Presented by KNKX. Curtis Stigers burst onto the recording scene in 1991 with his eponymously-titled debut album, which sold 1.5 million copies and spawned several self-penned, pop/soul hit singles, including “You’re All That Matters To Me”, “Never Saw A Miracle” and the worldwide top-ten hit, “I Wonder Why.” The next year the singer/songwriter/saxophonist recorded Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding” for “The Bodyguard” soundtrack, which has sold over 45 million copies worldwide. Stigers recorded two more pop-oriented albums in the 1990s and made guest appearances on several albums, including two by his early musical mentor, the legendary jazz pianist Gene Harris. In 2001 Stigers pivoted artistically and signed with Concord Jazz. Over the next 18 years he recorded nine genre-busting albums, combining his jazz sensibilities with his love for emotional, well-written modern songs from a wide variety of sources including rock, blues, soul, country and folk. During this period Stigers co-wrote and sang “This Life”, the Emmy Award-nominated theme song to the wildly popular TV show “Sons Of Anarchy”, and also made cameo appearances in the Seth MacFarlane movies “Ted” and “Ted 2”. All the while, Stigers was cultivating a successful and enduring touring career, playing concerts around the world, performing songs from his jazz albums as well as newly reconstructed “jazz” versions of his hit songs from his early pop albums.

Then 2020 and the Pandemic arrived, and with it a whole new artistic reality. Sidelined at home in Idaho with his wife and four very cute dogs, Stigers, in an attempt to continue to make music and stay in touch with his fans, created a weekly internet livestream show called “Songs From My Kitchen”. The show featured Stigers playing songs in his kitchen, surrounded by his dogs, who didn’t hesitate to whine or wrestle or bark during a performance, especially if the mailman showed up. The freedom of playing solo with only his voice and his guitar allowed Curtis to rediscover some of his older material, songs from his albums and songs previously unrecorded, all in an unplugged, impromptu setting. Additionally, he covered songs by other artists and writers he admired, just for the musical joy of it. It was also a chance for him to hone his acoustic guitar playing, a skill he’d previously used primarily as a tool for songwriting, not performing. “Being stuck at home allowed me the chance to challenge myself and to grow as an artist. I even taught myself how to edit video so I could make homemade clips for the show. It was one of the most creative periods of my life, that strange, isolated year and a half.”

The new Curtis Stigers album “Songs From My Kitchen, Volume 1” is a look back at that time and those more than fifty livestream shows, and also a look ahead to the current and future Curtis Stigers, singer/songwriter and connoiseur of great songs. This is his 14th studio album, and it’s a stripped-down, acoustic affair, with intimate performances of songs Stigers has written, rediscovered, or covered. “Some of the original songs are relatively new and some are many years old and only now getting a chance to be heard and sung. I like to think I curated this album as much as I created it.”