The Bear in Bloomington, MN

Along with his backup band
the Sixers
(who consisted of
Keith Karlson
and
Brian "Boots" Factor
upon the release of this album), 32-year-old singer/songwriter
Stephen Kellogg
has had his ups and downs, beginning with self-released efforts, working his way up to a major label and being dropped, and now fetching up with a well-established independent,
Vanguard Records
, for
The Bear
. His music is melodic pop/rock, usually featuring an acoustic guitar supported by an electric bass and drums, with other midrange instruments -- keyboards here, banjo there -- filling in the sound, all in support of
Kellogg
's smooth tenor singing catchy choruses to story-songs, at least some of which sound like they must be autobiographical. In particular, it would be surprising to hear that
"Satisfied Man,"
on which
is only accompanied by that acoustic guitar, was fictional, since it is the first-person account of a happily married family man trying to explain to his wife and family (and to himself) why, if he's so satisfied, he also needs to hit the road regularly and be away from them so much. ~ William Ruhlmann