Steve Ono

STEVE ONO is a Jazz Guitarist with extensive Folk, Folk-Rock, and Blues influences and experience. He is also a talented Singer/Songwriter, arranger and producer. His self produced CD, "Voice of a Friend," is available for Online Purchase through CCNOW's secure CreditCard system or by , or by Mail Order from Onomuse Productions. Read on for his complete Bio and check out the Real Audio Clips on the Recordings page.

    Steve began singing as a child in "The Candlelighters," a children's choir in Fresno California. While learning to sing he started playing the bongo drums, that led to drums and guitar at age 14. His early repertoire consisted of Folk, Folk-Rock and Rock tunes of the 60's & 70's, as well as early originals.

    He taught himself to read and write music with an eighth grade textbook in order to copyright his songs. Steve took Forensics, Drama, Humanities and Latin but never took any high school music courses.

     His first solo public performance was at the 1971 McLane High School Talent Show. The first paid performance was in 1972 in Steenwijk, The Netherlands where he lived for a year as an exchange student.

Upon returning to the states, Steve attended Fresno City and State colleges and started a progressive rock band with Doug and Jeff Carlson. A self-titled album: "Folly's Pool" was released in 1977 (in which Steve participated as a co-writer) and a subsequent EP "Bathing Caps Required" in 1987. Check out both incredible albums now available EXCLUSIVELY on MP3.com!

     Steve went solo in 1976 and met Frank Hicks, a swing era guitarist and a founding member of the Fresno Folklore Society. His exposure to Frank and his vast chord knowledge sparked a flurry of study on Steve's part. This study resulted in his 1980 graduation from the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood. By this time Steve had learned hundreds of songs from "Stardust" to "Stairway to Heaven" and studied musical styles from Jazz to Bluegrass.

     After playing in Hollywood, Newport Beach and Beverly Hills and doing some session work, Steve moved back to Fresno in 1985. He has since worked with a variety of great musicians including former Stevie Wonder Musical Director, Larry Gittens and Harmonica Master Eddie Gordon.

     Steve returned to LA in November 1991 with Eddie Gordon and played with Lee Oskar of "War" at "The Baked Potato." Steve and Eddie have also played: Victoria, BC; St. Louis, MO; the Yellow Pine Harmonica Festival in Idaho and the Fresno Trade Club Business Conference in 1994 featuring former US Presidents Ford and Bush.

     By 1994 Steve had become one of the best known guitar teachers in the Fresno/Clovis area. Steve teaches all levels of students five days a week at Clovis Music Center in Old Town Clovis and one day a week at Archer's Music in the Tower District. Steve has also conducted group guitar classes at Corcoran State Prison for the Arts in Corrections.

     Songwriting took on new importance in November 1993, with the release of "The Maximus Sessions," a compilation CD of Fresno area songwriters and artists. Steve's song: "Serious Man," was mentioned as a standout by critic Don Mayhew of the Fresno Bee. It also received airplay on KKDJ-FM.

     His first all original CD, "Voice of a Friend," was released in December 1996. It features more of Steve Ono's songs and performances by Eddie Gordon on Harmonicas, Point Anderson on Mandolin, Dave Calvert on Keys, Felix Contreras on Percussion and Desiree Astorino on Backup Vocals. Order it now!

     In 1998 Steve co-produced a self-titled CD for the Flamenco-Jazz trio Cerro Negro, which received much airplay on KEZL 96.7 Smooth Jazz Radio. Steve Ono's music is also available at MP3.com with Free MP3 Downloads. A CD Sampler with "Voice of a Friend" cuts along with newer otherwise unreleased material is available along with an MP3.COM version of "Voice of a Friend," complete with multimedia capability presenting photos, bio and lyrics.

     Most recently, Steve and friends have been performing for private and public events at such venues as: The Fresno Art Center, The Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Ducey's "Jazz on the Lake", Wild Water Adventures, The Visalia Fox Theatre, The Tower District Cigar Festival, Manchester Center, ArtWorks in Hanford, The Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp and many local hotels.

     Steve's client list includes: DPS Telecom, The Fresno Weekly Newspaper, Grundfos Pumps, The Fresno Library Council, Pearson Realty, and the Central California Rehabilitation Association.

     Steve has also performed for the benefit of The Marjaree Mason Center, a domestic violence shelter and public education charity, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a volunteer organtization to protect the rights of children in the court system and the Roosevelt School of the Arts.