Ok, so I gotta like a man with three names. But let me tell you, I saw Christopher Paul Stelling with Donna and Iman last night at Rockwood Music Hall, and I thought he brought enough to warrant a three word moniker. Out of interest, I investigated the meaning of each of his names and found them a perfect metaphor for his music.
“Christopher” means “bearing Christ” and an expression of divinity runs throughout his music. Not only in the words, which have you swimming the sea, lying in the grave, and listening to God, but in the craft of his playing. His fingers are precise on his guitar, cutting tunes like a master wood-craftsman finding the right grain to make a perfect cut. In the precision of playing, he discovers meaning. And we the audience can share in that moment of meaning, finding a religious experience that is powerful, yet neither drenched in nihilism nor blinded by fanaticism.
“Paul” means “humble.” And while Paul has a healthy self confidence on stage, it is not overbearing nor arrogant. And I feel, that though at times he is raging about our brief mortal existence, he is not placing himself superior to us or a doubtful god. He is trying to fully experience existence, and by extension, have us experience it as well. He is not trying to find a catharsis in mind-numbing repetition of mundane tasks to achieve perfection, he wants to explore everything, tasting it and moving on, until finally his flesh gives way and he investigates the bones of death.
Finally, “Stelling” means “small cattle farmer”. What could be more appropriate for a resurgent folk singer? Every time he sang, whether in blissful harmony with his girlfriend (Julia Marie Chirstgua with enjoyable eagerness and tender love), or as the foot stomping madman screaming his passion, he kept reminding me of old country singers of my youth, dancing to their tunes at roadside bandstands in the mountains of North Carolina. While he brings an astonishing freshness, there is no denying that his music evokes an old tradition of fresh mowed hay, trains in the moonlight, and the lonely sounds of animals screaming in the night.
So let me say that Christopher Paul Stelling is his full name, and it means what it says.