Kelley Stoltz (born 1971) is an American singer,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

. He currently resides in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. His music has been compared to that of

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabri ...

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

and Leonard Cohen.

Musical career

Kelley Stoltz was born in New York City in 1971 and grew up in Birmingham, Michigan. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in his early twenties. While living in New York in the mid 1990s, Stoltz served as an intern with

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

'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 ''The Past Was Faster'' is a 1999 album by San Francisco musician and songwriter Kelley Stoltz. It was his first official release and was released on December 14, 2001. The songs on the album were written over a period of five years and were recor ...

'' in 1999, released on Telegraph Records. Stoltz self-released his second album ''

Antique Glow ''Antique Glow'' is a 2002 album by San Francisco musician Kelley Stoltz Kelley Stoltz (born 1971) is an American singing, singer, songwriter and musician. He currently resides in San Francisco, California. His music has been compared to that ...

'' 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 Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

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

, 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 all the electricity used to record his record with green tags from the

Bonneville Environmental Foundation The Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) is a national non-profit organization that focuses on water, carbon and energy solutions to help combat climate change and water scarcity. It was founded in 1998 to support watershed restoration program ...

. 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 Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

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:

Oh Sees Osees are an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1997, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band currently consists of primary songwriter and core member John Dwyer (vocals, guitar), Tim Hellman (bass), Dan Rincon (dr ...

- ''Sucks Blood'', Bart Davenport - ''Palaces'', Moore Brothers - ''Aptos'' and

Colossal Yes Colossal may refer to: * ''Colossal'' (film), a 2016 science fiction film starring Anne Hathaway * (Colossal) Pictures, entertainment company which closed in 2000 * Colossal (band), American punk band formed in 2001 * "Colossal", a song by Scale ...

- ''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 & the Bunnymen on a North American Tour after the scheduled opening group was waylaid by the 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption. In October 2010 Sub Pop released Stoltz's album ''To Dreamers''. Stoltz also appeared on

Sonny Smith Charles H. "Sonny" Smith (born November 15, 1936) is a retired American college basketball coach. Originally from Roan Mountain, Tennessee, Smith served as a head coach for 22 seasons. Best known as the head coach at Auburn from 1978 to 1989, he ...

's Sonny and the Sunsets album ''

Tomorrow is Alright ''Tomorrow is Alright'' is a 2009 album by American band Sonny & The Sunsets. Track listing # "Too Young to Burn" # "Death Cream" # "Strange Love" # "Planet of Women" # "The Houris" # "Stranded" # "Bad Vibes & Evil Thoughts" # "Chapters" # "Lov ...

''. In 2012, Kelley played keyboards, along with members of the Fresh & Onlys, in the backing band to songwriter Rodriguez during a string of live concerts. In September 2013, ''Double Exposure'' was released on Third Man Records. He and his band served as opening act for Jack White on his Lazaretto tour. After recording an EP and a further album under a pseudonym, Stoltz's next proper album, ''In Triangle Time'', was released in November 2015. Stoltz played rhythm guitar in Echo & the Bunnymen on their UK, European and USA tours 2016-2018. Released "Que Aura" on Castle Face Records August 12, 2017. Released "Natural Causes" on Banana & Louie Records February 21, 2018. Released "My Regime" on Banana & Louie Records September 2019. Supported Ezra Furman on USA Tour Feb/March 2020.

Discography

Albums * ''

'' (1999) * ''

'' (2001) * ''Australian Tour'' LP (2003) * ''Crockodials'' (2006) * ''Below The Branches'' (2006,

) * ''Circular Sounds'' (2008,

) * ''To Dreamers'' (2010,

) * ''Double Exposure'' (2013, Third Man Records) * ''The Scuzzy Inputs of Willie Weird'' LP (2015, Stroll On Records) Under the pseudonym "Willie Weird" * ''In Triangle Time'' LP (2015, Castle Face Records) * ''Que Aura'' LP (2017, Castle Face Records) * ''STRAT - Live At the Whammy Bar'' LP (2017, Puzzle Records) * ''Transnational Series Vol 1'' LP (2017, La Suisse Primitive) Split LP with Augenwasser * ''Natural Causes'' LP (2018, Banana & Louie Records) * ''My Regime'' LP (2019, Banana & Louie Records) * ''Falcon/Falkland - Energy Beats Perfection'' LP (2019, Chuffed Records) * ''Hard Feelings'' LP (2020, Chuffed Records) * ''Ah! (etc)'' LP (2020, Agitated Records) * ''The Stylist'' LP (2022, Agitated Records) EPs * ''Live to Acetate'' (2004,

Corduroy Records Corduroy Records was a vinyl record pressing plant and record label that existed from 1994–2005 in Highett, Victoria, Australia. The Corduroy pressing plant was established by Nick Phillips of the garage rock band The Breadmakers who saved Au ...

) * ''The Sun Comes Through EP'' (2005,

) * ''With My Face On the Floor'' 7" EP (2006, Art School Drop Out) * ''4 New Cuts'' EP (2015, Stroll On Records) Singles * ''Discount City/84 Tigers'' 7" (2004, Cass Records) * ''Baby I Got News For You/Fire Escape'' (2009, Chuffed) * ''Two Imaginary Girls'' 7" (2012, Les Disques Steak) * ''My Baby Always Knows (What Time It Is)'' 7" (2008, Cass Records) Split tour single with the Dirtbombs * ''Your Reverie/Owl Service'' (2008,

) * ''Cross Your Mind/The Anarchist In Me'' (2013. Stroll On Records) * ''YTAWFUMB/PublicTV'' 7" (2016 Fueled By Grappa)

References

External links

*
Artist website on Sub Pop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoltz, Kelley 1971 births American singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Sub Pop artists Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers Third Man Records artists People from Birmingham, Michigan Songwriters from Michigan