For Immediate Release
June 16, 2015
Contact: Hilary@epitaph.com
CHRISTOPHER PAUL STELLING's Labor Against Waste
Draws Early Raves - Album Out Now
Rollicking New Song "Horse" Debuts at Bluegrass Situation
Christopher Paul Stelling’s new album Labor Against Waste is now available. The full length Anti- debut from the traveling singer-songwriter and finger-picker is already being heralded in the press, No Depression writing of Stelling,"The energy that this man is able to unleash through his songs and performances is unprecedented. The power and talent he beholds is a rare and beautiful thing” and Rolling Stone proclaiming, ”The record delights at the threshold of polished folk-pop and rustic old folk; and he seems bound to make converts on both sides of that divide.”
Labor Against Waste offers a powerful merging of artistic authenticity, devotion to craft and that most elusive of qualities, something to say. Stelling has spent the last several years on the move with his battered guitar, performing to people as he finds them, in bars, informal get-togethers, festivals and packed theaters. Along the way he has forged friendships, converted fans and accumulated experiences and insights which are skillfully documented in his impassioned new album. Recalling the most impactful troubadours of past eras, from bluesmen to protest singers, outlaw country singers and the classic singer-songwriters of the seventies, Labor Against Waste delivers a topical and potent mix of social commentary, graphic imagery and exhilarating musicianship.
Stelling made his national television debut on CBS Saturday Morning on June 13th with impassioned live performances of Hard Work and Warm Enemy .
Stelling has also debuted a new song called “Horse” and its accompanying video care of TheBlueGrassSituation.com
today. The track has a rollicking Basement Tapes-like abandon featuring a cast of additional players and friends with Kieran Ledwidge (fiddle), Zach Bruce (mandolin), Michael Harlen (bass), and Aaron Shafer-Haiss (drums). The song was recorded live on the first take.
“Horse was by far the most fun I've ever had recording,” Stelling says. “The song was written fast, in less than an hour. Lyrically, it's a spin on the old "you can drag your horse to water" motif. It's about the regret that always accompanies haste. It's an old western film born in my head.”
The corresponding video, featuring a montage of footage taken from old Western films, creates an appropriate mood of urgency and action. As Stelling explains, “I wanted western. and OLD western... and thanks to the public domain that's what I got. I started digging through library of congress footage from the 20s and 30s for ideas, and they became the idea. I put together some clips, and sent it to film maker Aaron Hymes, who has a soft spot for these old films and is a fantastic editor and he it knocked it out of the park. These old films were shot so beautifully, and there's no way we could have replicated them. I'm glad we could give these ghosts from the past a second chance to tell their stories. I'm honored that they could help me tell mine.”
Watch the video for “Horse” via BluegrassSituation here: TheBlueGrassSituation.com
Early Acclaim for Christopher Paul Stelling's Labor Against Waste:
“It's really hard to be a singer and a guitarist and make a mark - this guy does it though. He's a great finger picker, a strong songwriter, listen to his words - you'll love what you hear." - NPR Music
"Christopher Paul Stelling is not just an incredible guitarist — one who is capable of filling a room with only his dexterous fingerpicking, voice, and stomp of his foot - but he’s also an excellent songwriter.” - Acoustic Guitar
"Call him a punk rock Leadbelly...he's a dynamo." "No Waste in this direct, affecting music.” - Big Takeover
“He wowed the crowd with virtuosic prowess on a guitar that can only be described as ‘weathered’. The puncture wounds, gashes, and engravings on his instrument matched the gnarled, raw vocals of his performance." - Paste Magazine
“It's one thing to give in to the hypnosis induced by Stelling's fluttering finger-picking on the studio track, but to catch him live is to see Stelling at his prime, all hoarse inflections, pensive delivery, and a pristine, total package of a one-man musical outfit that recalls the intensity of The Tallest Man on Earth and labelmate Glen Hansard. - Village Voice
"There's something very special about Christopher Paul Stelling's music. It's not hidden, it's there for anyone and everyone to hear, his raw, rich voice; his real-life lyrics; his intraciate and complex finger-picking musical style. Stelling's appreciation and passion for music has been with him his entire life and they are on full display throughout his new record, Labor Against Waste.” - Diffuser.fm
"It's there in his lyrics - rugged yet poetic, blunt yet warmly inviting - and it's there in his hell for leather delivery. Stripping his music down, the American artist absorbs aspects of country blues, of soul, country and gospel - It's a heady brew and it's one you'd better get used to.” - Clash Music
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