Raised on Long Island, but now living in Nashville, 19 year old indie-pop musician, Jillian Steele, is making her way onto your favourite playlist. Her bold and personal songwriting combined with her unique tone, evokes familiar emotions tucked away in comforting memories. On the NBC show, Kathie Lee & Hoda, Kathie Lee Gifford said “.. her tone is as beautiful and unique as she is. I am excited to follow her journey.”
Her new EP, Find Me, releasing in 2017, pulls the curtain aside for a peak into Jillian as a musician. Her first single Property, was inspired by a safari trip to Kenya when she was 16 and mistakenly entered into a marriage agreement with a tribal leader in exchange for two camels and a goat (long story) Property asserts the power of the essential inner strength existing in all of us that sometimes is forgotten. The reoccurring theme, of personal power and the strength to make changes is echoed in Same Song as well as Miles, both songs on her new EP.
Several years ago, doctors discovered nodes on a very precarious location on Jillian’s vocal chords, After bring turned away by several doctors refusing to operate. she visited the top doctor in Manhattan. Knowing the risk to her voice, the nodes were removed. Forbidden to speak for two weeks while recovering, and losing her main form of communication, Jillian found a substitute voice through songwriting. Writing hundreds of songs while healing, she came to appreciate the power and effectiveness of expression through lyrics. Thankfully she regained her voice and has continued on her journey, one song at a time.
She appeared as a finalist for The VOICE kid’s edition on the TODAY show, performed at Great South Bay Music Festival along with the Doobie Brothers and Hot Tuna. She was also a regular at CountryFEST, Long Island Fall Festival, and Montauk Music Festival. She has taken the stage at The Bitter End in NYC and was in Broadway in South Africa.
“Writing is as necessary to me as a good work out is for others …where you sweat so much your eyes sting.. . I feel purged and renewed, not after the song is written, but only when it is out there for all to hear…” – Jillian Steele
To find out more about Jillian Steele click here