Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens (pronounced "soof-yawn," born July 1, 1975) is an American independent singer-songwriter musician from Petoskey, Michigan. Stevens is notable for gaining fame and popularity with songs that are heavily rooted in his spiritual beliefs within a music scene mostly dominated by vice like alcohol and drugs. His music draws inspiration from many different genres and his style changes from album to album. He has claimed that he intends to write an album for every single state, but so far has only gone through Michigan (his home state) and Illinois. What his next state will be is disputed, but he has implied that it could be Oregon, California, or New Jersey. He currently resides in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, New York, and his most recent project was a film and concert live show about the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a freeway passing through the city.

Spiritual Themes

Many of Stevens' songs have spiritual themes, which is rare for a successful independent music artist. These themes are most notable on Seven Swans, on which the songs "Abraham," "Seven Swans," "To Be Alone with You," "He Woke Me Up Again," "We Won't Need Legs to Stand," and "The Transfiguration" directly address Christianity. The song title "All the Trees of the Fields Will Clap Their Hands" is a quote from Isaiah 55:12.

Stevens is also known to have a strong sense of family values. He writes about this in the liner notes of the box set Songs for Christmas, which is a compilation of five short albums of Christmas songs that he makes every year for his friends and family. The album features both originals and covers of traditional Christmas songs including "Silent Night," "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," and more.

Discography

• A Sun Came! (2000)
• Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001)
• Michigan (2003)
• Seven Swans (2004)
• Illinois (2005)
• The Avalanche (2006)
• Songs for Christmas (2006)
• Run, Rabbit, Run! (2009)
• The BQE (2009)