By Natasha T. Brown
June 1 marked the first day of African American Music Appreciation Month (or Black Music Month) and there was no better person to kick-off this special month-long (Sophisticated Sunday) series about innovators in our region’s black music past and present than Singer/Songwriter Levi Stephens.
He’s an old soul at heart, and his music takes you on a journey through the most relevant sounds of music’s past from rock-n-roll, pop, bluegrass, country, R&B, soul and blues. “It’s your cotton field and plantation meets present day,” he likes to say. During his youth, Stephens appreciated the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers and Donny Hathaway. In addition to soul legends, The Beatles, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Jimi Hendrix and Prince all contributed to Levi's musical style and led him to the guitar which was the final piece needed to create his sound.
Stephens plays the bass, guitar, piano and ukulele, and can arrange for three additional instruments. His set creates a nostalgic experience for any audience that appreciates good music, because his dedication and passion to keep authenticity alive and appreciated is evident.
“All of your indigenous American music is from the African American Culture. You can’t have gospel, country, blues, pop, bluegrass, if it weren’t for what we brought to this continent,” said Stephens, who began singing at five-years-old.
With emotion and sophistication, Stephens explained that black artists have abandoned the culture’s indigenous music and limit themselves musically.
“We are the innovators and the leaders. Your origin from blues and rock and R&B and soul and country and gospel are from African Americans, and we as a whole have made a conscience decision to dumb down our music. We don’t have the balance like we use to have back in the day. Back in the day you had your club and you had your conscience, and there was a place for both,” said Stephens, which is why for audiences, his music and especially live performances become head-bopping, finger-snapping, heart-pulling history lessons about music.
Levi Stephens is not your typical indie artist. He’s a full-time professional touring artist who spends much of any given week on the road. He made the decision to pursue music full time upon graduating from college in 2004. He could either accept a high-paying government job or pursue his dream. Fast forward to today, in a two-week span he’ll have performed in Nashville, Tennessee; Herndon, Virginia; Toronto, Canada; Bethesda, Maryland; Washington, DC, and more.
When this musician and his three or five piece band hit a stage, the audience is often astonished and he’s often viewed as an anomaly due to the wide spectrum of his music.
“There are so many times that I get to hang out with older musicians and older artists, and they are yearning for a young cat to come up and play the blues,” said Stephens.
Rewards and Sacrifices
I asked him to name his favorite song that he’s ever written, and he explained a huge sacrifice that he’s made.
“The song that always continues to resonate with me is “Sorry for The Pain.” Being an artist and trying to maintain that [life] balance, I find myself being apologetic to my friends, my family and my wife. You can’t give what you give to this game and not expect it to be some drawbacks in your personal life. I feel that a lot.”
Regarding rewards….
“My ‘Grammy moments’ and when I feel like I am being recognized for what I do are night after night when people come up to me and say, ‘Man that was some of the best music that I’ve ever heard.’ Those are the most rewarding experiences for me. Night after night, when you do three to four gigs or four to five gigs in a week, the thing that keeps you going is when somebody actually says, ‘You should be bigger than what you are.’ Those things mean the most, and they almost carry me to the next night.
Stephens has a goal to one day produce for Disney. But right now, he plans to write, record and tour for as long as possible.
“I want to leave music if not at a better place, at least at the same place when it found me. I want my legacy to be Levi and his team rocked it as hard as it could go at the highest level that it could be done.”
Download his album This Way, and visit http://www.levistephens.com/ to learn when you can see him live in concert. Also follow @LeviStephens on Twitter and Instagram.
Natasha Brown is a writer and founding communications strategist of Think Brown INK, a creative think tank and communications agency, focused on social responsibility branding for artists, entertainers and entrepreneurs. Follow her on Twitter @NBrownINK or @TBINatasha or her company @ThinkBrownINK