Curtis Harding

Curtis Harding (born June 11, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. Primarily a soul artist, his "slop 'n' soul" style carries the influence of genres including blues, gospel, psychedelia, R&B, and rock. His first album, Soul Power, was followed by Face Your Fear in 2017, with production from Danger Mouse and Sam Cohen.

Harding was born in Saginaw, Michigan, and his family settled in Atlanta when he was a teenager. He was exposed to music at an early age as his family toured with his mother, who was a gospel singer. In the 2000s, Harding backed CeeLo Green, and he formed the R&B/garage rock band Night Sun in Atlanta with Black Lips members in 2009.

Early life Harding was born on June 11, 1979, in Saginaw, Michigan. is a gospel singer. They moved to Alabama when he was three, then to Arizona, California, Texas, and other parts of the United States. His family had no permanent residence until they settled in Atlanta, Georgia, when he was 14. Harding grew up around his mother's music, occasionally joining her on stage as a backing singer until age 15.

Career 2000s collaborations In Atlanta in the early 2000s, Harding was part of the hip-hop group Proseed.

He moved to Toronto in 2008 to reinvigorate his musical creativity. He returned to Atlanta in 2009 and formed the band Night Sun, which mixes rhythm and blues and garage rock, with guitarist Cole Alexander of Black Lips, performing several shows in East Atlanta and Little Five Points. titled Soul Power and released by Burger Records on May 6, 2014. with critics noting its fusion of many musical genres. "Keep on Shining" was one of the singles the album produced; he performed the song live on the French talk show C à vous in February 2015.

While at The Growlers' annual Beach Goth festival, Harding met fashion photographer Hedi Slimane. Harding was recruited as the face of Yves Saint Laurent's Paris Music Project for 2015. He also photographed Harding for the album's cover.

His second album, Face Your Fear, was released by Anti- on October 27, 2017. NPR Music named the album one of the best ten R&B albums of 2017. Music critic Ken Tucker said that Harding's earnestness in the album, tone and emphasis changes, and direct singing suggest both comfort in and knowledge of classic R&B.

Its opening track, "Wednesday Morning Atonement", was produced by Danger Mouse and Sam Cohen.

In advance of Harding's support of Lenny Kravitz on tour throughout 2018, Harding released the single "It's Not Over" on June 5. Clash Robin Murray wrote that the song was "a driven return, a solid return". In 2019, Harding headlined the finale of Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.

Musical style

Harding describes his genre as "slop 'n' soul", joining soul music with blues, gospel, psychedelia, R&B, and rock. "Slop" symbolizes Southern culture ("that's what you give to pigs"), and soul represents the music of his youth. "Soul is an experience," Harding told GQ magazine in 2017. "It can be in the way you dress, the way you talk, the way you sit down in a chair. It's a feeling that you can translate to someone with whatever you're doing."

His musical style has elements that are not usually found in soul, like vintage synthesizers sounds and a psychedelic feel. The Orlando Weekly writes:

In addition to his mother, Harding has said that his influences include Mahalia Jackson, MC Lyte, Bob Dylan, Albert King, the Everly Brothers, and Ronnie Dyson. In 2015, Michael Hann of The Guardian cited Harding and Leon Bridges as "the new stars of classic soul" with other modern recording artists having brought the genre back into mainstream culture. Harding believes that soul's popularity is simply cyclical, and that its resurgence is "just the way people are."

Released: May 6, 2014 Label: Burger Records Formats: Cassette, LP, CD, digital download

Released: October 27, 2017 Label: Anti- Formats: LP, CD, digital download

Released: November 5, 2021 Label: Anti- Formats: LP, digital download

Released: September 5, 2025 Label: Anti- Formats: LP, digital download

Singles + List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions AlbumMEXUS AAA "Keep on Shining" "Castaway" 2014 44 — Soul Power "Next Time" — — "On and On" 2017 44 40 Face Your Fear "Wednesday Morning Atonement" — — "Need Your Love" — 39 "Go As You Are" — — "It's Not Over" "There She Goes" 2025 — 35 Departures & Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt "The Power" — 35

Music videos + List of music videos, showing year released and director Title Year Director "Next Time" 2014 Hedi Slimane "The Drive" 2016 Taylor Bonin "Wednesday Morning Atonement" 2017 Sky Shields "Need Your Love" Elise Tyler

Guest appearances + List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name Title Year Album "I Can't Love You" 2012 We Invented Cool "Too Late" 2015 Darling... It's Too Late "Me, You, And the Planet Too" 2016 The 4th Side of the Eternal Triangle "Me, You, And the Planet Too" [Chris Hunt Remix] 2017 Triangle Schemes "Surrender" (Rüfüs Du Sol feat. Curtis Harding) 2021 Surrender

Acting Harding appears in the third season of Sundance TV drama Hap and Leonard, playing infamous blues musician L.C. Soothe. The season was filmed in late September 2017 in Cedartown, Georgia, and began airing March 7, 2018.

+ Television Year Title Role 2018 Hap and Leonard L.C. Soothe