In the quaint town of Albion, in St Thomas, Jamaica, nested on the warm shores of the Caribbean Sea Anwar Hanchard a.k.a. “Stevie Face” was born. He has been a messenger indeed from the tender age of 9 when he started singing with his grandmother’s church choir. Stevie decided at an early stage in his career that he would always sing positive and uplifting songs based on his own early childhood experiences. His first recording “Teach The Children” became every Jamaican child’s anthem, and its lyrics epitomized the concerns of this dynamic young messenger.
This spawned his debut album “Coming at you” which was distributed worldwide by Ejanis Records out of France. In preparing his debut album Stevie was privileged to work with some of the top musicians and producers in Reggae including Sly and Robbie, Dean Fraser and Mikey Bennett, which gave him his first glimpse of the real serious side of the music business and what it takes to build a serious long term career.
After linking up with Arrows Records in 2001, Steve released his first hit song “I’m In Love”. This single gained Stevie his first top 10 chart spot, this was soon followed by two other Arrows produced chart toppers “Oh happy day” and “For your love”. With the overwhelming response to his debut album and his newly found chart dominance, Stevie was invited as the opening act for Sizzla’s 2002 USA tour.
This led to numerous dates across the USA and Canada. While on tour Stevie was involved in a car accident returning from a sound check in Miami, Florida, which led to an unplanned three year hiatus from the music business due to a serious back injury.
Stevie stepped back on the scene in 2006 and proved that he still had what it takes to remain relevant, with the street anthem “Poor feel it” produced by DJ Wayne from IRIE FM. However things really exploded in 2009 with the Computer Paul produced mega hit “Tell it like it is”. This single propelled Stevie to the top of the charts in several countries, kicking off in Jamaica with a spectacular 4 week run at #1 on The Jamaica music countdown, as well as topping the RETV chart, the RJR chart and the popular Stampede street charts. Almost like a domino effect the song climbed to the #1 position on several charts overseas including the South Florida and New York reggae charts simultaneously.
This wildfire continued blazing across the Atlantic with Stevie holding down the top spot on the BBC one extra reggae charts as well as several other charts in the UK. The effect of “Tell it like it is” has been far reaching as Italy and the Netherlands where it has also topped several popular reggae charts. The anticipation was high for the release of his critically acclaimed “Tell it like it is” album produced by the multi-platinum awarded Paul “Computer Paul” Henton, which also included supporting singles from other top Jamaican producers. This album spawned several other hit singles including “In the Living Years”, “I wanna Wake up with you” and “Coming Home”
Past major stage appearances from Stevie have included performances at Reggae Sunsplash, the Luther Vandross Power of Love concert, Eastfest, Summer Sizzle and Ghetto Jamboree, and in 2009 the very high profile Richie Stephens and Friends “Take me away” Concert in Kingston, Jamaica. This was immediately followed up with a brilliant performance at the greatest one night reggae show on earth ”Sting 2009” and in Jan 2010 Stevie appeared on Rebel Salute, as well as the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival sharing the main stage with the likes of Erykah Badu and several other top international acts.
In Feb 2010 Stevie made his UK debut at the prestigious Brixton O2 for the “Valentines day Showcase”, bringing the house to a frenzy when he delivered his mega hit “Tell it like it is” After this unforgettable performance Stevie was immediately booked to return to the UK for a triumphant sold out show again at the Brixton O2 in June, 2010 sharing the stage this time with Reggae legends Freddie McGregor, Coco Tea, and Barrington Levy.
His overwhelming respect and love in the UK was evident, and after his sensational O2 performance Stevie was presented with the award for best Reggae singer of the year 2009 in the UK by the event’s promoters. Stevie launched into the new year 2011 with another monster smash hit ” Caan go round it” produced by the acclaimed McLeod brothers out of London, England on their Stingray Label, adding to his growing catalog of hits.
In 2013 Penthouse records released another huge radio hit for Stevie called “Thank you for loving me” produced by non other than the veteran hitmaker Donovan Germain. Fast forward to October 2014 when Stevie will launch his much anticipated second “Computer Paul” produced studio album titled “My Time” and from all indications this new album promises to live up the the expectations set by the previous album “Tell it like it is”. This album drops online on October 28th 2014, and will be distributed by VP/ VPal Records. Follow the Stevie Face movement online.