Meet Nashville’s Rising Stars: R&B Pop Artist Elise Stein
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
Speak it into existence. I’m really big on manifestation. If you speak something into existence and also work hard to get to your goals, I truly believe there are endless possibilities.
Asa part of our series about Nashville’s Rising Stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Elise Stein. Nashville’s rising R&B Pop artist Elise Stein is a multi-talented performer, who adds spunk and sparkle to everything she touches. Her gifts to sing, dance, act, and write her own music give her cross-genre opportunities. She has been fortunate to perform some of her own music at local venues in Nashville including Exit-In, Belcourt Taps, and Skyway Studios. Her creative abilities have landed her roles in several major artist music videos including: Luke Bryan’s music video for “Light It Up” and with other powerhouse artists including Keith Urban, Walker Hayes, and Jason Aldean. She is also featured as a lifestyle and fitness model in Tim McGraw’s New York Times Best Seller book “Grit & Grace.” But R&B is her true passion, especially when performing. Elise is excited to explore the depths of her artistic creativity, release new music, and evolve with her fans. To stay up to date with Elise Stein, you can sign up for updates or follow her Spotify page here. You can also follow her on all social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube @EliseSteinMusic.
Thank you so much for joining us in this series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?
First off, thank you so much for having me on this series! For me, I grew up in the Greater Nashville Area with both of my parents and my older brother right across from the lake. My childhood friends loved to take me dirt bike riding, jet skiing, water tubing, etc. It truly was a lovely place to grow up.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
It really dates back to when I was about three or four and I auditioned to be a singing angel in a choir concert and I got the part. I really loved the aspect of dressing up and singing to the audience. Ever since then, I was hooked.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
The most interesting thing that has happened to me in my music career is when I got the opportunity to open up for Raekwon from the Wu-tang Clan. The show was at the iconic Exit/In in Nashville, TN. It was me, with my light and soft voice singing, and a few hard male rappers that got to be the openers for the show. It was just slightly intimidating. *says in sarcasm* At that time I had a bunch of unreleased singles that I performed. It was such a cool aspect of hard work and practice meets opportunity.
Can you share with us an interesting story about living in Nashville?
As a model for The Block Agency, I get a lot of cool opportunities either working with or for big country music artists. The amount of Country artists in the Greater Nashville Area is insane. There was this one time when I did a project for Luke Byran and the star of the music video was Jimmy Butler, who at the time, I knew nothing about. So I was actually having a whole conversation with this guy, and I thought he was just another actor on set. A few days later I found out that he is this huge basketball star. I was just like.. Wow. It was an awesome experience though!
Can you share with us a few of the best parts of living in Nashville? We’d love to hear some specific examples or stories about that.
Right now, Nashville is really on the come up as a city. I really love finding cool new places to go. Most recently, I found this place in South Nashville that has a ton of free arcade games and outdoor games as well that I love to visit.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One year I performed at the Nashville Street Carnival. On this performance, I had my backup singers and dancers with me, and we had all practiced what we were going to do. So the day of, we ended up having a lot of technical difficulties with the mic, so much so that I could not perform what I had practiced for the event. It really just threw the whole thing off from my perspective. I was proud of myself for not stopping and powering through the show even though I really wanted to stop performing at that event. I learned to adapt to my situations and not give up.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’m so thankful for the many people who have helped me get to where I am today. There are so many truly wonderful people that I’ve worked with in the past and am working with right now that I just can’t thank them enough. The number one person that I have to thank is my mom. She has supported me since day one and has been a pillar of my success. She helped me with my music video called “The Holidays” by helping to direct and execute the whole project. She has always stood by my side.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I just released my new single “High” that came out on September 10 on all streaming platforms. I actually just got done recording my live pre-recorded version of the song for the Today in Nashville morning show that will be airing on November 5, and I would really love everyone to tune into that.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
Number one, it typically doesn’t happen overnight. As a music artist, you are a work in progress, always changing and evolving. Expect to work hard for what you want. Two, don’t worry about trying to be perfect. The Virgo in me truly strives for perfection in everything I do. That’s great and all, but sometimes that can hold you back. There have been plenty of times when I’ve had songs that I never released because I didn’t think it was perfect. That time of not releasing music adds up. I think about how much further I could be if I went ahead and released things I’ve worked on. All that to say, don’t be fixated on being perfect, just be yourself. Three, practice, practice, practice. It’s important to practice so that you can be confident in yourself as an artist and when you finally have an opportunity you can meet it with practice and hard work. Four, be consistent in the things you do. Put yourself on a schedule and regiment. People like it when you’re consistent, and it also builds up momentum for yourself. And five, speak it into existence. I’m really big on manifestation. If you speak something into existence and also work hard to get to your goals, I truly believe there are endless possibilities.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Take the time that you need. Remember that we are all where we are supposed to be at this moment in time. Don’t be afraid to take your time, and keep pushing forward.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
When I was in high school, I started the first anti-bullying club at my high school and became the president of the club, Move 2 Stand. You never know what other people are going through. That’s why I always say treat others the way you want to be treated. A simple smile could change someone’s world.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle” — Plato. As I said earlier, you never know what someone is going through. Be kind to others. Recently, one of my family members was in the hospital with COVID-19 and had developed blood clots in the lungs. I thought this person was going to die. Sometimes people don’t always speak about exactly what they are going through, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going through things. There are people that were so kind to me, and they may not ever know just how much their kindness really meant to me, but it did mean something.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
At the moment, I would have to say Justin Bieber. I love the message of his music, and what he stands for as a person.
How can our readers follow you online?
They can keep up with me on my social media channels at @elisesteinmusic or by website www.elisestein.com
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Thank you all so much for featuring me as an artist! I hope to make you all proud.
