Folkadelphia Session: Stephen Kellogg

Have you ever had one of those “expectation versus reality” experiences with a musician? Your expectation based on what you learned about him or her, what you heard in the music and lyrics, and what you perceived from outward appearances led you to believe that a meeting between you two would yield amazing, even relevatory results, or, at the very least, a pleasant conversation. How disappointing is it when this is not the case in reality? Sure, we all build up our own unjustly idealistic ideas about artists and their personalities and sure, we forget to give them the benefit of the doubt that, yes, they are in fact humans, people that have good and bad moments throughout the day, just like us, who are on the road and tired, hungry, thirsty, lonesome, and/or frayed along the edges. Even still, it is a bummer to indulge in a bit of idol worship just to be let down. It has happened to all of us. I’m here though to say that if you’re a person that is a fan of Stephen Kellogg, you can forget about this whole first paragraph.

Stephen Kellogg, of long-standing rock group Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (they recently hit the decade in existence mark), is one of the most genuine and interactive musicians we’ve had the pleasure to welcome in to record a Folkadelphia Session. It was not just his positive energy and gratitude about being in the studio to play his new songs for us that was infectious and wonderful to be around, but it was also his sincerity and willingness to listen to ideas that made our recording time together memorable. Talking to Kellogg in this stage of his career, it is obvious that he is a very thankful man; thankful for his fans, thankful for his family, thankful for just being out there and doing what he loves to do. All of these qualities come across clearly in his latest record and newest solo effort Blunderstone Rookery, a reference to Kellogg’s favorite book, Dickens’ David Copperfield. Blunderstone Rookery, at its core, is a personal account of what’s on Kellogg’s mind, including love, loss, life, death, family, politics, and pretty much every major topic under the sun that you or I spend our waking (and sleeping) hours thinking, dreaming, planning, and worrying on. Kellogg plays the role of the everyman, his personal account is universal in scope, we all identify and empathize with what he is singing about because we have all been there or will be there.

With Stephen Kellogg, what you see is what you get – an honest, hardworking career musician attempting to do some good through song. Although it sounds like normal occurance, many folks are just not cut from such cloth. We wish Kellogg well on his journey and encourage you to say hello, like on November 29th, when he returns to Philadelphia to play World Cafe Live.