Esteban (born 1948 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is the stage name of guitarist Stephen Paul.^[1] Recognizable by his bolero hat and sunglasses, Esteban has gained commercial success by selling his CDs and guitars on QVC and HSN.^[2][3]

History[link]

Paul was the oldest of four children. He recounts that he began playing guitar at the age of eight when his uncle brought him a nylon-stringed guitar.^[1] He attended South Hills Catholic High School (since absorbed into Seton-La Salle Catholic High School) in Mt. Lebanon.^[3] He then attended Carnegie Mellon University, where he double-majored in music and English. At this time, he was teaching approximately 150 students a week and playing in nightclubs.^[1]

Segovia[link]

Esteban states that at this point in his studies of the guitar, he felt a strong desire to study with Andrés Segovia. According to Esteban, after a long period where he pursued Segovia by sending notes to the hotels he was staying at, he at last met Segovia in Los Angeles in 1972 and studied with him intermittently for the next five years, splitting his time between Spain and California. The extent of the connection between Segovia and Esteban, however, is heavily disputed. Although Esteban did meet Segovia, Esteban is not mentioned in any biography of Segovia, and Esteban never received the public acknowledgment Segovia gave students such as John Williams and Eliot Fisk. Segovia autographed one of his books for Esteban in 1978 with a flattering message, but Segovia is known to have signed hundreds or thousands of such messages.^[1]

Musical transformation[link]

Esteban moved from Southern California to Phoenix with his wife and daughter, Teresa Paul in 1978. During the next two years, he toured playing classical music. In 1980, while driving his mother home from the airport, Esteban was involved in a collision with a drunk driver. He was left with broken ribs, missing teeth, and a light-sensitive eye. He recovered but was left with nerve damage in his hands. Unable to play the guitar, he sold solar energy systems for Reynolds Aluminum. During his long recovery, he decided to move away from playing only classical music. After recovering some of the use of his fingers in 1988, he had begun playing again by the end of 1989.^[1]

Commercial success[link]

At this time, Esteban was playing at a Hyatt Regency hotel. He released his first album in 1991.^[4] He hired a keyboardist in 1992 and has subsequently added a five-piece band including drummer Joe Morris. Audiences responded well to Esteban's charisma and frequently bought his albums.^[1] In 1999, Esteban came to the attention of Joy Mangano at Ingenious Designs, inventor of the Miracle Mop and other household accessories sold on QVC. She recognized Esteban's charisma and he was invited to play on QVC in November 1999. Soon after, Ingenious Designs was bought out by HSN and Esteban achieved commercial success. He sold 132,000 CDs after two appearances on HSN in the summer of 2000, and two of his albums reached the top 54 entries in the Billboard 200.^[1] Esteban quit playing at the Hyatt in 2000.^[5] He has since been featured in The Wall Street Journal and People Magazine.^[6] From 2001 to 2003, Esteban released over a dozen additional albums, four of which placed in the lower half of the Billboard 200.^[7] He has also been featured in various infomercials advertising his guitars and instructional DVDs.^[2] Esteban landed his first major CD distribution deal (with Sony RED Distribution) with the release of The Best of Esteban in October, 2006.^[8][9]

Criticism[link]

Esteban has used Segovia heavily in his marketing, citing himself, for example, as being "one of 14 guitarists in the world endorsed by the legendary Andrés Segovia." Critics have pointed out that Esteban began making these claims only after Segovia had died, making them impossible to verify, and that it is unlikely that Segovia, a classical purist, would have approved of Esteban's form of popular music.^[1] Also, given Segovia's known reputation as a very strict and intimidating instructor, it seems highly unlikely that he would have taken a student whose focus was not entirely on the performance of classical music.

Discography[link]

• The Best of Esteban (2006)
• The New Flamenco Y Rosas (2006)
• Father/Daughter (2004)
• Celebrate the Memories (2004)
• Back 2 Back (2003)
• Esteban & Friends: Live in Sedona (2003)
• Happy Holidays (2003)
• Live in Sedona (2003)
• Eternal Love (2003)
• Walk Beside Me (2002)
• Flame, Flamenco & Romance, Vol. 2 (2002)
• Esteban By Request (2001)
• Flame, Flamenco & Romance, Vol. 1 (2001)
• Esteban Live (2001)
• Joy to the World (2001)
• Holiday Trilogy (2001)
• At Home With Esteban (2001)
• All My Love (2001)
• Duende (2001)
• What Child Is This (2001)
• Spirits of the West (2001)
• Heart of Gold (2001)
• Passion (1999)
• Enter the Heart (1998)
• Flamenco Y Rosas (1995)
• Songs From My Heart (1995)

References[link]

Further reading and external links[link]

• Official Website
• Esteban, entry at Allmusic.
• Even on aisle 9, Esteban rocks on, Jim Abbott, January 1, 2007, Orlando Sentinel,.
• The Tao of Esteban, Gilbert Garcia, Phoenix New Times, September 21, 2000.
• Who is Esteban? And what's up with his guitars? at Music Thing
• South Hills Catholic reunion with Esteban, Al Lowe, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 8, 2007.
• Product reviews of various models of Esteban Guitars at Harmony central.

Stephen Christian
Background information
Birth name	Stephen Christian Arnold
Born	(1980-07-28) July 28, 1980 (age 31) Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, acoustic rock, pop punk, Christian rock
Occupations	Songwriter, musician, author
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Universal Republic, Tooth & Nail, Wood Water
Associated acts	Anberlin, Anchor & Braille, SaGoh 24/7

Stephen Christian (born July 28, 1980) is the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Anberlin and his side-project Anchor & Braille. He and his bandmates started Anberlin in 2002, after the demise of their previous group, known as SaGoh 24/7. Christian is a tenor and has a powerful, elegant vocal style and wide vocal range. He is also one of the main songwriters of the band, along with Joseph Milligan.

Anberlin has released five albums, Blueprints for the Black Market, Never Take Friendship Personal, Cities, and New Surrender. Their fifth studio album, Dark is the Way, Light is a Place was released on September 7, 2010. Anberlin has also released a compilation album, Lost Songs, and Christian also has an acoustic solo project under the name of Anchor & Braille, whose debut album Felt produced by Aaron Marsh of Copeland released on August 4, 2009 after being completed in 2008. He is also the founder of Wood Water Records which is also the home of Anchor & Braille. Christian wrote a book, The Orphaned Anything's, which was released online in spring of 2008.

Personal life[link]

Stephen Christian was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan.^[1] Christian attended Winter Haven High School along with bandmates Deon Rexroat and Joseph Milligan.^[2] Following the completion of high school, the three formed the band SaGoh 24/7, which eventually transformed into Anberlin. Christian's younger brother Paul was an influence on some of the band's music. He is a graduate from University of Central Florida and the Florida State University College of Law,^[2] with a bachelor's degree in Psychology.^[3] Christian currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

Christian co-founded Faceless International along with his two friends, Seth Cain and Sarah Freeman. Faceless, a non-profit organization focused on fighting human trafficking and modern day slavery,^[4] "aims to defend the plight of exploited people worldwide who have gone faceless and unknown for far too long". The group organizes and undertakes humanitarian trips to areas in need, both internationally and domestically.^[5]

Christian's father worked with a non-profit organization called American Medical Relief that supplied medical equipment to third world countries, so he was exposed to humanitarianism at a young age. In an interview with myMag, Christian recalls going to Mexico with his father and seeing people living in garbage dumps and sifting through to find pieces of metal to scrap for food. Christian's father had plans to set up a hospital in the dump, and that is where Christian said the first seed was planted. Christian's involvement with American Medical Relief and other non-profit organizations made him want to take action. He attended college for it with plans to work for Habitat for Humanity or UNICEF, but Anberlin was signed a month after he graduated.^[4] Christian's experiences with humanitarian efforts were inspiration for several of the bands' songs.

Discography[link]

• SaGoh 24/7 - Servants After God's Own Heart (1999), lead vocals
• SaGoh 24/7 - Then I Corrupt Youth (2001), lead vocals
• Anberlin - Blueprints for the Black Market (2003), lead vocals
• Anberlin - Never Take Friendship Personal (2005), lead vocals
• Anberlin - Cities (2007), lead vocals
• Anberlin - Lost Songs (2007), lead vocals
• Anberlin - New Surrender (2008), lead vocals
• Anchor & Braille - Felt (2009), all songs, vocals
• Anberlin - Dark is the Way, Light is a Place (2010), Vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer
• Anchor & Braille - The Quiet Life (2012), all songs, vocals

Contributions and collaborations[link]

• The Human Flight Committee - Oh, When the Animals Unionize (2008) guest vocalist on the song "Russian We're Barely Moving"
• Craig Owens - With Love EP (2009) featured vocalist on the song "Products of Poverty"
• Darling Parade - "Remember" (featuring Stephen Christian of Anberlin) (2011)
• Hyland - "The One That Got Away" (featuring Stephen Christian during the chorus) (2011)
• Horsell Common - "I'm Dead" (featuring Stephen Christian)
• The Climbing - "Far From Loneliness" (featuring Stephen Christian)

Books[link]

• The Orphaned Anything's

References[link]