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Delicate Steve

Delicate Steve

One-man band Steve Marion builds instrumental worlds from bedroom-recorded guitar, prog textures, and African-influenced pop hooks.

APPLE MUSIC

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Delicate Steve

LIVE SESSION · NPR Tiny Desk

Delicate Steve: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

About

MOODS · instrumental · exploratory · breezy · layered · prog-tinged · warm · playful · inventive · guitar-driven · rhythmic

BIOGRAPHY

Delicate Steve is the recording name of Steve Marion, an American multi-instrumentalist from Fredon Township, New Jersey, who signed his band to Warner Brothers while still in high school. He first gained wider attention with 2011's Wondervisions, recorded entirely in his bedroom and released on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, earning a New York Times Critics' Choice nod and a spot on NPR's favorite songs of the year. His catalog since has grown through Positive Force (2012), This Is Steve (2017) on Anti-, Till I Burn Up (2019), and 2024's Delicate Steve Sings, an instrumental record where his guitar stands in for vocals on originals and covers. Marion has also worked as a touring and session guitarist with acts including The Black Keys, Paul Simon, and Tame Impala.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Delicate Steve's instrumental rock fuses 1970s prog, folksy slide guitar, African-influenced rhythms, and surf tones into something inventive and hard to pin down. His songs have earned real critical traction, from a New York Times Critics' Choice pick to strong reviews in Pitchfork, Paste, and Spin, and his 2012 track 'Wally Wilder' was later sampled by Kanye West. Beyond his own records, he's lent his guitar to sessions and tours with The Black Keys, Paul Simon, and Tame Impala, making him a quietly influential presence across other people's music too.

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