Also be sure to check out Project Alcazar on the albums:
Warmth in the Wilderness - A Tribute to Jason Becker
(Opus Pocus)
The Spirit Lives On - The Music of Jimi Hendrix Revisited
(Manic Depression)
Chris
Steberl began playing guitar at the age of 8 years old at his parents
bidding. For many years he dreaded missing Saturday morning cartoons to
go take these “stupid worthless guitar lessons”. He swore one day he
would smash the guitar and never play again. Then at age 13 Edward Van
Halen stormed onto the rock music scene with “Eruption” and everything
changed. Now having a solid foundation of reading music and theory
under his belt he developed his ear copying all of the new found guitar
heroes solos note for note. He played in several cover bands throughout
high school and relocated to Sarasota Florida where he was exposed to
the “thrash metal” scene. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Anthrax and Slayer
were to name a few and the band also wrote some of their own original
material. Then he discovered Yngwie Malmsteen and the Shrapnel artists
Tony Macalpine, Greg Howe, Jason Becker, Richie Kotzen and “shred
guitar” was the new path to follow. After relocating back to Columbus
Ohio he formed his own instrumental band “Alcazar”. The band entered
the “Battle of the Bands” at the Al Rosa Villa and went on to win
against many vocal led bands WITHOUT a singer! The band went on to
record 2 EP's entitled “Visions and Spells” and "Gothic Belladonna".
Chris left his teaching job at the time for a brief stint on the road
with another band until the singer was injured and their dates
cancelled.
Chris decided it was time to pursue a solo career and released an EP
demo entitled “Play Times Over” – the CD found him a place on Guitar
Nine Record’s new talent spotlight. Chris then set his sights on a 2nd
release Project Alcazar: Reasons for a Decade. The songs topped the
MP3.com instrumental charts for almost 9 months when Lion Music out of
Finland agreed to sign Chris as one of their own. The CD received great
reviews and did moderately well in sales for an unknown guitarist
covering Mozart, Vivaldi, Mussorgsky as well as some of his own
compositions. Endorsement deals followed with Brian Moore guitars and
Carvin Amplifiers.
Not being able to find the personnel needed to play the material live
Chris joined a local cover band “The DiVide” back in 2007. The band
built somewhat of a following playing all styles of music from metal to
pop to country to dance. In 2013 Chris entered the Sam Ash Best in
Shred contest with a chance to open for Steve Vai. Chris went onto the
finals and took the top honors. He performed in front of Steve Vai at
the Newport Music Hall in November 2013. After 7 years with the DiVide
band he decided that he really needed to go back to where his heart was
– instrumental rock. He went back to the woodshed and began to write
songs for a new album.
The songs off the new CD Chasin’ Voodoo pickup where Reasons for a
Decade left off. The playing and songwriting has matured and developed
over the years. Chris plans to shoot videos for all of the new songs
and has put together a very talented band to perform the songs live
wherever he can perform.
