Biography
Boston-based singer and songwriter Brian Stevens drew his earliest notice as one of three members in the Cavedogs, a power pop trio whose dedicated following never translated into wider recognition despite the quality of its two albums, Joy Rides for Shut-Ins from 1990 and Soul Martini from 1992. Their prospects suffered further when the fledgling label Enigma Records declared bankruptcy only weeks after the first of those records appeared. Discouraged by the outcome, the group disbanded that same year.
Stevens promptly began collaborating with another Boston musician, Aimee Mann, contributing to her debut solo effort Whatever in 1993 and performing with her touring band. Once the tour concluded, he joined the newly established local independent Q Division Records—where the remaining ex-Cavedogs, Mark Rivers with Poundcake and Todd Spahr with the Gravy, also found homes—and started recording his own debut. The resulting album, Prettier Than You, came out in the first part of 1996 and included contributions from fellow Mann associates Dave Gregory, still with XTC at the time, and Jon Brion, alongside Boston singer and songwriter Merrie Amsterburg.
For the next several years Stevens kept a low profile, issuing just two tracks on independent collections—“A Little Bird Told Me So” on Yellow Pills, Vol. 2 and “Christmas Waltz” on Viva Noel: A Q Division Christmas—while reuniting onstage with the Cavedogs for a performance at the 2001 International Pop Overthrow festival in Los Angeles.
Stevens promptly began collaborating with another Boston musician, Aimee Mann, contributing to her debut solo effort Whatever in 1993 and performing with her touring band. Once the tour concluded, he joined the newly established local independent Q Division Records—where the remaining ex-Cavedogs, Mark Rivers with Poundcake and Todd Spahr with the Gravy, also found homes—and started recording his own debut. The resulting album, Prettier Than You, came out in the first part of 1996 and included contributions from fellow Mann associates Dave Gregory, still with XTC at the time, and Jon Brion, alongside Boston singer and songwriter Merrie Amsterburg.
For the next several years Stevens kept a low profile, issuing just two tracks on independent collections—“A Little Bird Told Me So” on Yellow Pills, Vol. 2 and “Christmas Waltz” on Viva Noel: A Q Division Christmas—while reuniting onstage with the Cavedogs for a performance at the 2001 International Pop Overthrow festival in Los Angeles.
Albums
Live
