Vocal talent Allen Stone performs Big Sur’s Loma Vista Gardens after a stunning rise from broke to famous.

In 2012, Allen Stone accompanied soul songstress Sharon Jones and Daryl Hall for a seven-song set at Atlantic City’s Music Box Borgata. The 25-year-old had been dubbed a soul powerhouse and garnered comparisons to Marvin Gaye. But that couldn’t save the then-25-year-old from an intense case of pre-performance jitters. Stone looked to Jones for words of encouragement.

“She said, ‘Just sing, youngblood,’” he remembers. “She put it so simply: ‘You know what you’re doing. You got here for a reason, not by accident. Just sing.’”

A year earlier, Stone had no money. He’d drive himself to six gigs per month in his ’87 Buick LeSabre. Producer Lior Goldenberg had to put up the money to fund Stone’s 2011 self-titled album.

But it was a risk worth taking. Stone’s independently released record quickly won recognition. Listeners were stunned such a skillfully soulful voice came out of a scrawny hippie. There are elements of Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers and gospel, all rolled into one deceivingly Caucasian package. Allen Stone gained momentum, reaching No. 2 on iTunes R&B/Soul charts, No. 9 on the Billboard Heatseekers charts and No. 35 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Album charts. Tours throughout Europe and Australia followed, as did a deal with the respected ATO label, who released the record nationally.

“It’s a powerful force of nature and gravity, to have your life change that fast and drastically from [an album] I didn’t think would do anything,” Stone says.

The Washington native says he would have been happy playing small gigs for the rest of his life, and earning just enough to pay rent. Stone says the breakout notoriety has been an impetus for personal and artistic evolution.

“I’ve changed as a performer, I’ve changed as a writer, I’ve changed as an artist, I’ve changed as a human being, as a friend, a lover, a hater,” he says.

But Stone’s opinion of technology’s presence in music hasn’t changed.

“I don’t want to lean on a laptop,” he says. “We’ve allowed technology to become a large part of our lives and our existence, and sometimes artists lean on technology way more than they should.”

On Stone’s recent Radius he clearly expresses this viewpoint on the funky urban paradise that is “Fake Future.”

“What good is my music if it ain’t really me?” he belts out effortlessly.

“I employ about 10 musicians on stage at once,” Stone says, “because I want all the sounds from my songs to be real.”

ALLEN STONE 7pm Sunday, June 21. Loma Vista Gardens, 47540 Highway 1, Big Sur. $50 (benefits the Big Sur Education Council). www.folkyeah.com