the future; whether that be near future or distant future? I guess only time will tell.

www.cassandthebailoutcrew.com

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

One of the most fulfilling parts of being a songwriter is witnessing strangers singing our lyrics during live performances. I’ve written lyrics sitting in my kitchen that are being sung by people who don’t know me personally, but can relate to the story. That feels right to me. That gets us through the long drives, setup, soundcheck, tear down, pack up, un pack, rehearse, emails, post to socials, update website and all the “work” of being a performing musician.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think it is good to have clear goals on a journey, especially a musical journey, but general goals are a solid starting point. Our general goals include growing our social media presence and physical audience; recording and releasing new music; playing new venues and performing more shows dominated by original music. Our specific goals are more lofty; play national festivals, sign to a proper management company and tour the East coast music venue scene and small theater circuit.

The biggest challenge is managing expectations and being happy with the little “wins.” Realizing that the “path” to perceived success will invariably present more road blocks and detours than anyone can predict. Learning to adapt to those challenges is what makes or breaks people on their musical journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cassandthebailoutcrew.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandtheboc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandtheboc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCebj8Nx3WkHVzxn_7pcoHrA
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cass-and-the-bailout-crew
• Other: Spotify

  Bandcamp

  https://cboc.bandcamp.com

Image Credits

Brady Hartman
Robert Buderman
Jeff Solomon
Maria Yoas