Christopher Paul Stelling Streams New Album Labor Against Waste
The new album by singer-songwriter and virtuosic finger-picker Christopher Paul Stelling entitled Labor Against Waste arrives on June 16th. The record was a lifetime in the making, the result of near constant traveling and performing. It’s broken down cars, packed rooms, late night conversations and a cast of characters that inhabit a vast and ever changing landscape. It is epic, and immensely personal. WNYC’s Soundcheck called the record “a collection of songs that draw on deep roots in American folk and blues but which end up sounding timeless.”
You can stream Labor Against Waste all this week via Pandora.com, YouTube.com and SoundCloud.com.
Listen on Pandora: http://www.pandora.com/station/play/1411412518987239135/26505346682591 Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ7QPuvv91Jute_WI8oRfjqe_3XSyrN_i Listen on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/antirecords/sets/christopher-paul-stelling-labor-against-waste
Be sure to watch Stelling as he makes his national television debut, performing songs from Labor Against Waste on CBS This Morning this Saturday June 13th.
Christopher Paul Stelling is an old-school traveler on the folk circuit. He has played over 400 shows in the last 3 years (and just keeps going – June 6th he started a 5 week 9 country tour of Europe, then straight home for the Newport Folk Festival and a US tour through Thanksgiving and beyond).
His is a voice that sounds both old and young, accompanied by an effortless yet intricate finger-picking guitar style influenced by blues legends such as Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt, masters like John Fahey, and banjo greats Dock Boggs and Roscoe Holcomb. There are hints of Waylon Jennings’ country blues, a healthy dose of early seventies rock like Van Morrison and The Band, and poetry and art reminiscent of Dylan and Waits. But in the end it is completely honest and personal, in intent and form.
“What a real self contained, modern day troubadour looks and sounds like. A voice to be reckoned with in the years to come.” - American Songwriter
“It's really hard to be a singer and a guitarist and make a mark - this guy does it though. He's a great finger picker, a strong songwriter, listen to his words - you'll love what you hear." - NPR’s All Songs Considered
“He wowed the crowd with virtuosic prowess on a guitar that can only be described as ‘weathered’. The puncture wounds, gashes, and engravings on his instrument matched the gnarled, raw vocals of his performance." - Paste Magazine
"The record delights at the threshold of polished folk-pop and rustic old folk; and he seems bound to make converts on both sides of that divide. - Rolling Stone