St Louis- based musician Steve Ewing co-founder and lead singer of the alternative rock band The Urge, has launched his long-awaited solo project with a new seven song recording entitled Substance And Sound, a series of Midwest shows, and an extensive fall and winter U.S. touring schedule. While Substance And Sound still contains rock elements, it is definitely a departure from The Urge and was inspired by Steve’s life-long love of the soul music he was introduced to as a child. “Because I really admire people who can put diverse textures together and make it sound cohesive, I wanted to mix organic elements of classic soul and rock with acoustic guitars,” he explains. “I didn’t write it with any particular notion of who was going to hear it. I just wanted some really good songs that I could step back from and enjoy listening to.” Forming The Urge while in high school in St. Louis, Steve made eight records with the band, and they toured for over a decade with heavyweights such as 311, Korn, Incubus and many others before disbanding in 2001. Their three major label records on Immortal/Epic and Immortal/Virgin Records sold nearly one million copies worldwide in 1998. The Urge scored a Billboard top ten hit. “Jump Right In,” featuring Nick Hexum of 311 off their album “Master of Styles.”