| Will Stratton | |
|---|---|
Will Stratton playing guitar, 2005 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Will Lulofs link |
| Born | 1987 (age 24–25) Northern California United States |
| Genres | Indie folk, folk rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, composer |
| Instruments | Voice, guitar, banjo, piano, harpsichord, Mellotron, bass |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels | Stunning Models on Display |
| Website | willstratton.com |
Will Stratton (born 1987) is an American singer-songwriter and composer.
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Will was born in northern California, but raised primarily in New Jersey. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 4.[1] He spent one year at University of Puget Sound studying philosophy, before finishing college at Bennington College, where he switched his studies to music composition.[2][3] While at Bennington, Stratton took classes from composer Allen Shawn, which led him to compose his first pieces for other ensembles than a standard string quartet. Stratton has incorporated projects from his course work at Bennington into his albums, including a set of ten piano preludes composed for a second course taught by Shawn.[3] He is 23 years old and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.[4]
His first album, What the Night Said, was recorded in 2005, the summer after he graduated from high school, and was subsequently released in 2007.[2] It featured a guest appearance by Sufjan Stevens on oboe,[5] and received wide critical praise.[6][7][8]
His second album, titled No Wonder, featured the vocal work of Essie Jain, among others, and was released on November 3, 2009. No Wonder was co-produced and mixed by Kieran Kelly at The Buddy Project Studio in Astoria, Queens NY. While the album never saw national distribution, No Wonder's title track was the NPR Song of the Day on March 26, 2010.[9]
He has also released two free download-only compilations of demos and instrumental works, as well as, most recently, Vile Bodies, a free downloadable EP titled.
In March 2010, Stratton appeared on WNYC radio show Spinning On Air for an hour-long interview and performance with host David Garland. In a first for the show, Stratton and WNYC gave away the songs from the episode as a free EP.[2]
Stratton is currently working on his third and fourth albums.[4]
Stratton is a "self professed disciple of Nick Drake."[1] He has also been described as functioning "under the wing of Sufjan Stevens."[8] Some have gone as fair as to say that the resemblance to Drake is "unmistakable" at points, while his similarity to Stevens is "so apparent."[6]