Hip HatchetSubmitted photo

Artists often struggle to describe their art, but that’s not the case with Philippe Bronchtein … or, at least, whoever wrote the bio on his website. There, Bronchtein’s Hip Hatchet project is described as “a one man band who crafts carefully orchestrated, rustic folk songs about the inner longing for companionship and steadiness.”

That’s perfect. Almost as perfect as Hip Hatchet’s 2012 album “Joy and Better Days,” a 12-track collection of hushed, graceful folk that draws you in — primarily with Bronchtein’s deep, reassuring voice — and then envelops you in intimate instrumental arrangements. Each song is like a little world of its own, warm and fragrant and somehow both lush and simple at the same time.

You can hear “Joy and Better Days” at www.hiphatchet.bandcamp.com. And you should.

Bronchtein is currently based out of Portland, and he’ll play Bend’s Volcanic Theatre Pub Sunday night as part of a two-week West Coast tour with Christopher Paul Stelling, a singer-songwriter from Brooklyn, New York, who also plays folk music, but in much more urgent and extroverted style: quickly strummed acoustic guitars, jauntier rhythms, veins-bulging vocal intensity. Stelling’s albums are streaming at www.christopherpaulstelling.bandcamp.com.

Hip Hatchet, with Christopher Paul Stelling; 8 p.m. Sunday; $5; Volcanic Theatre Pub, 70 SW Century Drive, Bend; www.volcanictheatrepub.com or 541-323-1881.

— Ben Salmon