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Steven was raised, the son of a gospel singer, in Toronto, Canada. Summer holidays were spent singing Gospel with dad and brothers touring the U.S.A and Canada. His music remained a family thing all through his teens and 20s with recording and performing projects. Steven says "I sang harmony with my brother James on his first recording in New York 1967."
Finally, he could wait no more and went downtown to sing with bar bands. 1979 was a very interesting year. Steven sang around Toronto with 3 or 4 of the hottest bands (just guesting). He had a unique approach to Rhythm & Blues and so it was an obvious good choice for Prakash John, having spent 5 years touring and recording with Alice Cooper and Lou Reed, to pick Ambrose as the lead singer of The Lincolns.
The Lincolns, from day one in 1979, were a hit and continue to be a hit to this day. Upon entering Vancouver the billboard read "Best Bar Band in Canada". Steven was approached to do commercials, radio shows and television shows.
After 6 years with The Lincolns, Steven went out on his own and travelled to Los Angeles. Many productive things were done in LA but Steven's popularity in Toronto demanded he come back.
The Steven Ambrose Band was formed very quickly and shows were booked. Following that Steven, became the lead singer for a 12piece band, BRASSROUTES, and it started to make a name for itself. BRASSROUTES has had the biggest audience for four years running at the Beaches Jazz Festival in Toronto. In two evenings over 200 BRASSROUTES CDs were sold this past July. This festival features more than 50 auditioned bands performing throughout the community of the Beaches.
In 1995, Steven decided he must do a solo album and have a product to sell to his fans. Steven wrote, produced and recorded "Well Above The Norm". This album features some of Toronto's most talented players: Jay Speciali (now playing bass with Sass Jordan), Gary Breit (keyboard player with The Lincolns and Amanda Marshall, Kevin Breit (guitar player who has worked with Holly Cole, K.D. Lang, Janis Ian, Casandra Wilson and Bruce Springsteen's wife) and Charlie Coolie, drummer with Amanda Marshall. Having known, admired and learned from Steven for many years, these players jumped at the opportunity to record his album. Many songwriters submitted tunes. A Shirley Eickhart (writer of "Let's Give Them Something To Talk About" recorded by Bonnie Raitt) tune and a Lloyd Landa tune made it to the final product.
There is one more CD in the can and ready for release with the "Voodoo Sex Junkies" another original project. BRASSROUTES is working on their third release and the material is written for Steven's next solo project (a drum and vocal album).
Other areas of interest in the arts has emerged for Steven over the past few years as well. Acting is one and Steven has been on hundreds of films as a stand in (for Gary Busey most recently), stuntman, actor (speaking part) in "I Love A Man In Uniform" and extra.
During the recording of "Well Above The Norm", Steven started drawing and created the cover art for that album. From that, 300 more drawings were produced within a year and were displayed in a gallery in Toronto.
Music still remains the main focus of Steven's extensive talents as he feels this is the best way for him to "speak" to people and create an inspiring, good affect. The desire to sing for mankind is heard through Steven's song "Lullaby To Planet Earth" on his solo album. The desire to inspire and create a good affect is seen as one watches the audience during one of Steven's performances. Steven is a consummate artist.
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