Stephen Washington is in new territory – Charleston City Paper

Growing up listening to everything from Aerosmith to Alanis Morissette to Pharrell, Charleston native Stephen Washington would try to figure out how songs were put together, an innate curiosity that has driven him in his capacity as both musical director and keys player for local supergroup Quiana Parler and Friends over the past 13 years. 

Currently, Washington is working on his EP, Son of a Preacher, which will travel the edges of gospel, country and rock like Gary Clark Jr., but the ultimate feel will be soul.

“It’s going to be an honest EP,” he said. “I believe in transparency. I’ve written songs in some of the most difficult moments in my life, and I was afraid to share it.” But he’s come to find that in talking about what is personal, we realize it’s universal. 

He’s always felt wired differently, Washington said, and he struggled with accepting his path was pointed toward music. 

“It took a lot of failing and bad decisions. It took a lot of frustrations, it took a lot of disappointments. I had this feeling, this instinct that this is something I wanted to do. There are so many things that have transpired in my life that have happened that made me want to feel like I should give up.”

With a background in producing and playing for gospel musicians Travis Greene and K.J. Scriven and local band collective BlackNoyze that has seen collaborations with names like Snoop Dogg and Rihanna, Washington thinks that when it comes to putting out songs, it all comes down to intent — that music will achieve what the artist sets it out to do. 

A lasting positive outcome for the audience means producers and artists have to start with a respect for the attention that needs to be given to the impact of the song outside of material profits, he said.

Source: Stephen Washington is in new territory – Charleston City Paper