Let’s get right to the point. Stephen Kellogg is a wonderful singer and an engaging performer and if, like me, you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing him perform live and in-person, you should embrace the next opportunity you have to do so. That next opportunity, I’m here to tell you, is Feb. 26 at The Hamilton Live in Washington, DC.
Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you about his recent show at Rams Head on Stage in Annapolis on Dec. 29. A full crowd of fans came out to see the show, some of whom traveled several hours to get there. This was the last show of the first part of Kellogg’s current tour, which featured The Kellogg Sisters — two of his daughters, Sophia and Adeline — on vocals and piano. The set featured several songs from his latest album, To you, old friend, as well as songs from his older work. One highlight for this girl dad was his performance of “Song for Daughters” with his daughters helping him emphasize the message.
Stream To you, old friend, by Stephen Kellogg, on Spotify:
Kellogg also played a cover of John Lennon’s timeless “Imagine” featuring Sophia on piano, and he treated the crowd to a work-in-progress called “New Years Resolution” (with musical stand support from Tour Manager Trae Sheehan) — which he said he did to demonstrate to his daughters that it’s OK to try things and fail. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, and from Adeline’s nod of approval when he looked over to her after he finished, he did a fine job.
Stephen left the stage while his daughters covered Shania Twain’s “Still the One,” which was dedicated to his wife (and their Mom).
Setlist:
1) Learn to Live
2) Gravity
3) Satisfied Man / 4th of July
4) Old Friend
5) Crosses
6) High Highs Low Lows
7) Song for Daughters
8) Good Red Wine
9) The Waitress
10) Sweet Sophia
11) Last Man Standing
12) Imagine (cover of John Lennon)
13) Almost Woke You Up
14) Harbor
15) New Years Resolution
16) Still the One (cover of Shania Twain)
17) See you later, See you soon
Kellogg has been described as “the best songwriter you’re not listening to” — and I guess I’m also guilty of that. He’s released more than a dozen records over the course of a 25-year-plus musical career that largely passed me by. I think I saw a TEDx talk he gave about job satisfaction in 2013, but the first time I remember hearing his music was when I watched “Last Man Standing” — a 30-minute feature documentary about the making of his album South West North East.
This four-part album released in 2015 was recorded in four different regions of the country with four different co-producers including Gregory Alan Isakov and Josh Kaufman. Each region is reflected in it’s own section of the album. I was very impressed with the music on this album and listened to it a bunch, but for some reason never sought out more of his music.
My mistake.
I’ll definitely be listening to more Stephen Kellogg and, if you like good songwriting covering the gamut of life’s emotions, I recommend that you do, too.
Stephen Kellogg returns to the DC area at The Hamilton on Feb. 26 on his first tour with a band in more than three years. I hope to see you there.
Here are some photos of Stephen Kellogg and The Kellogg Sisters performing live at Rams Head on Stage on Dec. 29, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
