C. W. Stoneking

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C.W. Stoneking is a Hokum blues singer and songwriter. He lives in Melbourne, Australia and performs across Australia and internationally as a solo performer and with his Primitive Horn Orchestra.

Disc jockey Tim Ritchie picked Stoneking's 2006 album King Hokum as his album of the year on Radio National's Breakfast program ^[1]. Radio National also presented his February 2007 Australia-wide tour.

C.W. Stoneking at The Basement, Sydney, 2007. Photo by Craig Bender.

1 Biography
2 Discographhy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Stoneking was born to American parents in Katherine, Australia in 1974 and raised in the Aboriginal community of Papunya until the age of 9 and then in Sydney where he began playing the guitar at the age of 11. In 1997 he moved to Melbourne after some years living in Mailors Flat near Warrnambool in rural Victoria and began performing as a solo blues guitarist and singer in the 1920s-30s style. In 1998 he formed his band The Blue Tits which consisted of double bass, clarinet and mandolin with C.W. on guitar and vocals. The band lasted one and a half years and disbanded after the death of the mandolin player. One recording was made of the Blue Tits at Melbourne's 3CR radio station but it was never commercially released. C.W. continued to perform as a solo artist. In 2005 he recorded an album of original blues compositions titled King Hokum. The album was received with great critical acclaim in the Australian media after its release in 2006 and in Europe after its 2007 release on the Swiss Voodoo Rhythm Records label. Currently C.W. Stoneking tours extensively with his backing band the Primitive Horn Orchestra and is in the process of writing a new album of original compositions planned for release in 2008.