Kelley Stoltz

Stoltz performing in 2014

Kelley Stoltz (born 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He currently resides in San Francisco, California, United States. His music has been compared to that of Brian Wilson,[1] The Velvet Underground, Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen.

Musical career

Kelley Stoltz was born in 1971 and grew up in Michigan. He moved to New York in his early twenties. While living in New York in the mid 1990s, Stoltz served as an intern with Jeff Buckley's management company where he worked as a "fan-mail" sorter. In the late 1990s he relocated to San Francisco and began his own musical career. Stoltz recorded his first album The Past Was Faster in 1999, released on Telegraph Records. Stoltz self-released his second album Antique Glow in 2001. The original release was 300 vinyl LPs in hand-painted sleeves. Later the album gained wider distribution when it was released by Jackpine Social Club in the US, Beautiful Happiness in the UK and Raoul Records in Australia. His next project was recorded in the last week of 2001: a track by track cover of Echo & the Bunnymen's Crocodiles album recorded on his 8-track tape recorder.

In late 2003, Stoltz toured Australia for the first time and recorded a 4 track direct to disc EP at Corduroy Records. In 2004, Mojo magazine gave Antique Glow a four (out of five) star review and featured an article on Stoltz in their "Mojo Rising" column. In 2005, Stoltz signed to Sub Pop and released "The Sun Comes Through" EP. He also toured Europe in April and Australia for a second time in Dec 2005-January 2006. His first full length release for Sub Pop, entitled "Below the Branches", was released in February 2006.

In tandem with the release of "Below the Branches" was an industry first: "Below the Branches" was the first record in history to make an on-package claim about renewable energy use with the Green-e logo. Stoltz tracked his electricity use and with the help of the Green-e program, offset the all the electricity used to record his record with green tags from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. In Kelley's words: “Using renewable energy to offset the electricity I needed to power my guitar amps and my recording machines was a simple and effective way for me to do something about my impact on the environment. Green-e certifies that I am buying 100 percent renewable energy. Hopefully, people will see their logo; check into what they do, and make renewable energy a part of their lives, too."

Stoltz and his band were the opening support band for The Raconteurs, on their July and August 2006 tour. Stoltz also performed at the 2006 Lollapalooza in Chicago. His song "Birdies Singing" from "Below the Branches" has been used by Volvo for the Volvo C30 commercial in Sweden in 2007; it has also been used for the Regions Financial ad campaign of 2007 in the U.S. Stoltz's song, "Memory Collector" is featured in a Marriott Hotels ad, and several of his songs were used in the hit FX series, "Damages." In early 2006, Stoltz produced God's Boat, the debut album from The Passionistas, which was released on June 5, 2007. He also produced or worked on other Bay Area albums; Thee Oh Sees/Sucks Blood, Bart Davenport/Palaces, Moore Brothers/Aptos and Colossal Yes/Charlemagne's Big Thaw.

On February 5, 2008 Stoltz's album Circular Sounds was released by Sub Pop. In 2010 he opened for his heroes Echo and the Bunnymen on a North American Tour after the scheduled opening group was waylaid by the 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption.

On October 12, 2010 Sub Pop released Stoltz's album To Dreamers. Additionally, Stoltz appeared on Sonny Smith's Sonny and the Sunsets album Tomorrow is Alright.

Stoltz joined members of the Fresh & Onlys, as keyboardist, in backing up singer-songwriter Rodriguez on a west coast tour.

In September 2013, Double Exposure, was released on Third Man Records.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ "From out of the bedroom and into our lives – Motown transplant and Mission District regular Kelley Stoltz unveils Below the Branches, his great full-length debut on Sub Pop and a long-awaited follow-up to the home-recorded Antique Glow". Sfbg.com. Retrieved 2016-01-01.

External links

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