Pub owner releases debut album

Steve Sperandeo has released his debut album, Contagious Emotions.
The owner of The Old Millhouse Pub has stepped back a bit from his work to take a little more time for his art, resulting in a highly personal collection of songs.
“I’ve always been into music and I’ve always had a recording studio,” said Sperandeo. “Music has always been part of my life.”
He said upon moving to Wasaga Beach, he decided to build a little studio and it grew from there. “I just thought, I think it’s time now,” said Sperandeo. “I had a little more time, in terms of work.”
Sperandeo plays almost all of the instruments on the album – guitar, keyboard, drums, and bass.
Although it is challenging for an artist to define a style of music, Sperandeo said he calls it adult contemporary with an element of pop but the listener will also get some folk vibes from this ballad heavy album.
He said the album has been about three years in the making, eventually choosing 11 songs from a larger body of rough cuts.
Sperandeo said this is not the first time he has drawn on his personal experiences for public expression. In 2007, he made a documentary film about his father’s gambling addiction.
“Most of the songs the inspiration has to do with things that have happened to me personally or through friends and acquaintances. Each song does have a personal connection,” said Sperandeo.
It’s just where it comes from. If I can’t get motivated by an actual emotion, I don’t feel it can go anywhere for me. There has to be a personal attachment… Putting it out there is probably the most difficult part.”
In terms of inspiration, he would say Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton and Roger Waters.
Sperandeo said he is now heading back into the studio to work on a second album.
Listen to Steve Sperandeo’s Contagious Emotions online at stevesperandeo.hearnow.com. At presstime, the album had been streamed 100,000 times.
There will also be CDs available at the pub, located at 141 Mill Street.