The long awaited second album from Craig Stephen has finally dropped. The sixteen song compilation features cuts from his work with multiple record labels, producers, and artists. "It's been quite a ride" Stephen said of his upcoming release. The album contains several tracks that were recorded with producer Sumantri Limin, as well as songs produced by legendary producer Gabriel Oree during his time with Zahirah Records in New Jersey. When asked about which sound he favors, Stephen said, "to be honest it's the live acoustic numbers that really capture my music in it's purest form. I mean that's what I do, play the guitar and sing live, the rest is window dressing for me." Though Stephen admits to liking the stripped down sound he was not at a loss for words when it comes to praise for his producers. "I was blown away by their individual skill sets, it was an amazing experience to work with such terrific talent, they each have their own vision of Craig Stephen and I have mine which is what gives the new CD a nice variety of polished and raw material. I like to think there is something for everyone on it." 

Stephen now begins the process of getting out on the road to promote the new cd. "Yeah, this is the easy part for me. Playing live has always been at the forefront of what I do. The studio is it's own environment altogether. There are no fans in there so you have to find a way to create that same energy and to capture the essence of the live show."

So what's next for Stephen? "Believe it or not I am actually already working on a follow up effort to a Puncher's Chance." When asked about the material for the album in progress Stephen was pretty tight lipped. "I better hold off on too much talk about that, I am sure the label would rather focus on the album at hand. All I can say is it will be it's own thing too, hopefully something different than what the fans have heard before, and perhaps not what they might expect."