C.W. Stoneking

C.W. Stoneking is an Australian blues singer-songwriter and guitar and banjo player. To date Stoneking has released three full length albums of his original material, they are King Hokum, Jungle Blues and Gon' Boogaloo. (released on Stoneking's own King Hokum Records label).

C.W. Stoneking was born in Katherine, Northern Territory, in 1974, the son of Billy Marshall Stoneking. In 2005 Stoneking recorded an album of original blues compositions titled King Hokum. The album was received with great critical acclaim in the Australian media after its release in 2006. In 2006, Stoneking formed his backing band, the Primitive Horn Orchestra who he still performs with. The current lineup is James Clark (tuba, double bass), Stephen Grant (cornet), Stu Barker (trombone), and Johnny Machin (drums).

In 2006, radio presenter Tim Ritchie picked Stoneking's King Hokum as his album of the year on Radio National's Breakfast program. Radio National also presented his February 2007 Australia-wide tour. King Hokum was nominated for the Best Blues/Roots Album in the 2007 ARIA Awards and won the Best Independent Blues Release award in the 2007 AIR Awards (Australian Independent Record Industry Awards). In 2008 Stoneking released Jungle Blues, his second album of original compositions. Jungle Blues was nominated for Best Blues/Roots Album, Best Independent Release, Best Male Artist and Best Album Cover Art at the 2009 ARIA Awards. At the fourth annual AIR Awards held on 22 November 2009, Stoneking was nominated for Best Independent Album, Best Independent Blues/ Roots Album, and Independent Artist of the Year, with Jungle Blues winning the award for Best Independent Blues/ Roots Album. Jungle Blues was also shortlisted in the 2008 Australian Music Prize. He appeared on 'Later... with Jools Holland' on 5 October 2010, playing " Jungle Blues" and "Jungle Lullaby".