Becca Stevens

New York City-based singer/songwriter Becca Stevens is a classically trained guitarist and vocalist with a bent toward writing her own distinctive jazz, folk, and pop-infused songs. A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Stevens was first introduced to music via her composer/multi-instrumentalist father and opera singer mother, with whom she performed in a family band. By her teens, Stevens was studying classical guitar and performing jazz standards and Appalachian folk music in local clubs. After high school, she further honed her skills while majoring in classical guitar at the North Carolina School of the Arts, and later earned her B.F.A. in vocal jazz and composition from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Not simply a solo artist, Stevens' adept jazz and folk skills have found her performing with a bevy of name artists, including drummer Eric Harland, pianist Brad Mehldau, vocalist José James, guitarist Lionel Loueke, and others. In 2008 she released her debut solo album, Tea Bye Sea, which showcased her unconventional, stylistically adventurous approach to pop songwriting. Her 2011 follow-up, Weightless, included a guest appearance from vocalist Gretchen Parlato, and found Stevens further expanding her sound with inspired reworkings of songs by Animal Collective and Iron & Wine. In 2015 Stevens delivered her third full-length album, Perfect Animal, which featured production from Scott Solter (St. Vincent, Spoon) and included covers of songs by Frank Ocean, Usher, and Steve Winwood. Two years later she returned with Regina, which found her taking inspiration from various queens of history, literature, and folklore, including England's Queen Elizabeth I. ~ Matt Collar