Steve Pedersen

Steve Pedersen is an American guitarist from Omaha, Nebraska.

He attended Creighton Preparatory School and when he was 16, he joined The March Hares with current Cursive members Tim Kasher and Matt Maginn who also went to the same school. He replaced Sorry About Dresden's Matt Oberst on guitar. They later turned into Slowdown Virginia and his other band Smashmouth to finally Cursive.

He left Cursive in 1998 to attend law school at Duke University in North Carolina. It was there he started the band The White Octave, which released a couple albums and appeared on a few samplers. When Pedersen graduated, he returned to Omaha and started Criteria.

With the help of some friends, he wrote ten songs all in a friend's basement where he lived for a short while. Their debut album, En Garde was released on Initial Records. En Garde became a very slept-on album, probably due to lack of promotion. Pedersen soon found a job and became a lawyer. Even with a new job, he still found time to play a few shows here and there.

After Initial Records disbanded, Criteria needed to find a new record label. Hometown friends Saddle Creek Records took them in and re-released En Garde in 2005, as well as a new album titled, When We Break. Since then, Pedersen quit his day job to focus full-time on his music.

Album appearances

see also albums under Criteria, Cursive, Slowdown Virginia, and The White Octave.

With Cursive

*"Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes" (1997, Crank! Records)
*"" (1998, Saddle Creek)

With Criteria

*Criteria - En Garde (2003, Initial Records)
*Criteria - When We Break (2005, Saddle Creek)

Other

*Bright Eyes/Britt Daniel - "Home Volume IV" (2002 · Post-Parlo)
*Produced and sang on "The Ice Storm, Big Gust, and You" on Tilly and the Wall's "Wild Like Children" album, released in 2004 on Team Love. The album was recorded in his basement.
*Produced The Lovekill's "These Moments Are Momentum" album, released in 2006 on Eyeball Records. The album was recorded in his basement in Omaha, Nebraska as well as Presto! Recording Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska.

ee also

*Criteria
*Cursive
*Slowdown Virginia
*The White Octave

External links

* [http://www.criteriamusic.com Criteria official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/criteriarocks Criteria on MySpace]
* [http://www.saddle-creek.com Saddle Creek Records]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3839466175310524016&q=criteria Video Interview with Steve Pedersen]