Becca Stevens (USA)

Behind her enchanting smile lie unbreakable positivity, adventurous inspirations and relentless creativity. Becca Stevens has been singing in various bands since she was three, learning the tricks of newer instruments and simply pouring out her diverse musical creations. Nominated for a Grammy last year, the young singer's career has woven together a range of genres from pop, jazz, funk and indie rock to Appalachian folk, creating something uniquely her own. Now, ahead of the premiere of her new album, audiences can hear the singer-songwriter's latest numbers in an unusually intimate setting.

Born in North Carolina, the singer first began touring the region as a toddler with her parents and siblings in their band Tune Mammals, singing on her first album at the age of three. Her musical vocation was given a strong push from then on, and she learned to play violin, piano and flute before settling on classical guitar. Nowadays, one by one she has taken to stringed instruments, and although the autumn concert will feature guitar alone, she is also a master of the ukulele and the South American charango.

A dedicated and sincere composer, she takes every creative task seriously from the outset. She formed her first real band as a senior in 2006, the Becca Stevens Band, and the collaboration was so productive that she only played original songs at her final exam in 2007. The material from the final was released the following year as Tea By Sea, Becca's band’s first album. Since then, she has been moving in increasingly elevated circles, starting to make the rounds as a guest musician in the most exclusive settings. In recent years, she has played alongside Esperanza Spalding, Jacob Collier, Brad Mehldau, Ambrose Akinmusire and Dayna Stephens, and has also had a major collaboration with Snarky Puppy. She has contributed to 19 albums, the most important of which is David Crosby's 2016 album Lighthouse.

A year later, Downbeat Magazine named her the best up-and-coming singer. The march has only gotten more muscular since then, with the Becca Stevens Band releasing an album they called Regina, inspired by Anglo-Saxon monarchs, after three albums under her own name. This was followed by WONDERBLOOM in 2020, immediately prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, with the promotional tour consequently wiped out, but which still received a Grammy nomination for Slow Burn in 2021. She has also worked at least as much again in collaboration, releasing an album with Secret Trio and playing alongside her husband in the Attacca Quartet. She will be coming to Budapest for the first time this autumn as part of a European tour ahead of the release of their latest album. This will give Hungarian audiences an exclusive chance to hear several brand-new songs with a more intimate, sensitive instrumentation prior to the album’s release. In addition to Stevens' guitar playing and vocals, the concert will also feature two other mainstays of the Becca Stevens Band, Chris Tordini on double bass and Jordan Perlson on drums.