DittyTV praised Stevens as, “In that sweet spot of pop-rock represented by guys like Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, John Cafferty, Tom Petty, [and] Don Henley,” while The Big Takeover noted how his “Supremely tasteful arrangements keep excess far at bay.”

Stevens grew up in West Point, Mississippi, immersed in Delta blues, Elvis Presley, and ‘70s/’80s AM radio. Inspired by his mother, an accomplished church singer and pianist, and older brother Rogers’ success as guitarist for Blind Melon, he started his first band at age 12.

“My old man couldn’t sing or play a note,” he recalled. “But I never heard the end of it about the time he jumped on stage and played maracas with Bo Diddley in the ‘50’s, and how I’d never top that!”

Having barely survived a horrific rail crossing accident four years later, Stevens spent long months of recovery honing his guitar playing. In 1994, he left Mississippi for Austin, where he spent 15 years leading retro rock band Moonlight Towers before becoming an in-demand producer/engineer and session musician for countless other artists at his studio, EAR (East Austin Recording), and an ascendant solo performer.