Originally hailing from Lexington, Kentucky, Stoll Vaughan’s career in music began in the late 1990s. Upon graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, he worked at Echo Park Studios in Bloomington, Indiana. Mike Wanchic, producer and longtime guitarist for John Mellencamp, discovered Stoll, took him under his wing, and helped him develop the foundation for his songwriting. Influenced by Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and John Prine, Stoll was inspired to write his own songs.

Dream In Color is Stoll’s fifth album, produced and recorded by Vaughan at Iroquois Studio in Clark County, Kentucky. Musically grounded in his John Mellencamp Indiana days, the album features Dane Clark on drums (Mellencamp), John Ginty on keys (Sheryl Crow, Allman Betts Band), Mike Grosser on bass (Grace Potter), Johnny Stachela with slide guitar on “Thick Of It” and “Killing Floor” (Duane Betts, Allman Betts Band) and Duane Betts featured guitar on “Fate.” 

Dream in Color is a record rife with transition as Stoll found everything in his life was changing. After 14 years in Los Angeles, he left for the calmer state of Kentucky and welcomed a new child into his family. The songs written for the album are a reflection of these changes. “Fate,” evolved from thinking there would be nothing worse than having a child with a woman you can’t stand. ‘I realized how lucky I have been”, Stoll declared. “The stars aligned, and fate was kind to me. “Farmers Almanac” was inspired by moving back to Kentucky and living on the farm where he grew hemp and raised cattle. “Dream In Color” is baptism by the weight of being a father, Stoll says, “my faith, my love, and my life look better in color.” “Just Another Day” reflects the sun coming up, the day to day, waiting on nothing, Stoll explains, I’ve seen this before, trudging the road to happy destiny.”

To date, Vaughan has released four solo albums: The Conversation (2018), Desires Shape (2020), Hold On Thru Sleep & Dreams (2005), and Love Like A Mule (2006) – The first two LPs reached the Top 10 on the Americana charts. American Songwriter declared, “With deep and reflective lyrics, a sense of place and time, Stoll Vaughan is a songwriter’s songwriter.”

Vaughan’s career highlights include performances at Farm Aid, The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, Master Musicians Festival, and Folk Alliance, and he’s reached the final three in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival songwriting competition. Vaughan has toured with John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, James McMurtry, and Marty Stuart and supported a Def Leppard/Journey co-bill, taking him to storied venues like Colorado’s Red Rocks, the Hollywood Bowl, The Troubadour in LA and New York’s Jones Beach. His music has been featured in films and television series such as Treadstone, True Blood, Friday Night Lights, Shameless, The Office, and The Open Road. Vaughan composed music for David Lynch’s Webby Award-winning Internet series Interview Project. He also co-wrote with Duane Betts (son of Allman Brothers’ Dickie Betts) for Betts’ critically lauded debut, Wild and Precious Life. The well-respected songwriter co-wrote with The Allman Betts Band for their debut record, Down To The River, and their follow-up album, Bless Your Heart.

Stoll sums up his process, “For me, I just need a little space to allow things to come into focus, for deeper blues, deeper reds, and darker blacks. Even in the simplest observations, the whole world can change. Dream In Color is a continuation of my search and expression of this beautiful life.”