Stephen Ashbrook

West Coast singer/songwriter Stephen Ashbrook had access to only two records growing up (<a href="spotify:artist:70cRZdQywnSFp9pnc2WTCE">Simon & Garfunkel</a>'s Bridge Over Troubled Water and Jesus Christ Superstar), both of which were enticing enough to send the California native on a hunt to his local library to expand his musical horizons. Citing heroes as diverse as John Steinbeck, <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5ZXUILHRaovnnRksskrN4z">Winston Churchill</a>, Ashbrook honed his chops amidst the fertile late-'90s Tempe, Arizona alt-rock scene, where he took home The Phoenix Tribune's Best Acoustic Performer title in both 1998 and 2000; he even got to play for President <a href="spotify:artist:4qTVFolSrwkoy428bmP7u8">William Jefferson Clinton</a>, at the request of the White House. Known for his rich baritone, smooth falsetto, and penchant for open-road heartland folk-rock in the vein of <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Tom Petty</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0jJNGWrpjGIHUdTTJiIYeB">the Wallflowers</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0TeVWuc8Sw05X4Qkl3AA5r">Joe Henry</a>, he released an EP, About Last Night, in 1993, followed by a full-length eponymous studio album with his band Satellite in 1995. His solo debut, the critically acclaimed Navigator, arrived in 1998, with Drive and American B-Sides, the latter of which featured members of <a href="spotify:artist:6kXp61QMZFPcKMcRPqoiVj">the Gin Blossoms</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2igp1GDqAEWP2906CUXcKu">the Pistoleros</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0R1ZWmxJMsluNwRwWrNZwy">Dead Hot Workshop</a>, arriving in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Ashbrook relocated to Portland, Oregon after the arrival of the latter, releasing his first live collection, Double Live @ Long Wong's, in 2004, and White Balloons, his sixth studio album, in 2008. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi