Allen Stone – hailed by USA Today as a “pitch-perfect powerhouse” – will tour extensively in early 2012. He’ll kick off the year with a two-night stand at The Neptune in his hometown of Seattle. Stone will be accompanied by the Seattle Rock Orchestra for these two special performances – January 14 (sold out) and January 15. In the course of the past year, the 24-year-old has gone from playing backwoods barbecues and community gatherings to selling out venues from D.C. to L.A. and performing on “Conan” – all without the support of a record label or publisher.
The New York Times’ Jon Pareles noted in a recent live review: “his music reached back four decades to the late 1960s and early ’70s, when songwriters like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway and Bill Withers brought introspection and social commentary to soul music…he let loose a tenor voice with the eagerness and frisky syncopations of Mr. Wonder, coupled at times with Michael Jackson’s percussive flourishes.” The Washington Postpraised his “high-powered set,” observing: “During ‘Contact High,’ a song Stone wrote about our collective dependence on electronic devices, there wasn’t a single person in the crowd messing around on a cellphone…”
Stone’s self-titled sophomore record was released in October on Stickystones, his own entirely independent label. It shot up iTunes’ R&B/Soul charts, peaking at the #2 spot, and hit #29 and #62 on Billboard’s Heatseekers and R&B/Hip Hop Album charts respectively. Recent press coverage for his new CD includes MTV Buzzworthy, USA Today’s Fall Music Preview “Under the Radar,” NPR’s The Record Blog, CNN’s Marquee Blog “1 to Watch” and Billboard’s “Freshman Haze,” among others.