August Lee Stevens has opened for Smokey Robinson, performed at a Warriors playoff game, and earned a residency at the SF Jazz Festival, the UC Santa Cruz alumna announced in May 2026. Stevens, who graduated from Merrill College in 2022, recently released her album Live at the Troubadour and will open for Seal in May.
Stevens wrote her first single, ‘Senses,’ in her UC Santa Cruz dorm room during winter quarter of her freshman year. Most students had left for break, her parents were at a Warriors game, and she was alone on her floor, heartbroken over what she calls ‘boy problems.’ That night became the turning point in her decision to pursue the Bay Area music scene full time.
Why Did She Choose Music Over Politics?
Stevens arrived at UC Santa Cruz in 2016 planning to study politics and international relations. Donald Trump’s presidential election that year had solidified her interest in documentary film and global affairs. She chose UCSC partly because of faculty emeriti like Angela Davis.
By her second semester, though, Stevens felt depressed. ‘Santa Cruz is in the trees and it’s rainy in the winter, and I was in my Hozier era,’ she said. ‘I needed the music. Being in an environment where I was starting new and trying to form my identity as an adult, that’s what made me realize that I could go back to music.’
Her father is a saxophonist and her mother grew up in Detroit during the Motown era. Songs by Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, and Smokey Robinson scored her childhood. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was the soundtrack to her mother’s pregnancy. Stevens also discovered Hannah Montana, Taylor Swift, and Beyoncé. ‘I would go home, and I would write down the lyrics to my favorite Taylor Swift or Hannah Montana song and pretend that I was in a Disney movie writing my own music,’ she said.
How Did Early Rejection Shape Her Path?
Stevens started piano at age six and picked up cello in elementary school orchestra. When budget cuts threatened to eliminate the music program at her Hercules school, she applied to the Oakland School for the Arts. She was rejected on her first try because she couldn’t read music.
Stevens had learned through the Suzuki method, which emphasizes immersive learning over technical sight-reading. For a year, she worked with her piano teacher, Laura Lee, to master reading notation. On her second audition, she was admitted.
The Oakland School for the Arts modeled its curriculum like a conservatory. By the time Stevens chose a college, she wanted to explore life outside music. That intention lasted one semester.
Where Did She Find Community at UC Santa Cruz?
Black students made up less than three percent of UCSC’s student body when Stevens enrolled. She found community at the African American Resource and Cultural Center’s Welcome Black BBQ, where she discovered the African American Theater Arts Troupe, part of the Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center led by Professor Don Williams.
Stevens joined hoping to one day star in Dreamgirls on Broadway. Though she didn’t perform in that production at UCSC, she starred in several plays put on by both organizations. The African American Theater Arts Troupe later produced Dreamgirls in 2026.
As she took on leadership roles in those groups, Stevens began advocacy work for Black students and students of color on campus. She co-authored a budget referendum to support retention programs for underrepresented students.
What Launched Her Performance Career?
After writing ‘Senses’ on that quiet winter night, Stevens performed it at an open mic. Two strangers, Dakil and Jake Lloyd, approached her and said they loved the song. They ended up producing the track.
The single’s release built Stevens’s momentum in the Bay Area music scene. ‘I started performing, and I got booked a lot through word of mouth. During that time, I was getting booked for having only one song out, which was very cool,’ she said. ‘Santa Cruz was the first place I was really embraced as a performer.’
Stevens balanced her expanding performance schedule with her studies and campus leadership. She credits the Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center and the African American Theater Arts Troupe with giving her a foundation to speak out and build artistic confidence.
Now based in the Bay Area, Stevens continues to build her presence through live performances and recordings. Her album Live at the Troubadour captures the energy of her stage work. The upcoming show with Seal marks another milestone for an artist who discovered her calling in a dorm room five years ago.
