Every once in a while it comes around. Bright love circles, settles down beside you and the spinning compass knows a new Promised Land - The Middle. The journey is no longer aimlessly upward, but now steadily inward. To the safely laid nest between the street and the stars. To the stormless sky where less is more. Away from the wandering wilderness and a perfect line toward what matters most -- that comfortable middle where there is evermore proof that the comet was worth the wait and the middle is the New Northbound. ### Having released eleven albums in as many years, Portland’s two-time 'Songwriter of the Year' and 'Best Male Artist,' Tyler Stenson, has been an exceptionally prolific creator. While his signature Elegant Folk has earned strong local praise, the swell is now attracting national attention with songs in rotation on SiriusXM’s The Coffee House, as well as, being hand-picked by Don Was as a Top 10 Finalist in Guitar Center’s 'Songwriter Search' and by Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) with music critic Ryan Spaulding to perform at their Outlaw Roadshow showcases at SxSW and NYC. But for all the traction his past productions have garnered, fans and critics can expect his twelfth release to shatter what we’ve come to expect from this former folk artist. Beginning with a drum machine and unison background vocals, listeners will know from the opening notes that Stenson’s latest creation, New Northbound, is a different breed than his typical acoustic arrangements. It’s Elegant Folk 2.0, with creative rhythms, tremendous atmosphere and no twang. And this was by design, for he has gained some newfound inspiration from a most unexpected source … boring, old contentment. “My early records were about seeking love,” Stenson recalls. “But now that I’m newly married and just recently became a father, I’m swimming in it. My music just couldn’t stay the same. Everything in my life had changed too much, including myself, so this needed to be reflected in a colorful new sound.” Heritage themes of wandering, searching and directionless spinning are all thick within New Northbound, but each is now resolved through the lens of contentment – a concept that eluded the lyric-first songwriter in the past. With an all-new perspective, Stenson now speaks fondly of his journey through instability and the treasures he eventually found along the way … or that found him, rather. “I call my wife The Comet,” Stenson beams. “Now that she’s circled and settled down next to me, these new songs are about finally catching that comet and creating a steady life together – not too high or too low – but in the middle. Because the middle is the New Northbound.” Though Stenson penned all songs, it took a village to fully realize this 2017 LP. 220-plus fans backed Stenson’s Kickstarter campaign, successfully funding the recording and upcoming feature music video. Stenson then partnered with another Portland musician, Cary Samsel (of Samsel and the Skirt), to coproduce the ever-eclectic album. The pair spent a marathon week in Boise, where they tracked the lion’s share of the pieces alongside a third co-producer, Mitchell Maldonado, at House Below Productions. It’s not often that the mundane can inspire, but because Stenson is wildly content with his life in the middle, this wild energy has inspired a fresh new-normal sound that fans old and new will call the New Northbound.