Stephen Colarelli speaks many musical languages: world, rock, Americana, jazz and gospel—all synthesized into a distinctive voice. His songs are mature, literate, and melodic. Stephen Colarelli was born in Denver, Colorado and lived in Chicago, New York City, Senegal, Zambia, and Singapore. He has made Michigan his home for the past 25 years. In his teens he was steeped in jazz, country, the British invasion, and American rock and roll. While living in Chicago, Steve was immersed in the folk music of John Prine and Steve Goodman as well as the Chicago blues. During his years in Africa and travels to Peru and Bolivia, he developed an interest in the sounds and rhythms of world music. More recently, he has incorporated gospel music into his musical palette. These days, when an artist submits music to a distribution company, it wants to pigeonhole the artist, as performing one type of music. Steve's approach is more eclectic, where each album might contain a standard, rockers, a country or folk song, and a ballad—all in his distinctive voice.