Christopher Paul Stelling

Christopher Paul Stelling, a vocalist, composer, and master of intricate fingerstyle guitar, shapes acoustic works that echo with an ageless quality drawn from every region of American roots traditions. Reviewers singled out his technical command and emotionally resonant compositions, rooted in blues, country, and folk traditions, on his debut full-length release Songs of Praise and Scorn from 2012. His third studio effort, Itinerant Arias in 2017, incorporated elements of folklore alongside protest songs, whereas his fifth album, Best of Luck from 2020 and helmed by Ben Harper, turned toward a tone of optimism and introspection. A blend of ensemble pieces and lone acoustic performances filled his seventh release, the double LP Forgotten But Not Gone and Few and Far Between, issued independently in 2024 and shaped by the aftermath of divorce.

Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, Stelling absorbed early influences that included John Fahey, Mississippi John Hurt, Bob Dylan, Roscoe Holcomb, and Skip James. He tracked his initial album, Songs of Praise and Scorn, inside a two-century-old funeral home in Kentucky. The follow-up False Cities from 2013 coincided with his inaugural European tour; by the arrival of his third studio album Labor Against Haste on Anti- in 2015, he had logged more than 400 performances across domestic and international stages during a three-year span while maintaining residences in Seattle, Brooklyn, and Asheville, North Carolina. He maintained the cycle of constant road work and steady releases with Itinerant Arias in 2017, his first album to incorporate a full backing band and one sparked by the social and political strains he observed both at home and overseas.

Following an invitation from former touring partner Ben Harper to serve as producer on the next project—an experience new to Stelling—the habitual traveler chose to remain stationary for the first time in years. He secured a residency at the Stetson Kennedy house near Jacksonville, Florida, close to his childhood home, and focused on material for his fifth album. Cut in Los Angeles alongside Harper, upright bassist Mike Valerio (known for work with Neil Young and Randy Newman), and drummer Jimmy Paxson (associated with Stevie Nicks and Andra Day), Best of Luck appeared on Anti- early in 2020. During this period Stelling relocated again to Asheville, supported Son Little on tour, and launched an extensive headlining run across North America and Europe before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of more than forty scheduled dates.

After ending his association with Anti-/Epitaph, he issued the all-acoustic Forgiving It All on Tree Tone Music in 2021. By the September release date he had resumed live performances and entered into marriage. The short-lived union and its emotional residue supplied the foundation for the March 2024 self-released double album Forgotten But Not Gone and Few and Far Between, which incorporated guest contributions across its combination of band and solo acoustic tracks.