Sufjan Stevens | Artist

Sufjan Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist born 1975 in Detroit, Michigan. He has released solo studio albums as well as multiple collaborative albums with other artists including Brice Dresner from NIN, modern classical composer Timo Andres, and Electronic artist Lowell Brams, who is also Stevens' step-father. Stevens has also received Academy Award and Grammy Award nominations and Independent Artist awards. A multi-instrumentalist, Stevens is known for his use of the banjo but also plays guitar, piano, drums, woodwinds, and several other instruments, often playing all of these on his albums using multitrack recording. While in school, he studied the oboe and English horn, which he also plays on his albums. Stevens began his musical career as a member of Marzuki, a folk-rock band from Holland, Michigan, as well as garage band Con Los Dudes. While in his final semester at Hope College, Stevens wrote and recorded his debut solo album, A Sun Came, which he released on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Stevens' second album, Enjoy Your Rabbit, on which he began using electronica, is a song cycle based around the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Stevens followed this with his commercial break-through album Michigan, a collection of folk songs and instrumental odes to the cities and rural locations of the state of Michigan. Melded into the scenic descriptions and characters are his own declarations of faith, sorrow, love, and the regeneration of Michigan. At this time Stevens announced an intent to write an album for each of the 50 U.S. states, which he termed the Fifty States Project. To-date he has released 13 studio albums and one excellent live album. Standout releases include Michigan, Seven Swans, Illinois, The Age of Adz, Carrie & Lowell, and Carrie & Lowell Live. Stevens, who is of Lithuanian and Greek descent, lives in Brooklyn in New York, where he is associated with Brooklyn-based Asthmatic Kitty Records, which he co-founded with his step-father and musical collaborator Lowell Brams.

Artist Website: sufjan.com

Featured Albums: Sufjan Stevens

Related Artists: Sisyphus, Lowell Brams

Video Clips: Should Have Known Better, Mystery of Love, Chicago