We were lucky to catch up with Steven Cade recently and have shared our conversation below.
Steven, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
One of the most meaningful projects that I have ever participated in is helping the homeless. I have partnered with Brent Yates and the Gravity of Up. Together we have created the ‘Giving Guitars Tour’ and Taylor Guitars has just joined our mission as a sponsor. https://www.stevencade.com/givingguitars. On the national ‘Giving Guitars Tour’ I visit the shelter, donate guitars, and do a live mini-concert.
My family is touring with me, and so far we have visited 50+ homeless shelters, donated over 80 brand new guitars, raised over $100,000, and have visited shelters in Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. My goal is to visit 100 shelters this year.
I love using music as a tool to give back and make a difference. Music changes lives and the guitar is such a powerful tool. Music is healing and allows you to express your stories and brings joy. I love using music as a tool to give back and make a difference.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I Was born and raised in Houston, TX and as a child I was always around music. I was introduced to every genre of music, so it became a part of me at a very early age. I was in a band after high school, then migrated into a solo career. I currently have written over 200 songs, and have recorded over 50 songs. I been considered for 7 GRAMMY nominations, am a 4-time winner of the San Diego Music Award, and won the Wine Country Award, country category. I was nominated for Best Song and Best Singer by the Josie Music Awards, and will be inducted into the California Music Hall of Fame on May 15th, 2022. I am also looking forward to performing the National Anthem for opening day of the Del Mar Race Track in July, 2022. I strive to always create high quality music, and to reach people with positive messages. My advice to anyone in the music business is to learn as much as you can about all aspects of it and always stay on top of it, be diligent, and never give up. I have had to handle accounting, billing, logistics for touring, marketing, advertising, hire band members, deal with various contracts, manage interns, and so much more. My family and I have had to sacrifice things like vacations, permanent living quarters, and a number of other things to keep my career moving forward. I am very mission oriented and strive to send out positive messages with my clean lyrics and meaningful messages in my music.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My creativity in my music comes from God and the drive he has given me to inspire and help others. I have done volunteer performances at benefits for Veterans and the homeless. Seeing the struggle of others helps me create more meaningful and powerful lyrics and songs with a message of hope. Right now my mission is to help eradicate homelessness in any way that I can. The ‘Giving Guitars Tour’ has made a significant impact for me and my family. My children get to see first hand what homelessness is really about, and how prevalent it is in this country. This tour has taught me so much about how easy it is to end up homeless. The shelters I have visited have been so grateful and welcoming. The residents are always so excited when I donate the guitars and perform for them. The entire homeless situation in this country is accelerating at a very rapid pace right now with the hyper-inflation happening. There are shelter residents who have a full time job, seniors who can no longer afford housing, waiting list of homeless people, and staff shortages on top of it all. My mission is to awaken America to how bad the situation really is. We have received some media coverage at the shelters, and I am working on other events to bring in public personalities, entertainers, and public officials to help raise awareness, and more funding.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My career started with a band, which rapidly gained momentum and popularity. We had CD’s released, won San Diego Music Awards, and were touring nationally. Then I contracted meningitis/encephalitis and was deathly ill. Having a near-death experience changes a person and in the slow recovery time I felt like giving up many times. It was a long process getting back to normal, but I was very blessed that I fully recovered and could play and perform again. I vowed to not give up and keep moving forward with my career no matter what. I then started my solo career and my faith in Christ has gotten me where I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stevencade.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevencadecountry/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stevencademusic/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevencademusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevencademusic
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/stevencademusic
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@stevencade?lang=en
Image Credits
Patrick Gonzales