David Michael Stith is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who released his first album ''Heavy Ghost'' in 2009 on the

Asthmatic Kitty Asthmatic Kitty is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local coll ...

label. He currently resides in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. David Stith comes from a musical family: his father was a college wind ensemble director and former church choir director; his grandfather is professor emeritus in the music department at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

; his mother is a pianist; and his sisters sing opera and play piano and percussion. Stith began working on an MFA in graphic design at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

's Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Art in 2008, although he did not complete it. Stith produced the artwork for his ''Heavy Ghost'' CD and other projects for

, including cover art for ''Dead Zone Boys'' by Jookabox, ''A Thousand Shark's Teeth'' and ''All Things Will Unwind'' by

My Brightest Diamond My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Nova. The band has released five studio albums and a remix album, five studio EPs and four remix EPs, and made several tours across the United States. Histo ...

, ''Animal Feelings'' by

Rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated ...

, ''Penelope'' and '' Unremembered'' by Sarah Kirkland Snider, as well as the Library Catalog Music Series.

Music

''Heavy Ghost'' is characterized by densely-layered music, featuring strings and horns on top of Stith's guitar and piano tracks. His multi-tracked voice often provides a quasi-choral backing. Released in 2009, it was very favorably reviewed by many critics, garnering a score of 84 at

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. Stith has also opened for Sufjan Stevens, and played piano and sang onstage with him during Stevens' 2010 fall tour. On November 19, 2010, he appeared on NBC's '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', supporting Stevens as he performed "Too Much" (from Stevens' 2010 album '' The Age of Adz''). Stith collaborated with fellow American John-Mark Lapham, formerly of UK/US quartet ''

The Earlies The Earlies are a band formed by Christian Madden and Giles Hatton from Lancashire, England, and Brandon Carr and John Mark Lapham from the United States. They are notable for blending elements from a wide range of musical genres and have been ...

''. Under the band name The Revival Hour, "Hold Back", the duo's debut single, was released in November 2010; their EP, ''Clusterchord'', was released in November 2012. Their debut album, ''Scorpio Little Devil'', was released in 2013. In late 2014, Stith announced a European tour, his first set of live performances as DM Stith in three years, adding that it will be "a sneak preview of his new release due out later in 2015". His second studio album, ''Pigeonheart'', was released on July 29, 2016, with positive reviews, including a score of 70 on

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stith, David Michael 1980 births Living people Musicians from Buffalo, New York Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Singer-songwriters from Indiana American male singer-songwriters Asthmatic Kitty artists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers