David Michael Stith, who performs as DM Stith, came from a highly musical family, but avoided music much of his life--he claims to have dreaded the performances expected of him in the church choir and school plays. Instead, Stith went into graphic design, and despite this intentional avoidance of his family's calling, ended up designing album artwork for musicians after befriending Shara Worden, of My Brightest Diamond fame. His ties to music quickly became too strong and Stith began writing his own songs, dark folk pieces with rich orchestrations and haunting choral work, akin to solo singer/songwriters like Sufjan Stevens. Fittingly, Stevens signed Stith to his record label Asthmatic Kitty, which released his impressive debut full length in 2009. The Brooklyn-based musician continues to create album artwork and tours both solo and as a part of Sufjan Steven's backing band.
