Allen Stone

Allen Stone

Allen Stone performing an outdoor concert at the 2013 Chataqua Festival in Chewelah, WA.
Background information
Born (1987-03-13) March 13, 1987
Chewelah, Washington, United States
Genres
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 2010–present
Labels ATO, MapleMusic
Website allenstone.com

Allen Stone (born March 13, 1987) is an American soul musician from Chewelah, Washington, United States.[1] His website states that people describe him as a soul and R&B singer, yet he sees himself as a "hippie with soul."[2]

Early life

Stone was born on March 13,[3] 1987 in Chewelah, Washington, a small town about 45 minutes north of Spokane with a population of approximately 2,600 people.

Allen Stone began his career singing at his father's church. His father was a preacher and his mother was an OB/GYN nurse.[2][4] He sang in the church since he was 3 years old.[5] By 14, Stone was leading worship at his church and playing the guitar.[5] The draw of music for Allen was mainly being able to express himself to a crowd of people.[6]

Allen did not discover soul music until he was a teenager. Once he discovered the music, he started collecting classic albums from the 1960s and 1970s.[2] He was 15 when he heard Stevie Wonder's 1973 album Innervisions.[4]

When one of his friends became successful in music, Stone decided to become serious about his musical career.[5] Stacie Orrico, a close friend of his when he was a teen, had come out with a record and had become successful. "She was traveling, singing everywhere, and recording," Stone says, "She was just a year older than me and I was like, 'Man that would be so much fun to do, sing and actually have people listen.'"[5]

When Allen was 18, he moved from his hometown to Spokane, Washington, where he attended community college for a semester followed by a year at Moody Bible Institute in Spokane.[4] After that year, Stone had a realization. He stated in an interview with SF Gate, "I learned the history of the church and the conception of the Bible and learned about the religion and really just, like, didn't believe it... I got to the point where it was like, 'I don't believe this is the truth.'"[4] Not long after, he moved to Seattle, Washington to pursue his musical career.

Influences

Stone has been influenced by Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Meters, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Jamie Lidell and James Morrison.[5] The New York Times compared his socially conscious music to the likes of Donny Hathaway, Bill Withers and two of his musical influences Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.[2][7]

Career

He has released three records, Last To Speak (2010, self-released), the self-titled Allen Stone (2011, ATO Records), and "Radius" (2015, Capitol Records). "Radius" was also re-released by ATO Records in 2016 as a Deluxe Edition with seven additional tracks.

Stone had been touring cross-country for a few years and sold a self-released album on the Internet. However, it was not until October 2011, when his second album was released, that his career began to truly kick off.[4] On this album, he was backed by Raphael Saadiq's rhythm section and Miles Davis' keyboardist Deron Johnson.[4] A few songs on "Allen Stone" were co-written with Andy Grammer.[5]

"Allen Stone" peaked at the number 2 spot on the R&B/Soul charts on iTunes and hit #9 and #35 on the Billboard Heatseekers and R&B/Hip Hop Album charts, respectively.[8] USA Today called Allen Stone a "pitch-perfect powerhouse".[9]

On October 26, 2011, he performed his song "Unaware" on Conan.[10]

In 2012, he was featured on the song "Neon Cathedral" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis off of their album The Heist.

Stone was voted one of mtvU's "Freshman 5" in late 2012 and tapped as VH1's first "You Oughta Know" artist of 2013.[11]

Then on January 3, 2013, he appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and sang "Sleep".[12]

He appeared on the Conan O'Brien show on June 17, 2015. http://teamcoco.com/schedule/2015-06-15

Radius, his first album for Capitol Records, was released on May 26, 2015. It was recorded in collaboration with Magnus Tingsek, and features production from Malay (record producer) and Benny Cassette. Allen Stone said of the album title, “The radius is that line extending from the center of the circle to its exterior, and in a lot of ways this album is about getting out things deep inside—whether it’s love or insecurity or joy or frustration about things going on today.”[13] On March 25, 2016 Radius was released as a deluxe edition by ATO Records with seven additional tracks.

Social commentary in music

On Allen Stone's self-titled album, a few songs discuss social and political issues, such as "Unaware," "Contact High," and "What I've Seen".

A live music video of "Unaware – Allen Stone – Live From His Mother's Living Room" on Stone's YouTube account has been viewed over 5,000,000 times. Stone wanted to have a different and weird setting for this video, so they went to his mom's house and recorded it in the living room.[5]

Discography

Albums

References

  1. ↑ Deming, Mark. Allen Stone Biography. Allmusic. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "A Brief History...". Allen Stone Website. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  3. ↑ Stone, Allen. "Allen Stone's twitter account". Twitter.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hilderbrand, Lee (August 30, 2012). "Allen Stone lost religion – found soul". SF Gate. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Thompson, Erica. "Freshman Haze: Allen Stone". The Juice. Billboard. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Allen Stone – Full Performance (Live on KEXP)". Youtube. December 1, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  7. ↑ Pareles, Jon (November 10, 2011). "The Look Said One Thing, The Voice Something Else". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Allen Stone – Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
  9. ↑ "Fall music preview: Under the radar". USA Today. August 25, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Allen Stone's Soulful Performance on Conan". Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  11. ↑ {cite web|url=http://www.allenstone.com/
  12. ↑ "Allen Stone performs 'Sleep'". Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  13. ↑ http://atorecords.com/releases/allen-stone-radius-deluxe-edition/

External links

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