I stand by my opinion that Steve is a solid, expressive, and thoroughly "authentic" blues vocalist, and that his instrumental skills, while deceptively simple, enable him to incorporate a lot of tonal variation.

I find his performances to be much more interesting ~ less monotonous ~ that that of many better-known and highly-regarded blues/rock types, inlcuding a few performers others here have cited as superior to Steve. Just my opinion, and not naming names...

Would he have been as successful if he had never left the US? Maybe not.

Here in the states, there is a lot more competition, and simply being white is probably a greater hurdle to overcome here than it is in Europe ~ at least, for a "roots/folk" blues type as opposed to an out-and-out rocker.

By taking his act on the road, so to speak, he put himself in a position where he'd be much less likely to be lost in the shuffle, and perhaps he was able to grow and develop further than he otherwised would have had occasion to do.

I'm sure that many members of the general public (folks who'd never participate in our forum here) enjoyed Steve's first New Year's Eve TV performance, and some of them must have responded to the program's producers. I doubt that he would have been invited back for a second year in a row had there not been some kind of positive reponse. Unless, of course, he made such a big hit with the producers and/or the on-air host that he was brought back on the strength of their opinion alone, without the additional support of public opinion.