August Lee Stevens Brings Her Bay Area Voice to SFJAZZ

Ahead of four Joe Henderson Lab shows at SFJAZZ, East Bay singer-songwriter August Lee Stevens discusses her Bay Area roots, songs inspired by public sentiment and family memories, and a live set designed for intimacy, energy, and shared connection.

Listen to the full conversation with August Lee Stevens below.

Bay Area Roots, Wide Musical Reach

August Lee Stevens describes the Bay Area as a place that shaped her. She grew up in Hercules, studied at Oakland School for the Arts, and came of age amid a community where working musicians, teachers, and visiting artists were part of everyday life. She credits that environment with giving her both direction and momentum. "I was just constantly surrounded by inspiration," she said. "Everyone was an active artist and involved in the music scene." The names she mentions reflect a local education: Kava Menzies, Kev Choice. Fellow students, alumni, and a rotating cast of artists passed through the school, broadening her idea of what a musical life could be.

That sense of openness also existed in her home. Her mother’s Detroit background brought Motown into the house, while her father’s Louisiana roots introduced jazz. Later influences ranged from Lauryn Hill to Hozier. Stevens makes that blend sound effortless because, for her, it's rooted in lived experience before it becomes a style. Her songs draw from folk, soul, and jazz without treating them as separate genres. She writes from what she has heard deeply enough to trust. "When it was time for me to write these melodies," she said, "I was revisiting what I was familiar with and comfortable doing, making it feel natural."

Songs Built From Feeling

That instinct comes through clearly in "Tell Me," a recent single that Stevens described as a cry against emotional withdrawal. The song started with a phrase that kept looping in her mind, then expanded into something bigger: anger, grief, fatigue, and the pressure of watching people harden against the world to protect themselves. She called the song "a plea," driven by the fear that "we then become calloused" when we push too hard against difficult feelings. Her solution was to keep the conversation going, even when the topic is painful. "If the least we can do is feel uncomfortable and emotionally disturbed," she said, "then that’s what we need to do."

Her writing process combines instinct and discipline. Songs often begin while she is driving, walking, or engaged in everyday routines, when a repeated phrase lines up with a melody already forming. "It’s almost as if the melody is swirling inside of me," she said. Voice memos capture the initial spark. Notebooks help her develop the work further. What matters most is that moment when words and melody come together and feel truly earned.

“Citrus,” from Live at the Troubadour, shifts focus toward family. Stevens wrote it while walking her dog, with the rhythm of the walk inspiring the melody. The song became a tribute to the women in her family, especially her grandmother Eileen, her mother, and her sister. She talked about the joy they carry through hardship and how strength can be easy to overlook if you only see the surface. “No one smiles like Eileen,” she sings, and the line carries both affection and history. Stevens described the song as a reflection on legacy and on “the ability to create lemonade out of lemons,” the wordplay that gave “Citrus” its title and warmth.

A Room Made for Connection

Photo: Ariel Nava

Those songs come as Stevens enters a larger season. Her bio highlights recent appearances with Smokey Robinson and Rhiannon Giddens, performances at the Kennedy Center and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and growing recognition for her 2024 EP Better Places. SFJAZZ audiences might already recognize her from earlier performances at the center, and these Joe Henderson Lab dates mark her return for a four-show run on April 4 and 5.

Stevens said the room fits what she wants from live performance. She is bringing new music, a rebuilt set, a full band, and backup vocalists, all to make the songs feel as close as possible to her original vision. She also wants the audience to feel like part of the event rather than just being there. "I want it to be more about creating a moment and space together," she said. That goal suits the Lab well: a small room with street life visible behind the stage and little distance between artist and crowd. For a songwriter whose work relies on presence, responsiveness, and emotional clarity, it should feel like the right place at the right time.

Show Information: August Lee Stevens performs at SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab on Saturday, April 4, at 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and on Sunday, April 5, at 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets and details are available here: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/august-lee-stevens/