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All Music Guide:
Singer and songwriter Allen Stone describes himself as "a hippie with soul," and his music reflects both sides of this formula; his vocals and melodic style show the clear influence of classic soul and R&B of the 1960s and 70s, while his lyrics reveal an idealism and passion that recall the folk-inspired singer/songwriters of the same era. Allen Stone was born in 1987 in Chewelah, Washington, a small town not far from Spokane. Stone's mother was an obstetrician while his father was the pastor of a local church; Stone grew up on gospel and Christian music, and began leading youth worship groups when he was only 14. He had little exposure to secular music as a child, but in his teens, he developed a taste for classic soul music, and started collecting vintage R&B sides, as well as golden age singer/songwriters. After graduating from high school, 18-year-old Stone left Chewelah to attend junior college in Spokane; a year later, he transferred to Bible college, but after a single semester he dropped out and relocated to Seattle. He began writing songs, and soon put together a band with a handful of local musicians; Stone and his group became a regular presence on the West Coast club scene, and developed a reputation for powerful live shows as they played up to 200 dates a year. In 2010, Stone recorded an album called Last to Speak that he released digitally through his own Stickystones label. A second album, simply titled Allen Stone, followed in the fall of 2011, and quickly became an independent success story; online sales took the album to the Top Five of the iTunes R&B/Soul chart, and it placed on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, all without a formal distribution deal. As Stone and his band played more and bigger shows, they were invited to appear on Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Last Call with Carson Daly, and features on Stone were published in Esquire and Billboard. The artist-friendly ATO Records label signed Allen Stone in 2012, and reissued his eponymous album in the summer of that year.
Wikipedia:
Allen Stone is a soul musician from Chewelah, Washington. Although people describe him to be a soul and R&B singer, he sees himself as a hippie with soul.
Early life [edit]
Stone was born on March 13, 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 growing up and his mother was an OB/GYN nurse. He sang in the church since he was 3 years old. By 14, Stone was leading worship at his church and playing the guitar. The draw of music for Allen was mainly being able to express himself to a crowd of people.
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. He was 15 when he heard Stevie Wonder's album Innervisions.
It was not until one of his friends became successful that Stone decided to become serious about his musical career. 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.'. .."
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. After a year here, Stone had a realization. Stone states 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.'" Not long after, he moved to Seattle, Washington to pursue his musical career.
Influences [edit]
Stone has been influenced by Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Meters, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Jamie Lidell and James Morrison. 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.
Career [edit]
He has self-released two records, "Last To Speak" (2010) and the self-titled sophomore release "Allen Stone" (2011).
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, "Allen Stone," was released that his career began to truly kick off. In this album, he was backed by Raphael Saadiq's rhythm section and Miles Davis' keyboardist Deron Johnson. Stone also received help in co-writing a few songs on "Allen Stone" with Andy Grammer.
"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. USA Today called Allen Stone a "pitch-perfect powerhouse".
On October 26, 2011, he performed his song "Unaware" on Conan.
Then on January 3, 2013, he appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show and sang "Sleep".
Social Commentary in Music [edit]
In Allen Stone's self-titled album, a few songs discuss about 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 2,000,000 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.
This song was not only recorded in a peculiar setting, but has socially conscious lyrics about the economic crisis: "Everyday, the deficit grows/You spend more than you own/Papa always said to me/'Keep a close eye on your authority'" and "Everyday, taxes increase/So is this our land or is this our lease?/Papa said, 'Son, it's the land of the free,'/As he broke his back trying to make ends meet."
