Will Stratton
| Will Stratton | |
|---|---|
| 300x200px
Will Stratton playing in Antwerp, Belgium, 2012
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Will Lulofs link |
| Born | 1987 (age 36–37) Northern California United States |
| Genres | Indie folk, folk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, composer |
| Instruments | Voice, guitar, banjo, piano, harpsichord, Mellotron, bass |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels | Talitres, Stunning Models on Display, Tompkins Square |
| Website | willstratton.com |
Will Stratton (born 1987) is an American singer-songwriter and composer.
Contents
Early life
Will was born in northern California, but raised primarily in New Jersey. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 4.[1] He spent one year at University of Puget Sound studying philosophy, before finishing college at Bennington College, where he switched his studies to music composition.[2][3] While at Bennington, Stratton took classes from composer Allen Shawn, which led him to compose his first pieces for other ensembles than a standard string quartet. Stratton has incorporated projects from his course work at Bennington into his albums, including a set of ten piano preludes composed for a second course taught by Shawn.[3] He is 28 years old and currently lives in New York state.[4]
Musical career
His first album, What the Night Said, was recorded in 2005, the summer after he graduated from high school, and was subsequently released in 2007.[2] It featured a guest appearance by Sufjan Stevens on oboe,[5] and received wide critical praise.[6][7][8]
His second album, No Wonder, featured the vocal work of Essie Jain, among others, and was released on November 3, 2009. The album was co-produced and mixed by Kieran Kelly at The Buddy Project Studio in Astoria, Queens NY. While the album never saw national distribution, No Wonder's title track was the NPR Song of the Day on March 26, 2010.[9]
He has also released two free download-only compilations of demos and instrumental works, as well as Vile Bodies, a free downloadable EP.
In March 2010, Stratton appeared on WNYC radio show Spinning on Air for an hour-long interview and performance with host David Garland. In a first for the show, Stratton and WNYC gave away the songs from the episode as a free EP.[2]
In 2010 and 2012, his third and fourth albums were released, titled New Vanguard Blues and Post-Empire, respectively. He toured Europe for two months with fellow songwriter Paleo, aka David Strackany, in 2012.[10] Post-Empire was named #31 on AOL Spinner's top 50 albums of 2012.[11]
In 2012, Stratton was diagnosed with Stage 3 testicular cancer and underwent successful chemotherapy treatment and surgery.[12]
Influences
Stratton is a "self professed disciple of Nick Drake."[1] He has also been described as functioning "under the wing of Sufjan Stevens."[8] Some have gone as far as to say that the resemblance to Drake is "unmistakable" at points, while his similarity to Stevens is "so apparent."[6] John Fahey and Leo Kottke are often mentioned as influences on his guitar style.[10]
Discography
Demos
- For No One (2007)
- Instrumental Music, 2007–2009 (2009)
Studio albums
- What the Night Said (2007)
- No Wonder (2009)
- New Vanguard Blues (2010)
- Post-Empire (2012)
- Gray Lodge Wisdom (2014)
- TBA (2017)
EPs
- Vile Bodies (2009)
- Two Songs (2015)
External links
- Will Stratton official website
- Official Bandcamp page
- Interview with Popmatters editor Evan Sawdey
- Will Stratton: Strength In Ambiguity (NPR Song Of The Day)
- Will Stratton on WNYC's Spinning on Air, March 14th 2010
- Will Stratton on AllMusic Guide
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ All Good Naysayers – What the Night Said
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Popmatters – Will Stratton – What the Night Said
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 NPR – Will Stratton – Katydid
- ↑ NPR Song Of The Day – No Wonder
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
