This entire review could just be this: go see Christopher Paul Stelling. Go. Gooooo. He is that good, that intense, that talented to go see him even without hearing any of his albums ahead of time. Walk in unfamiliar and you will walk out a fan.

Dan Blakeslee opened on Thursday for the sold-out show at Atwood’s. Stelling said later that we are lucky to have Dan in Boston–damn right. He exudes positivity throughout his set, refusing to take himself seriously, even as he does seriously beautiful things with his voice and guitar. He doesn’t smile, he grins. Dan is an excellent guitar player, striking both beautiful and dissonant chords, evoking the scenes of his songs. And I think I would pay just to hear him sing “oooo” into a microphone.

The highlight of the night for me was “Picture in My Wallet” but he also finished with “Wizard Nor a King” and it was stomper:

Stelling was joined by Matt Murphy on stand-up bass and Kieran Ledwidge on fiddle; he called his band “The Accents” because Ledwidge is from Australia and Murphy is a Boston native. They were staggeringly good together–very fast, very precise, and seemed to enjoy pushing each other on stage. Both “Brick by Brick” and “Horse” featured the intensity that most people might associate with Stelling–eyes kind of trance-like, staring far off, as if the words and music are being channeled more than performed.

But it was equally impressive to hear the more subdued, emotionally resonant songs, like “Revenge,” “Homesick Tributaries,” and “Scarecrow.” The playing was no less impressive and when Stelling strayed from the mic for a section of “Homesick Tributaries,” he seemed to lose no volume whatsoever.

Stelling thanked the musicians who nurtured him in this area when he was early in his career and playing to empty rooms: Bryan Minto and Joe Fletcher, among others. It was a thoughtful reflection from someone who has mostly traveled solo–no one does it alone.

Go see this guy. You’ll be glad you did. He’s touring all the time and you can find dates here.
Oh, and here is proposing to his partner, Julia Christgau, at Newport, which is just too lovely for words: