TOWN GUITARIST TAKES LEAD ON ALICE COOPER’S LATEST ALBUM
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A GRIMSBY-based guitarist has featured alongside rock royalty Alice Cooper on a track on his new album.
Steven Crayn was head-hunted to play lead guitar on the track Social Debris from Alice Cooper’s new album Detroit Stories, pictured below, which was released yesterday, Friday, February 26.
Steven has always been a fan of the 73-year-old American rock legend, so getting the opportunity to feature on his album was a dream come true.
He said: “It is absolutely incredible to play for someone that you’ve grown up listening to.
“I was a massive Alice Cooper fan back in the 70s and 80s so it was amazing to get the call to ask if I’d be up for playing on one of his tracks.
“The only way I can explain it is if you grew up a football fan and then end up playing for the team and scoring in the cup final or something like that. “Growing up a fan like I did and to be given an opportunity like this, it really is a dream come true.
“I was approached by Alice Cooper’s producer Bob Ezrin to play on the track which was amazing too because he has worked on so many iconic albums over the years, like Pink Floyd’s The Wall and with top acts like Aerosmith and Kiss.
“If someone had told me all those years ago when I was playing in the pubs and clubs that I’d one day play on a track for Alice Cooper I’d have told them to get stuffed, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Steven lived in Grimsby area during the 1980s and played in a number of local bands for around 15 years before moving to attend The London College of Music. college in London.
One of Steven’s original songs, Another Cold Beer, was picked up by Rimmel London in 2006 who used the track for the marketing campaign headed by supermodel Kate Moss.
He made a return to Grimsby in 2013 with his partner who is local to the area. To make the track with the Poison and School’s Out singer happen during coronavirus restrictions, Steven teamed up with Grimsby’s Twangmeister Studio for the music to be recorded remotely.
His part was actually recorded inside a radio booth at the town’s hospital.
Steven said: “Obviously with the way things are at the moment I wasn’t able to go and play for them live so I contacted Dan Wesley at Twangmeister Studios to see if he could help out.
“We ended up recording the guitar at the hospital in the radio booth there which was a little bit different but it did the job. I’m looking forward to all this pandemic stuff being over so I can go into a pub and put the track on the jukebox.” The track also features the surviving members of Alice’s original band – drummer Neal Smith, bass player Dennis Dunaway and rhythm guitarist Michael Bruce, who are all played on the band’s biggest hits, including School’s Out.
If someone had told me all those years ago I’d one day play on a track for Alice Cooper I’d have told them to
get stuffed