When you have a dream rooted so deeply within your soul, you have no choice to pursue it, if only to see where it takes you. As you actively begin seizing opportunities that cross your path, the bigger picture of what achieving your dreams might mean comes into focus and things start coming together. This is exactly what is happening for STEPHENI ELLI, who set her sights on a music career as a toddler growing up along the San Joaquin River in Antioch, California. "My first influences were Karen Carpenter and Richie Valens. I would watch La Bamba and The Karen Carpenter Story daily, and they made me believe in my dreams from the time I was two years old."
Long before she could even comprehend the lyrics Karen and Richie sang, Stepheni’s young soul understood that music held an undeniable power to inspire and empower people. Watching her older brother only fueled an already-strong yearning for that one day when she would create her own music. "My older brother sang and played all kinds of instruments, and I really admired him for that." Through the years, Stepheni would also grow to love the music of Johnny Mathis, LeAnn Rimes, Will Smith, TLC, and Shania Twain. As she began singing herself, she says, "I would try my best to sound like them, and they really gave me goals for developing my own sound and style."
As Stepheni began exploring her vocal abilities, formal voice lessons were – for a short time – her nemesis. "My mom tried for years to get me into voice lessons." Though she didn’t care for them, Stepheni knew she had to take them in order to reach the standard set by her mentor at the time: LeAnn Rimes. She admits, "Man, it was so hard to keep to that discipline and learn!" But, learn she did, and years later, she still finds herself taking lessons every now and then. "I even taught voice for a while."
When she was ten years old, Stepheni’s brother and mother encouraged her to begin playing cello "to help me sing on key better." From there, Stepheni grew her repertoire to include joining the school choir, playing guitar and writing songs – all at fifteen years of age. "My mom always told me I'd have to write my own songs to make it as a singer." During a shopping trip to Wal-Mart, Stepheni experienced an epiphany, which culminated in writing her very first song. "While hanging with my friend who worked there, I had a break through! I grabbed the first thing in sight that I could write on and wrote my first song. It happened just like that!" Convinced she had more songs to write, Stepheni worked hard to hone her new craft. By the age of seventeen, Stepheni had put together a band and was booking herself shows at local fairs and festivals.
Despite her love for her home state, Stepheni knew she had to move to Nashville, Tennessee in order to extend her network. Armed with lofty dreams and an appetite for tackling challenges, she made that move in August of 2004 and enrolled at Belmont University to study Music Business. Being in the heart of Music City, Stepheni thrived as she took to learning the complete business of the music industry. Preceding her graduation from Belmont, she accepted internships at Carnival Music and Blacktop Music Group. She says, "[Interning at both companies] were experiences that really took me to the next level in seeing how music success is done." Stepheni adds, "Then, working at Outback Concerts and Great American Country allowed me to get into the business side."
Those experiences became a solid foundation as Stepheni began work on her debut album. "When putting this album together, I considered cutting a lot of outside songs that I didn't write. I was pitched a lot of songs, but I didn't feel the connection to those songs." She adds, "I wanted this album to represent me up to this point in my life, and the way I saw best doing that was to record my own songs. So, aside from the two outside songs I did cut, I decided to cut mostly my own songs on this album."
Now complete, Stepheni is excited to share her musical diary with fans. Whether she is singing about a first-time relationship in "Somethin’ Somethin’" or a maturing one in "Let’s Do It Again," surrendering to the power of love in "Have Mercy on Me Moonlight," or finding deep fulfillment in "He Settles My Soul," respective emotions are laid wide open on the table for all to feel. She hopes her listeners will see pieces of themselves in each song. "I would love for my music to spark emotions indicative of a certain stage in their life, whether it be remembering or going through something, or what they're about to go through. I hope fans can feel my music and relate to the lyrics." With a lifetime of musical influences, it can be difficult to pinpoint any one single entertainer who was most influential. "People have compared me to Jewel, Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow and Joan Baez." This strikes as a bit of an irony for Stepheni, seeing as "I never listened to any of those artists growing up."
Even before the release of her self-titled album, Stepheni has already celebrated several memorable career milestones. They include becoming the flagship artist on the newly-formed River Dawn Records, participating in CMA Music Festival for the very first time as an artist this past summer and being invited as a special guest entertainer at the 2010 Animal Rights National Conference. She has opened shows for major label artists including Buddy Jewell, Chris Young, Trent Willmon, Mark Wills, Wade Hayes, Erika Jo. When she isn’t touring, Stepheni continues to work for some of the biggest music industry companies on Music Row.
In conjunction with her album release, Stepheni will embark on a radio promotion tour to visit with and introduce her music to program directors across the country. Once released,
Stepheni Elli will be available in all digital outlets, including iTunes, Scattertunes, and
Amazon.com.
In addition to devoting time to her musical endeavors, Stepheni practices compassion to all living things and is active in supporting several charities. She says, "I think I get a lot of my compassion from my mom. My mom has always helped people as well as animals and she has always been very loving toward others. Being raised by her definitely taught me what it's like to have compassion and empathy towards others." Stepheni was recently invited to perform during a fundraising event coordinated by Brooks and Dunn’s drummer, which raised money for the cure of Huntington’s disease. Stepheni has also trained and run in the Country Music Half Marathon with country superstars Diamond Rio for Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and she has worked with the Country Music Association. Already an active volunteer, event coordinator and radio spokesperson for various animal charities in the US, Stepheni plans to continue to service her time as her music career progresses.
With the whole world at this young woman’s fingertips, Stepheni is more than ready to take listeners on a journey through exploring her music and her world – and she hopes you will come along and enjoy this exciting ride with her!
