I was raised listening to all types of music from Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, to Michael Jackson and Van Morrison. During my teenage years, I started to listen to more modern R&B, anything from Maxwell to Brian McKnight. The way I sing, the phrases I hear, and the types of chord changes and structure that I hear are influenced heavily by modern R&B. However, it is music that I found later like Ben Harper, Ryan Adams, Van Hunt, Joni Mitchell, John Mayer, and Elvis Costello that I believe has had the most profound impact on how I approach my music. The way they write music is completely different than the R&B artists I grew up hearing. Their lyrical sensibilty, rock and roll affect, and sometimes unpredictible song structure is something that I am trying to incorporate into my music and aspire to as a songwriter. I currently describe my sound as Soul R&B.
Thank you to @198four_, @maedaehayday, @freesoul_777, and @vyeager for the photos and @jkglobal for many of the edits.