Young Mister, September 21

Wednesday, September 21, 7 p.m.

Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA

With Atwood magazine praising his album Sudden Swoon as "a radiant blend of folk, pop, and rock glowing with humbling sincerity," independent singer/songwriter Stephen Fiore, performing under his recording alias Young, Mister, headlines a September 21 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artist also lauded by Pop Matters for delivering "a rare balance between energetic yet considered songwriting and accessibility to a myriad of different listeners."

Hailed by American Songwriter and Consequence of Sound for an adroit balance of folk, Americana, Young Mister began in 2010 after Fiore, a successful songwriter for Los Angeles' Universal Music Publishing Group for more than a half-decade, once again began putting himself first as a writer. “I’d been writing a lot under my name, but for other people,” Fiore states on his YoungMister.com Web site, referencing cuts for acts such as Howie Day and Natasha Bedingfield. “I needed to do something different.” Young Mister’s self-titled 2016 debut LP bore hits including “Everything Has Its Place” and “Anybody Out There,” swirling meditative lyricism together with dreamlike soundscapes that carried Fiore onto stages across the country over the course of more than 160 shows. 2019’s Sudden Swoon and 2020’s This Is Where We Are Now consequently expanded that sound outward and, in the case of the latter, found the singer/songwriter ruminating on the chaotic, fractured state of the world at large while tackling such thorny issues as religion and racial injustice, the COVID-19 pandemic, and omnipresent political partisanship.

His wildly varied credits including co-writing with Art Garfunkel, a stint with Jeff Goldblum’s jazz band, and earning more than 17 million Spotify streams, Fiore has earned some of the most glowing reviews of his career for Young Mister's This Is Where We Are Now. Extra Chill raved, "The songs on This Is Where We Are Now touch on sensitive topics like the modern political climate, religion, and the changes happening all around. Yet for the most part these topics are delivered with a gentle kindness, which coincidentally enough is how the lyrics throughout the album also suggest you react to the world. There is a warm, comforting, and hopeful feel about the music, almost like something you’d hear from Conor Oberst, minus the self-deprecation." And American Songwriter praised Fiore's "luscious acoustics, dad-rock electrics, and Fiore’s laid-back tenor – the Young Mister sonic signature."

Young Mister performs his Davenport engagement on September 21 with an opening set by Abby Holiday, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $12, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.