Poet/singer/songwriter/actor and author … multitalented entertainer Steve Petersen is the full package, constantly in motion, pursuing his dreams and sharing his creative spirit with an enthusiastic determination that is contagious.
After working in business development for large construction companies in Los Angeles for most of his 50-plus years, the pursuit of an entertainment venue is fast becoming a second career for Petersen. Though still in its infancy - beginning just shortly after September 11, 2001 – it is a career incubated in his youth, and propelled over time by a series of unusual and interesting events.
“It all started when my dad brought home a guitar and a Johnny Cash album when I was a little boy,” Steve revealed, a wide, infectious grin lighting up his face. “He asked me if I could learn to play Johnny Cash songs for him. I picked up the songs by ear while listening to the album over and over, teaching myself to play the chords, and finally mastering every song on the LP.”
Before long other youthful interests, mainly surfing, took precedence in Petersen’s life and he put away the guitar until the age of 13 when his mother, a schoolteacher, brought home a 45 disc featuring the song “House of the Rising Sun.” She asked Steve if he could learn to play the song for her like he did with the Cash songs for his dad.
“I taught myself that song and played it for my mom almost every night for a year. She would come home from work, sit and relax with a glass of wine and a cigarette, and listen while I played,” Petersen explained, baby blue eyes misting slightly. “My parents always had faith in me, and now that my mother has passed away my dad remains my biggest cheer leader.”
Moving into adulthood, Steve laid aside his guitar once again, going about the business of getting educated and becoming husband and father. Then in the midst of 9/11 a very strong inspiration about writing songs came to him. Taking up his instrument once more he composed, “These Colors Don’t Run,” a song that became part of the Operation Iraqi Freedom program made available to the American troops and played on radio stations across the US.
The writing and playing of that song inspired Petersen to think about performing professionally, and he made the decision to send out some demo tapes. To Steve’s amazement, within two weeks one of the songs, “The Unknown Blonde” - an anthem to every rock and roll singer who has ever lived - came to the attention of Eric Burdon and the Animals (the band who wrote and performed the song, “House of the Rising Sun”). And Steve received a call asking him to open for their New Year’s Eve 2002 concert.
“I’m sure my mother’s angel, her spirit, had something to do with that turn of events,” Petersen exclaimed.
That New Year’s opening was held at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, CA, and Steve speaks of the experience with a chuckle. He says that when they announced his name, dimmed the lights and shined the spotlight upon him, he almost passed out in absolute mortal terror, thinking his life was going to end right there. But finally, after playing 45 minutes of the songs he had written for his album (the only ones he knew at the time) he walked off the stage and in his words, “it has been an amazing experience ever since.”
Petersen’s new life continued unfolding, and that next summer he was invited to perform at the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach, CA. His playtime was to be four hours, and knowing only 45 minutes of songs, he had to scramble to learn more tunes. As in the past, he listened, self-taught and learned enough numbers to fulfill that time allotment.
Steve still owns that first guitar received as a kid, preserving it as a keepsake, but today he performs his music on a 12 string Koa acoustic guitar, custom built on the island of Kauai by famed maker Mickey Sussman. Originally made for, Steven Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash, it seems Stills never picked up the guitar. Petersen heard about the instrument, visited the shop, strung it for the first time, played it and coveted it … but just couldn’t afford it.
Staying for a visit on the island, he was invited to a 9/11/02-tribute concert by famed Hawaiian musician Roland Cazimero. After playing the Koa guitar for the concert, Cazimero lifted the instrument over his head, blessed it and presented it to an amazed Petersen. Steve later found out his father had actually bought it for him.
As a songwriter Steve Petersen is among those thought to be poets chronicling our times, and he certainly fits the bill. He began writing poetry in early childhood and, encouraged by an English teacher, has pursued the craft in earnest ever since. Consumed by this art form, he also studied the great poets, one of his favorite being Rod McKuen. Little did he realize at the time, that in his future a friend would gift McKuen with a copy of his first album, “I Just Wanna Be in Love,” and that Rod would be very taken with his songs.
“After listening to my album, Rod McKuen contacted me with an invitation to meet him at a program of artists performing Andrew Lloyd Weber tunes for an Aids Awareness Benefit,” Petersen explained. “Meeting Rod and attending an after party with all those performers was one of the highlights of my life. I never thought that would ever happen and I still don’t quite believe it did.”
In another synchronic incident as a frequent traveler to Palm Springs to visit his father, Steve had opportunity to meet the owners of Palapas, an artist’s center there. Built on a property housing a nursery, the center was formerly home to a large dying Palo Verde tree. Touched by the fragility of the old tree, Petersen spent many ultimate visits to the desert community, cultivating the soil around the tree and nursing it back to health. As it came to life, its beautiful yellow flowers blooming, Steve was struck with the idea of hanging copies of his poems - like Christmas ornaments - from its branches. Today that tree has become known as the Poet Tree, and visitors there have been inspired to contact Steve personally in order to share poems of their own with him, as well as stories of their lives.
In a stretch from poet to author, having already written his first book entitled “Healer,” a fiction thriller, Steve presently has three others in the works, one being about that tree, entitled “Poems from the Poet Tree.” In it, he will not only share his poems, but the poems and stories he has gathered from visitors to the tree’s site.
As a man of many talents, Petersen has also entered the challenging world of acting. In that genre his credits include: the off Broadway hit play, “Batboy the Musical;” TV’s West Wing; “Five Minutes Alone” a local independent film; and an appearance in a Papa Roach music video, “Getting Away with Murder.” Currently he is appearing in a play in the desert called “NEXT,” in a role similar to the hero in his first book, “Healer.” But in this case, instead of healing a child, the healer is called in to restore the faith of a downtrodden cast of actors and entertainers auditioning for a new musical show.
Holding a philosophy that states, “share your talents, share your heart and make the world a better and safer place to live,” multi-faceted Steve Petersen is living a life seldom idle, one filled with synchronicities. And as poet/singer/songwriter/author and actor - having talent, will travel - he is a man on fire, pursuing his dreams with a passion. With a determination like that, it seems he can’t help but succeed. b
To learn more about Steve Petersen visit www.xosrox.com.