STEVE LOUW Celebrates Release of “Traces of the Flood” Album with Video for Title Track

Photo by Jacqui van Staden

Acclaimed guitarist and singer-songwriter and South African Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Steve Louw is pleased to announce the release of his fourth studio album Traces of the Flood out today! Produced by Kevin Shirley (Joe Bonamassa, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Beth Hart), the album is released by BFD/The Orchard on Friday May 15th, and is available to order on CD, vinyl and digital HERE.

To coincide with the album release, Louw has released the title track single “Traces of the Flood” which is accompanied by the official music video that can be viewed on YouTube HERE.

Says Louw about the title track single; “In this panoramic tale, set in the barren South African Karoo landscape, we are on an exploration, traveling from the sea to the source of an African river. In a timeless landscape, cut through by wind and water, we meet renegades and rebels, lawmen and ladies, on a journey which becomes one of self-discovery.”

“Traces of the Flood is a song where you have to keep moving,” continues Louw. “The law is on your back. Storms are brewing. Fires are raging. You’re heading into the high mountains with a way to go.”

“Horses, Cadillacs and Bonnie & Clyde Whippets cross the empty plains, leading you through where a river quivers and disappears into a desert forest. The spirits of the dead are all around you, in the high plains and on moonlit gravel. You’ve landed on a deserted beach and sought redemption in the heart of the river.”

Steve Louw – Biography

Steve Louw (born 16 September 1955) is a South African musician and singer-songwriter who specialises in album rock, blues rock, country rock and Americana music. He was born in The Hague and has been active as a musician since 1981. He was inducted in the South African Rock Hall of Fame in 2003.

Louw, who was born Stephen Geoffrey Louw, learnt to play the guitar after being inspired by the music of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Neil Young, and formed his first band, Atlantic Rose, while in high school in Cape Town in the late 1960s. While a student at Stellenbosch University in the 1970s he became involved in the local music scene, playing his own songs in various line-ups.

His career as a professional musician began in the early 1980s when he formed the band All Night Radio with fellow former Stellenbosch University students Nico Burger (guitar) and Rob Nagel (bass). The group recorded two albums – The Heart’s the Best Part (1984) with US producer John Rollo, and The Killing Floor (1986), on which Louw began a partnership with producer Kevin Shirley that continues to this day.

Louw then formed the band Big Sky and in 1990 released their debut album, Waiting for the Dawn, again produced by Kevin Shirley. The album arrived just as South Africa began moving away from apartheid rule and the group’s music helped soundtrack a decade of positive revolution. The title track is today considered a South African rock classic.

Big Sky released another five albums over the next 15 years: Horizon (1995), Going Down with Mr Green (1997), Best of the Decade (1999), Beyond the Blue (2002) and Trancas Canyon (2008); as well as the concert DVD Heart and Soul, filmed at Cape Town’s Little Theatre in 2008.

Louw and Big Sky achieved considerable success in South Africa with sell-out tours and several major radio hits including “Kathleen”, “Mr Green”, “One Cut With A Knife”, “Strange Room” and “Diamonds and Dirt”. In 1996 the band won the FNB South African Music Award for “Best Pop Music Performance” and “Best Rock Album” for the album Horizon.

In 1998 Big Sky opened for US singer-songwriter Rodriguez on his triumphant debut tour of South Africa, with the musicians in the band also backing the US artist. The tour is chronicled in the 2012 Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man.

Louw gained an international profile after he collaborated with Brian May (Queen) and Dave Stewart (the Eurythmics) on the track “Amandla”, recorded for the 46664 Aids awareness project inspired by the work of Nelson Mandela.

In 2021 Louw returned with the album Headlight Dreams, produced by Kevin Shirley, and recorded in Nashville with crack studio musicians and featuring a guest appearance by US guitar legend Joe Bonamassa. The album received critical acclaim and the first single, “Wind in Your Hair”, has become a popular Spotify hit.

Louw released his sophomore solo release Thunder and Rain on November 11, 2022, through BFD. The album was produced by Kevin Shirley and features Joe Bonamassa and Doug Lancio.

On 6 September 2024, Louw released his third solo album Between Time, produced by Kevin Shirley.

On 15 May 2026, Louw will release his fourth solo album Traces of the Flood, produced by Kevin Shirley.