$30 COVER

Stephen Kellogg claims that when he was growing up, his musical interests were divided between his father's record collection, devoted to '70s singer/songwriters like Jim Croce and Cat Stevens, and his sister's rock & roll discs, dominated by hair metal acts such as Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe. In a curious way, Kellogg's music represents a meeting point between these two styles, with songs that delve deep into the personal but make room for love and celebration, while the music, which is intelligent and intimate, is also full of rock & roll passion and electricity. Kellogg's earliest work (as summarized on the compilation The Early Hits 1992-1997) found a middle ground between contemporary singer/songwriter material and easygoing roots rock, while his work with his band the Sixers, best heard on 2007's Glassjaw Boxer, beefed up the arrangements and added elements of heartland rock (he has often cited Tom Petty as a personal favorite). After returning as a solo artist with 2013's Blunderstone Rookery and 2016's South, West, North, East, Kellogg's sound opened up even more, with rock, folk, Americana, blues, and roots rock all part of his sonic recipe.

In 2012, Kellogg announced that the Sixers were going on hiatus, and the following year he delivered his first solo album in a decade with Blunderstone Rookery, which featured guest performances by Travis McNabb and Annie Clements from Sugarland, Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek, and Jerry DePizzo from O.A.R. In 2013, Kellogg was invited to give a talk as part of the TEDx Concordia University Portland Program on the subject of job satisfaction. In February 2016, Kellogg returned with another solo project, South, West, North, East, which included material from four sets of sessions (each with different musicians) recorded in Nashville, Atlanta, Boulder, Woodstock, and Washington, D.C. The making of the album became the subject of a short documentary by filmmaker Peter Harding, Last Man Standing. In 2017, two songs co-written by Kellogg were featured on Where We Left Off, an EP by American Idol winner Nick Fradiani; the same year, another tune he co-wrote, "Got Soul," became the title cut on a Grammy-nominated album by blues steel guitarist Robert Randolph. 2018 saw the release of Objects in the Mirror, a set of fresh songs recorded in a single week in Nashville with producer Will Hoge. Kellogg became a published author in 2020 with the appearance of his first book, a collection of essays called Objects in the Mirror: Thoughts on a Perfect Life from an Imperfect Person. He also delivered a new single in May 2020, "Love Me as I Am."

On December 4, 2021 : Stephen Kellogg makes his debut performance on our Icehouse stage.