With his first full length album, Mauna, which drops October 2nd, 2019, Steven Sedalia blends instrumentation from Hawaii, India, Appalachia, and Africa, with lyrics of an ecstatic devotion to universal love, all glued together by a folk rock musicality set to move waists and hearts.

Being raised in the mountains of North Carolina has instilled in Sedalia a deep reverence for the land that is emergent in his songs. Having lived for years on an organic fruits and vegetables farm on Kauaʻi in the Hawaiian islands, this praise seems to have multiplied as the musical stories mix moods of adventure, romance, wonder, joy of abundance, and exploration of love.

The title of the 14 song album, Mauna, means mountain in Hawaiian, and silence in Sanskrit. A fitting name for this genre-defying project. Written and recorded on the north shore of Kauaʻi, the album spreads across a diverse scenery, opening with a haku mele (original composition written in the Hawaiian language) in “Polikua,” to a blues roots earth anthem in “Children of the Land,” a banjo foot stomper in “Mountain Woman,” wispy flutes in between layered vocal harmonies in “Listen,” some Sanskrit chanting in “Amaya”, and a love song reminiscent of Rumi’s poetry in the closing track “In Your Love.”

Speaking about the album, Steven says,

“these are love songs to the land, to that which grows on it, to those who live on it, to my heart that beats with it, to the waters, and to the Spirit who made us all, with aloha.”

Listeners will recognize in the music flavors akin to the likes of conscious roots artists such as Nahko Bear, Trevor Hall, Xavier Rudd, and folk Americana artists such as The Avett Brothers and Neil Young.

Having toured across the U.S., playing shows and festivals, sharing the stage with some of the artists mentioned above, as well as Mike Love, Dustin Thomas, Paul Izak, and others, the 26 year old Steven is carving out his niche in the roots revival musical community.

Mauna is Sedalia’s first full length album, celebrating the journey from anxiety to alignment, something that has been a personal quest for him. He says of it,

“I have always loved writing, but it wasn’t until my late teenage years that I discovered my profound love for songwriting. However, I was afraid of sharing my words, and deathly afraid to sing in front of anyone, but I felt so called to share the songs that I knew I had to learn how to overcome the fear. So I began to perform social stunts to intentionally embarrass myself in public, like howling in busy street sidewalks, or facing the opposite way in an elevator, or breaking out in chaotic dance in busy college halls, all to teach my body how to stay calm in front of an audience.”

Not only did these self therapy techniques encourage Sedalia’s calmness in front of crowds, but they changed his entire life.

To listen to Mauna, visit Steven Sedalia’s official website www.stevensedaliamusic.com,

or directly on Spotify, or buy on iTunes

Steven Sedalia is a singer-songwriter forging a folk fusion sound melting mystical ambience with acoustic anthems. Unique for his ‘outro’ refrains, the reverent and memorable chants inspire a sing-along fervor in live audiences. Themes of soul exploration and mythical adventure set the tone for wide-eyed love songs edging toward devotionals. Sedalia's bright voice and grounding guitar give foundation to an emotionally nourishing mixture of sound and poetry, culminating in an ecstatic celebration of universal love.

A follow-up project to his full length album Mauna (2019), this new collection, The Original Giver (2021), takes on a more ethereal tone with atmospheric synths and cosmic voices. Organic acoustic instruments provide the spine to ecstatic vocals, waves of celestial sounds, and wet tambourines. Five tracks dripping in tones of the early universe tell a story of Sound as the animating force behind Creation.

Speaking of the album, Steven says, “The Original Giver is the personification of Sound as the Creator. The record is a cosmology of the soul. It is as archetypal as it is real. It is as metaphysical as it is physical. It is as personal as it is universal. It means to recognize the Creator as imminent in all of Creation, and through this acknowledgement, humbly commit to carry on the responsibility of creation through loving action.”

Like all of Sedalia’s projects, this new EP is a story of intertwining tales that all relate to one another chronologically and holistically. (1) The Original Giver tells of the first breath that sparked the stars and through the voice lit up the void. (2) The Potter tells of the Creatress who made matter tangible and designed the earth by mixing the elements and molding the shapes. (3) Footprints honors the ancestral line of life that gave birth to us from the beginning to now that is always guiding us. (4) O Creator emphatically declares that the creative instinct that called forth the entire world is within us and the act of creation continues through our loving action. (5) Constellations weaves the web that connects it all together, the human family aligned with the sound, the stars, and the creed “the love inside of you is the love inside of me.”

To listen to The Original Giver, visit Steven Sedalia’s official website.