Village Voice Debuts Christopher Paul Stelling Video
The Village Voice is premiering a video from soulful troubadour Christopher Paul Stelling. The clip features the singer-songwriter and virtuoso musician performing the song “Warm Enemy ” from his forthcoming album Labor Against Waste out on June 16th. The track was recently profiled on NPR’s All Songs Considered, with co-host Robin Hilton remarking “a song like that is just full of so much life. It’s really hard to not like something like that.” Listen here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2015/03/31/385536730/new-mix-ryan-adams-jamie-xx-the-civil-wars-joy-williams-more
Stelling will be appearing at the storied Newport Folk Festival this July in Newport Rhode Island alongside artists such as Iron & Wine, Calexico and many more.
The video for “Warm Enemy" features Stelling with just his road battered guitar, virtuosic finger picking generating a compelling rhythm accented by dazzling flourishes, his soulful voice and lyrics creating an intriguing narrative. Stelling explains the song’s meaning, “Sometimes we have to give up in order to keep trying. We're our own worst enemies, and our own best friends. We created this. We know by now where change begins, but at times it's always false starts. This is a song about the inevitable folly of self ridicule and self praise. This is a song about the importance of persistence. Or it's a song about nothing at all.”
Watch the video for “Warm Enemy” via Village Voice: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2015/04/christopher_paul_stelling_warm_enemy.php
There is a fearless quality to Stelling’s music. It’s a sound that channels the restless spirit of a young man who left home to travel the country, haunting and impassioned songs formed by endless nights alone on stage with a guitar, playing to packed houses, other times to nearly empty rooms. Stelling estimates that he’s played over four hundred shows in just the past three years. It places him within a longstanding tradition that serves to nurture ones character and art.
And while his guitar playing is masterful, it never intrudes. The melodies remain perfectly integrated, his songs focused and urgent. It is folk music, and it is much more. 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.
"Hauntingly powerful." - Huffington Post