Allen Stone

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Allen Stone
Stone performing in 2013
Stone performing in 2013
Background information
Born (1987-03-13) March 13, 1987 (age 37)
Chewelah, Washington, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer, musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • keyboards
Years active2010–present
LabelsATO, MapleMusic
Websiteallenstone.com

Allen Stone (born March 13, 1987) is an American soul and R&B singer and musician.[1]

Early life[edit]

Stone was born on March 13,[2] 1987,[citation needed] in Chewelah, Washington, near Spokane. He began his career singing at his father's church. His father was a preacher and his mother was an OB/GYN nurse.[3][4] He began singing in church at the age of 3.[5]

By the age of 14, Stone was leading worship at his church and playing the guitar.[5] The draw of music for Allen was mainly being able to express himself to a crowd of people.[6]

Allen did not discover soul music until he was a teenager, and he started collecting classic albums from the 1960s and 1970s.[3] He was 15 when he heard the Stevie Wonder album Innervisions (1973).[4]

When Stacie Orrico, a close friend of Allen's as a teen, became successful in music, Stone decided to become serious about his musical career.[5] Stone related how Orrico had released a record and become successful:

"She was traveling, singing everywhere, and recording. She was just a year older than me and I was like, 'Man that would be so much fun to do, sing and actually have people listen.'"[5]

When Stone was 18, he moved to Spokane, where he attended community college for a semester followed by a year at Moody Bible Institute in Spokane.[4] After that year, Stone had an epiphany. He stated in an interview with SF Gate:

"I learned the history of the church and the conception of the Bible and learned about the religion and really just, like, didn't believe it... I got to the point where it was like, 'I don't believe this is the truth.'"[4]

Not long after, Stone moved to Seattle to pursue his musical career.

Influences[edit]

Stone has been influenced by Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Meters, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Jamie Lidell and James Morrison.[5] The New York Times compared his socially conscious music to the likes of Donny Hathaway, Bill Withers and two of his musical influences Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.[3][7]

Career[edit]

Stone has released five albums, Last to Speak (2010, self-released), the self-titled Allen Stone (2011, ATO Records), Radius (2015, Capitol Records), Building Balance (2019, ATO Records) and APART (2021, ATO Records). Radius was also re-released by ATO Records in 2016 as a deluxe edition with seven additional tracks.

Stone had been touring cross-country for a few years and sold a self-released album on the Internet. However, it was not until October 2011, when his second album was released, that his career began to truly kick off.[4] On this album, he was backed by Raphael Saadiq's rhythm section and Miles Davis' keyboardist Deron Johnson.[4] A few songs on Allen Stone were co-written with Andy Grammer.[5] Allen Stone peaked at the number 2 spot on the R&B/Soul charts on iTunes and hit number 9 and number 35 on the Billboard Heatseekers and R&B/Hip Hop Album charts, respectively.[8] USA Today called Allen Stone a "pitch-perfect powerhouse".[9]

On October 26, 2011, he performed his song "Unaware" on Conan.[10]

In 2012, Stone was featured on the song "Neon Cathedral" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis off their album The Heist.

Stone at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival 2012

Stone was voted one of mtvU's Freshman 5 in late 2012 and tapped as VH1's first "You Oughta Know" artist of 2013.[11]

Then on January 3, 2013, he appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and sang "Sleep".[12]

He appeared on Conan again on June 17, 2015.[13]

Radius, his first album for Capitol Records, was released on May 26, 2015. It was recorded in collaboration with Magnus Tingsek, and features production from Malay and Benny Cassette. Allen Stone said of the album title, "The radius is that line extending from the center of the circle to its exterior, and in a lot of ways this album is about getting out things deep inside—whether it's love or insecurity or joy or frustration about things going on today."[14] On March 25, 2016, Radius was re-released as a deluxe edition by ATO Records with seven additional tracks.

On April 13, 2017, Stone's song "Perfect World" was featured on the trailer for the upcoming Netflix series Dear White People.[15]

In 2018, Allen released the single "Brown Eyed Lover" and appeared on American Idol in 2018, to sing duets with multiple contestants. His fourth full-length album, 2019's Building Balance, was co-produced with Jamie Lidell.[16]

In 2022, Allen competed in the American Song Contest, representing his home state of Washington. He placed first out of eleven in the jury vote for his semi-final, and advanced to the competition final and finished in fifth place despite not performing live due to personal reasons.[17]

On October 4, 2022, Allen released a new single, "5 Minutes". He was then to go on tour in Australia, starting on November 11, 2022.[18]

Allen featured co-wrote and sang vocals on "Look At Me", the first track on Cory Wong's album 'The Lucky One' released in August 2023.[19]

Social commentary in music[edit]

On Allen Stone's self-titled album, a few songs discuss social and political issues, such as "Unaware", "Contact High", and "What I've Seen".

A live music video of "Unaware – Allen Stone – Live From His Mother's Living Room" on Stone's YouTube account has been viewed over 16,000,000 times. Stone wanted to have a different and weird setting for this video, so they recorded it on a set that looked like a living room.

Discography[edit]

Albums[edit]

  • Last to Speak (2010, self-released)
  • Allen Stone (2011, self-released – Released in 2012 by ATO Records)
  • Radius (May 26, 2015, Capitol; deluxe edition: March 25, 2016, ATO Records)
  • Building Balance (November 8, 2019)[20]
  • APART (November 12, 2021)[21]

As featured artist[edit]

  • Run Deep (March 23, 2018, "Turnt Up" by Deva Mahal,[22] Motema Records)
  • The Lucky One (August 2023, "Look At Me" by Cory Wong[23])

References[edit]

  1. ^ Deming, Mark. "Allen Stone Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  2. ^ Stone, Allen. "Allen Stone's twitter account". Twitter.
  3. ^ a b c "A Brief History..." Allen Stone Website. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Hilderbrand, Lee (August 30, 2012). "Allen Stone lost religion – found soul". SF Gate. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Thompson, Erica. "Freshman Haze: Allen Stone". The Juice. Billboard. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  6. ^ "Allen Stone – Full Performance (Live on KEXP)". Youtube. December 1, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  7. ^ Pareles, Jon (November 10, 2011). "The Look Said One Thing, The Voice Something Else". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  8. ^ "Allen Stone – Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  9. ^ "Fall music preview: Under the radar". USA Today. August 25, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  10. ^ "Allen Stone's Soulful Performance on Conan". Earmilk. October 27, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  11. ^ "Allen Stone". Allenstone.com. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  12. ^ "Allen Stone performs 'Sleep'". Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  13. ^ "Team Coco". Teamcoco.com. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  14. ^ "Allen Stone – Radius (Deluxe Edition) – ATO RECORDS". Atorecords.com. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  15. ^ "Dear White People Official Trailer Netflix". YouTube. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  16. ^ "Allen Stone | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  17. ^ Stewart, Matthew; Sheehan, Paul (May 10, 2022). "'American Song Contest' episode 8 recap: Who won the final?". Gold Derby. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  18. ^ Lyon, Robert (October 5, 2022). "Allen Stone Releases New Single '5 Minutes' And Touring Across Australia Next Month". HiFiWay. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  19. ^ "Cory Wong & Allen Stone release new song; new Cory Wong album to come".
  20. ^ "Building Balance by Allen Stone". Apple Music. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  21. ^ Uitti, Jacob (September 1, 2021). "Allen Stone to Release New Acoustic Album, 'Apart'". American Songwriter. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  22. ^ Whitmore, Laura B. "Exclusive Song Premiere: Deva Mahal Tells it Like it is With 'Can't Call It Love'". Parade. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  23. ^ "Cory Wong & Allen Stone release new song; new Cory Wong album to come".

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Allen Stone.
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