'Fun Steve' gets tracks on Azar's newest album

Pamela Springsteen

Steve Azar lets his "fun" side shine on his new CD, which will be released Tuesday.

Fans of Steve Azar will hear more of the "Fun Steve" on his new CD, Slide On Over Here, which will be released Tuesday on the Ride Records label.

Pamela Springsteen

Steve Azar lets his "fun" side shine on his new CD, which will be released Tuesday.

That's what his daughter, Cecilia, 8, calls him if he's being too serious: "Can we have the 'Fun Steve'?" said Azar with a laugh.

Describing his single, "Moo La Moo," from his fourth CD, the country blues rocker said, "It's me having fun again. I've been known as sort of a serious, sort of heavy guy, although the album has a lot of that on it."

The song is about why Azar, who lives in Franklin, Tenn., wanted to be a songwriter in the first place. Growing up in Greenville, Miss., he heard singers that included the late bluesman Eugene Powell. As a kid, Azar sat on plastic milk crates behind a liquor store with Powell, listened to him sing and sometimes joined in.

"It made you feel good about whatever they were singing about, although I was too young to know what they were singing about," he said. "I knew it was pain-driven, but they sure made you feel very good about it."

Azar began writing as a kid.

"It was always serious stuff that drove me to write. When it comes to me as a songwriter, it's more songs that have a point and really have a meaning and really can touch people. If they can touch me, that's what I'm drawn to.

"I grew up loving Springsteen, Dylan and, heck, they still made you feel good at times, but still a seriousness to them. I love that feeling of watching a movie and the perfect song matches a serious moment. When that happens, that's the most moved I can get."

Azar, who describes himself as a "jeans and T-shirt guy," now has his own T-shirt line: Delta Soul. The shirts look "funky, all banged up. Some of them have Hwy. 61 signs in the middle with these crazy wings and all distressed looking. I love to wear them."

The Delta Soul line also includes hats and golf bags. An avid golfer, Azar raises money for charities, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, through his St. Cecilia Foundation. Azar still wears a St. Cecilia medal around his neck: "She's the patron saint of music."

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