guaranteed security

on my subway ride into work this morning, a teenage boy with crutches and a cast on his leg sat down in a seat next to mine alongside his mother and father. it was the manhattan bound local train. as we pulled in at the next transfer stop an express train was across the platform and his parents asked him if he'd rather take it, since it's a faster ride. his response has stayed with me all day. he said "my seat is guaranteed here, there's no seat guaranteed for me on that train."
his parents used their powers of persuation and pressured him to get on the other train. as i watched him limp away, it dawned on me how much we can take for granted without realizing it. though the other train was faster, he wanted to stay on the one he was on simply for guaranteed security. his condition was hopefully a temporary one, but sometimes it takes a temporary situation to teach us lifelong lessons of appreciation. i dont think ill ever see that kid again and i dont think he meant to teach me a lesson, same way i didnt walk onto this train expecting to learn one, but he did.

as a songwriter i hope to influence peoples lives in some way. i wish to leave lifelong impressions in peoples hearts. there would be no greater accomplishment than to have my words affect and help someone who might need it and be able to connect with people i may have never even met, but feel the same exact way as i did when i wrote them. music is more powerful than we know. hearing a song can bring back memories, make happy times happier, sad times sadder, good times better and bring hope to those who might need it. i am thankful to have music as such a big part of my life and have the support of my fans. without music i dont know who i'd be.

- stevenbaggs

what a week.

as our plane touched down on the jfk runway, i felt new york's cold winter chill through the drafty side window. i looked over at my best friend and it became all too clear that this short break we had taken from reality was over just as fast as it began. five days in sunny florida were now nothing but a memory. a blur, the way most good times end.

this trip was a change of scenery, but hardly a vacation. mornings were non existent and slept right through for the most part. my days, which began at around 2pm, were spent writing/recording new music. in the past few weeks a lot of changes have occurred in my life and they've compelled me to write. writing these songs have helped me see things i didn't see and realize things about both myself and the people in my life that i may not have noticed. this city never sleeps, but a lack of sleep can sometimes leave me with blurry vision which affects my judgment and the decisions i make. it's definitely been blindsiding me for some time now.

i landed in new york with a new state of mind, new songs and a new musical identity. i decided its time for a change and have been thinking of a band name for some time. in the last hour of our last day, the name came to me. it's funny how when you try to find something it never turns up, but when you decide to let it find you, it appears clear as day.

if everything we do is for a reason, then this little breaks reason was to induce me with clarity. i can breathe, i can breathe now.

- stevenbaggs

new year's message.

pretty in pink party

our good friend jessie lee (http://www.myspace.com/jessieleemodeling) asked us to play a rad party in williamsburg caled pretty in pink. it was a sick time!
got to perform a remix version of 'but, everybody lies' with my boy mikealis. we also played one of his songs called 'addict'. its a great song. check it out on his myspace - http://www.myspace.com/mikealis and tell slone i say waddup.

here's some internet press from the show...i guess? - pretty in pink party. dont know why he thinks i said that, but i didnt.

anyway...on a much better note, new music is coming soon!!!

- stevenbaggs

rob freeman / new songs

this past week the band and i traveled to a town in New Jersey called Boonton to record some new songs in The Pilot Studio with producer Rob Freeman.

walking in i wasn't exactly sure of what to expect. honestly, all i knew is that the guy i chose to produce and record the new songs used to be the guitarist in a band called Hidden In Plainview and produced the latest Hit The Lights record which both kicked major ass. everyone i spoke to before going in had only great things to say about him.

after a week in the studio i get it and would just like to take this opportunity to say that Rob Freeman is not only an extremely talented musician and producer, but also a great person over all. he's got a great heart that's drenched in talent and positivity. he strives for nothing but the best in every bar of every line in every song, which made the final product sound so incredible. sitting back home in my room writing this, i already miss being in the studio with him everyday and know i made the right choice going in with Rob. he makes recording fun. thank you so much dude.

if you're a band looking to record i hands down suggest getting dates booked to record in The Pilot Studio. check him out on my top friends and trust me, if you work with him you'll leave with songs you never expected sounding so good. he's the fucking man!

just one thing...if you play around too much he might just close the studio on you, unless you walk to queens and get him a sugar cookie or some cambodian breast milk.

- stevenbaggs

everybody hurts

her eyes on the horizon
watching waves wash away
her hearts beaten, but still beating
as the sunrise dries her tears away

her days end in a daze and her nights are nothing but a blur
her hearts tangled and dangled
put on display for all the world
and she's broken again

everybody hurts
it's the way this world works
pain's what makes us real

her faith is quiet jaded
a prescription love is all she knows
is it worth this?
feeling worthless
just a lost soul worn down to the bone
and she's broken again

everybody hurts
it's the way this world works
pain's what makes us real
if we all come undone
i guess you're not the only one
and we know how you feel

it's never too late for you to turn it around
today is the start of your new life
and all the mistakes that you've made have made you who you are today

- stevenbaggs

alternative addiction unsigned top 10 countdown

i'm on the Alternative Addiction Unsigned Top 10 Countdown. please help vote me to the number 1 spot!!!

http://www.alternativeaddiction.com/unknownbands/unknowntop10.asp

also, as a gift from me to you, 'Torn' is available for free download at www.alternativeaddiction.com - so go get on that while it's still up!! (yea i know..that's what she said)

- stevenbaggs

the "he" is me

he's a broken hearted heart breaker
with lungs barely strong enough to inhale the silence
and exhale the confusion on this long drive home
feeling helpless and out of place
friendless and out of patience
there were actions taken and trust mistaken
but, trust is both fickle and intangible
trust requires great care and fragile hands to be kept whole
trust requires truthful lips to be kept alive

his life is like a coloring book
but, lately his luck has been an empty box of crayons
the pages are left bare
they lay black, white and colorless

tonight was the ending of a chapter in his book entitled -
'the story of my life'
tonight was a lesson worth learning, yet taken in by few
tonight was history repeating itself all over again
tonight was the start of something real and the mourning of a cold and lonely winter season
tonight was summer at it's best

some friends are lifelong, others temporary
some friends are nothing more than enemies in training
months spent gathering information, turning their backs and using every ounce of what they've learned against you

he spends his days preparing for his nights
preparing for his dreams
preparing for an awakening
drifting into the dark, scared and paralyzed
trying his best to find out who he is inside

- stevenbaggs

i thought her heart needed saving

i thought her heart needed saving
and though i've never been much of a hero, i gave it my best shot.
knocked out and knocked down, round after round.
my weak scrawny torso was no match for the stubborn addictions that lurked in dark rooms of this city.
every moment lost and wasted, every night she came home wasted.
such a distressed mess living on a diet of liquid regret.
but, regret was just a constant reminder embodied in the shape of a crimson flow from her pierced nostril.
both dried up and defeated.
day after day.
night after night.
bump after bump.
line after line.

the day after yesterday she awoke from the intoxicated daydream she'd been living in with half a bag of regret left buried at the bottom of her purse.
so far down that she forgot it was even there.
the memory of its existence completely erased.
it's kept there as a reminder.
a test she's failed a million times.
but, this time she'll pass every time.
she's growing up and growing out of the habits that have been bringing her down.

i thought her heart needed saving,
but i’m beginning to see that some hearts are bigger than the bodies they’re kept in.
she’s stronger than i gave her credit for.
though at times her heart of glass may crack and her hands might bleed trying to keep it intact, her heart will never shatter.
though she's learning heartache is just an unpreventable casualty of love and though she may not believe it,
this girl is full of love.

- stevenbaggs

the way she said my name

you weren't the reason i came,
but you were the reason i stayed.
inviting stares from across the room lured me in like the scent of sweet perfume.
drunken words spoken from shaky lips.
muffled words heard by anxious ears.
hanging on every sentence in search of a reason when reasons were unknown.
insecurities like beads of sweat dripped down my spine.
but all i could do was undress her with my eyes.
and her eyes were the bluest i'd ever seen.

she was head to toe in black, mourning the weather i suppose.
but, these new york winter nights didn't seem half as cold with our hands clasped tight.
feeling misplaced and out of shape,
lost in the middle of everything she'd grown to hate.
i watched her cry just a little in the back of that cab.
showed me a side of her i never even knew she had.

leaving her apartment on this long drive home.
you could tell by my tone, these emotions have grown.
given no choice but to rethink choices,
recollect thoughts and block out the voices
when all i am is skin and bones
my bodies tired and growing old
just a thin coated shelter for my soul.
and the full moon glows its neon glow
illuminating the sky and melting the snow
and much like the moon tonight, i'm feeling whole
because the reciprication i've been waiting for has finally came.
i could sense it in the way she said my name.

- stevenbaggs