ELEGANT SIMPLICITY, a rock band, originally hail from the Yorkshire city of Leeds, UK, and was formed by multi-instrumentalist Steven McCabe. The band has released 20+ albums, various singles, and EPs.
In the early days, the band was well known for being ultra-prolific and releasing 3 albums in a year was not unusual.
Musically, the band works in the rock / progressive / classic rock / fusion area producing dynamic and dramatic songs and instrumentals. The band’s music is characterised by strong melody, elaborate and sometimes remarkably simple arrangements wrapped up in the warmth of vintage instruments and emotional guitar work.
The earliest music released by the band featured just Steven performing every instrument. Soon after, Ken Senior (of Evolution / Purple / Parallel or 90 Degrees) became the bands de facto vocalist. All the later releases feature a full band with musicians from all over the word contributing bass, drums, flute, sax, trumpet. Truly an international concern and remote recording pioneers.
Steven McCabe
So, this is what a Rock God looks like!
Among the bands many releases, some of the standout albums include Palindrome, Architect of Light, Kicking the Olive Branch and The Ghost of a Smile.
The band has a worldwide following of dedicated listeners and are still able to sell CDs in the digital age! Most of the bands output is available via Bandcamp and all the streaming platforms / stores you know and love.
Each year, the band releases a Christmas single, featuring a progressive rock style version of a public domain classic. They are a lot of fun and often feature original music sections to flesh them out into something quite special.
Right now, Steven is busy remastering some long unavailable releases as well as working on two albums of new material for the full band. In a radical departure, the latest music will be released in monthly chunks before culminating in the full suite of songs on CD. In all likelihood, this will mean 50% of the songs being released as singles before the full album is released. Probably.
Outside of the studio, Steven likes to get back into the studio – but only after first visiting one of the many coffee shops on his daily routine!
You can contact the band via their website at www.elegantsimplicity.com
Fun facts
- The band’s name comes from a song our fledgling guitar hero wrote in his late teens. The song is still in the archives, but the name carries on!
- They take their influences from Pink Floyd to the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Steeleye Span! But they sound nothing like them. Really, it is true!
- To this date, Elegant Simplicity are the only band that upgrades albums for free if you have bought directly from them in the past. So, if you originally bought the first edition CD and it gets remastered, you get the remaster for no charge. No one else looks after their fans quite like this.