To say music runs in Kate Stedelbauer’s blood would be an understatement.
The 19-year-old singer-songwriter hails from a family of musicians. Her father, Mark Stedelbauer, is a drummer and her mother, Elaine, is descended from a family of country artists in Alabama.
Born in Virginia Beach and raised in Williamsburg, Stedelbauer recently traveled south to record her first EP. The four-track album, released March 24, describes the saga of coming of age in a small town. It’s title track, “Mississippi,” is a personal narrative, pulled directly from Stedelbauer’s experiences growing up in the South.
“Mississippi tells the story of me going back and forth in my head and me getting sidetracked and being unsure of the future,” Stedelbauer said. “In the chorus, I talk about wanting to leave and wanting to go to Tennessee and do the things that I’ve always wanted to do.”
The road to Tennessee seemed distant for the budding artist when she graduated from Jamestown High School a year ago. Following graduation, Stedelbauer planned to attend James Madison University in Harrisonburg. By mid-summer, those plans changed entirely.
“She came to me and told me she didn’t want to attend JMU,” her father said. “That became a whole conversation about what she really wanted to do…I told her the bottom line is, if you want to pursue your music, you have to do it now.”
“My singular ambition for Kate at this point in her life is not to get 20 years down the road and look back and realize she never tried,” he added.
Roots run deep
Stedelbauer’s grandmother, Sue Swarts Tomlinson, is 83 and has not played music in decades. Before raising a family of five children in rural Alabama, Tomlinson played on the radio in Indiana. She and her sister sang the country western classics of the 1950’s, live over the airwaves of the Midwest.
“From a country music perspective, her Nana’s career was fascinating to her in ways that she hasn’t even fully expressed with us today,” Stedelbauer’s father said. “Over time, she just gravitated toward the old country classics.”
Stedelbauer began playing violin in second grade, her father said. When she turned 10, she decided she wanted to play guitar. Stedelbauer’s aunt Valerie became her first teacher. Stedelbauer developed such a strong connection to Valerie, who has since died, that she still plays her aunt’s guitar, a red Fender. Stedelbauer said she values the legacy and tradition of her family — and takes it into her songwriting.
“I love the honesty of country music,” Stedelbauer said. “In some of the mainstream country music nowadays, that’s been lost. The importance is in the storytelling.”
Road to Nashville
Stedelbauer credits the recent rise of her career to Mark Carman, a Virginia Beach-based music producer who she has been working with for the past year.
Carman began his music career in childhood, but left it behind to join the U.S. Navy and work as a policeman in Norfolk. In 1986, he turned back to his roots and moved to Nashville, where he began a career as a songwriter and producer that would land him a Grammy in 2015.
The veteran producer decided to take Stedelbauer under his wing after hearing her play an original song in his studio last fall.
“When I first encountered her, I was stricken by her talent as a writer,” Carman said. “She has such a depth of expression, just extraordinarily talented as a writer, so first I looked at her as a songwriter. Then we had to work on getting her to express herself as a performer.”
That process was more difficult. Stedelbauer needed to learn to carry herself on stage, to speak with media, to work with other professional musicians, to build a following.
“I’ve definitely gained more confidence in myself and my writing,” Stedelbauer said of working with Carman. “I believe that I can do this, write songs that people are going to relate to, that people are gonna want to hear more of.”
As for advice for recent high school grads looking to make it in music, Stedelbauer says it’s all about being true to yourself.
“I would say, be honest. Write music that’s honest,” she said. “Sing music that’s worthwhile. I don’t think going with the flow is as important as using your voice to share what you think is important.”
To listen to more tracks from the new EP, click here.
Read more profiles of local residents in WYDaily’s section In Our Hometown.
