Steph Cali

I'm a singer-songwriter from Northern California. After surviving a stroke, a brutal divorce in 2016, and recovering through music therapy, I learned the key to my soul was music. I indulged into the magic of performing and used my journals to better understand who I was again. In doing this I heard a soundtrack of my story come to life! 

I grew up in the heart of California, where my mom introduced me to soul and rock & roll greats. I purchased a $1 Wynonna CD at a garage sale when I was 12 years old. I just so happened to have the greatest CD walkman collection on the block! I didn't know it then but that dollar would spark a love of Country Music in me that carried me through my teenage and early adult years. 

I almost died during childbirth due to complications from postpartum in 2016. Doctors used music therapy to strengthen my perception of sound, improve language formation through singing, as well as speech frequency and rhythm. With music I regained speech, mobility, and cognitive relay. Though I was making progress, and I learned that I had a great voice, my entire past was still missing. I went back to my collection of music and journals to try and find myself. When I looked hard enough I saw fight in the soundtrack to my middle school years. I remembered love and pain through Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt.  I formed these memories into songs and soon a sound unique to me was born. I began writing about how these artists gave me courage to fight, and how the power of music saved my life. 

I knew early on that I couldn't sit in a single genre. Though I love County Music greats like Miranda Lambert, Garth Brooks, Reba, The Chicks, Tim McGraw, Shania and the Hank Williams family; it was artists like Aretha Franklin, ACDC, Alicia Keyes, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, and the Jackson Family that often played in my household growing up. Music from these artists allowed me to connect memory through neuro-transmitting correction. In an effort to give back to the very craft that helped me walk and talk again I started recording my first solo album - Country, Soul, Rock and Roll in 2022. 

I started writing my album as a way to leave a legacy for my 2 daughters. After escaping DV it was important to me that my kids would always be able to hear my voice, my story, through my words for generations to come. I wanted to leave a legacy behind for them that served a purpose; and I knew my legacy should involve my newfound love of singing. 

In 2022 I took my first batch of songs to Matt McDavid with Sanctuary Sound Studios as an independent artist.  We infused my vocal strength with electric guitar and soulful keys. The vulnerability in my words collided with the southern grit in my growls, giving me a California County sound that leaves my audience feeling my words. My hope is that my album shines a light on surviving domestic violence and offers an ode to all of the artists who came before me who created a path to do what I love.  I cannot wait to share this project with the world! 

Game Over, I Win!