Stelth Ulvang is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a touring member of the

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk music, folk and rock music, rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the American fo ...

band

The Lumineers The Lumineers are an American alternative folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The founding members are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano). Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing to ...

. He is also the co-founder of the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountere ...

-based band The Dovekins. In February 2015, Ulvang released his debut album, ''And, as Always; the Infinite Cosmos''. He released three more albums (one LP and two EPs) in 2018.

Career

While working at a coffee shop on Laurel Street in Fort Collins, Ulvang developed an interest in music and decided to become a musician. Being an avid traveler, he used to busk to cover his expenses. Due to his habit of performing barefoot on stage, he has acquired the nickname "Barefoot Wanderer".

2009-2011: ''The Dovekins''

In 2009, while sailing from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

with singer-songwriter Griff Snyder on Robin Lee Graham's '' The Return of Dove'', Ulvang came up with the idea of forming the band The Dovekins. The band's lineup included five members, all rooted in Denver's folk punk scene. The Dovekins generally played mountain-town folk and indie rock style-music. The group released two studio albums, ''Assemble the Aviary'' and ''(A)live'', in 2010. After touring regularly, The Dovekins disbanded following a final show in Austin in October 2011. The band has reunited on a few occasions since then, including at the 2018 Treefort festival in Boise.

2011-present: ''The Lumineers''

Ulvang came in touch with The Lumineers in 2009, when the latter, seeking advice on self-booking Colorado shows, interacted with him through Myspace. Ulvang joined the band as a touring member in 2011. The Lumineers joined The Dovekins for their first Denver gig. Initially, Ulvang was slated to play bass guitar for The Lumineers, but he later switched to piano. He has assisted in the composition of various songs by The Lumineers, including "

Stubborn Love "Stubborn Love" is a song by American folk rock band the Lumineers. It was released in 2012 as the second single from their debut self-titled An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believe ...

". With The Lumineers, Ulvang has opened for U2 and

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American Rock music, rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell (musician), Mike Campbell, ...

2012-present: Solo career

Ulvang started to compose his own music in 2012. He has since released two full-length albums and two EPs. His full-length debut album, ''And, as Always; the Infinite Cosmos'', was released in February 2015. In February 2018, Ulvang released two EPs, ''Greetings From Perpetual Summer'' and ''Take Time'', as well as a full-length album entitled ''American Boredom''. TED.com described ''And, as Always; the Infinite Cosmos'' as "a balancing act of heavy truths, humour and observation". Ulvang told the

Colorado Public Radio Colorado Public Radio (CPR) is a public radio state network based in Denver, Colorado that broadcasts three services: news, classical music and Indie 102.3, which plays adult album alternative music. CPR airs its programming on 15 full-power s ...

that ''American Boredom'' is more politically themed than his other albums, which are mostly focused on environmental issues. In live performances, Ulvang is accompanied by collaborator and drummer Max Barcelow and by multi-instrumentalist Dorota Szuta.

Musicianship

Ulvang's major influences include Paul Simon,

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the li ...

Jason Molina Jason Andrew Molina (December 30, 1973 – March 16, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of ...

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backin ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blue ...

Jonathan Richman Jonathan Michael Richman (born May 16, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic ...

, Pavement,

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

Dave Van Ronk David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis mad ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. Among

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...

s, he has been specifically influenced by

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

. Known for his ability to play a variety of instruments, Ulvang states that he plays more than 18. He mainly plays

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

. His favourite gear consists of Collings mandolin,

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, t ...

SV1 keyboard and

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aus ...

guitars. In a review of Ulvang's 2017 performance at Café Roux, Tecla Ciolfi wrote: "Ulvang’s impeccably eccentric and charming charisma effortlessly infatuated the audience before him. The artist’s peculiar foot-stomping and incredibly animated antics amongst his powerful, minimally-layered sound was a treat for anyone, familiar or not". Reviewing Ulvang's short-notice performance at the

Enmore Theatre The Enmore Theatre is a theatre and entertainment venue in Sydney, Australia. It was built in 1908. It is located at 118–132 Enmore Road in Newtown, in the inner west of Sydney's suburbs. It was first opened in 1912 as a photo-play theatre. I ...

in Sydney, ''The AU review'' author Carine Nilma wrote: "For a very short-notice stint filling in, Ulvang managed to literally win over the entire room after playing for about half an hour". Folk/rock musician Paul De Haven described Ulvang's ''American Boredom'' as the best album of 2018 from the Denver music scene. In a review of a concert by ''The Lumineers'', ''

Lexington Herald-Leader The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second larg ...

'' writer Walter Tunis called Ulvang the "MVP of the show" and labeled him "resourceful" for his ability to rapidly change instruments during performances. Ulvang has been praised for his adeptness at playing keyboard and has been seen playing it with his feet.

Personal life

Ulvang was born in Fort Collins and lived in Loveland. He is married to musician Dorota Szuta.

Discography

Solo discography

The Dovekins

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulvang, Stelth Living people American folk rock musicians Year of birth missing (living people)