Artist Profile - Stephanie Nilles

Born in Chicago to a chemical engineer and an architect, Stephanie Nilles is an active musician of varying genres by sheer accident. At 17, she was a finalist at the Young Concert Artists' International Competition. At 22, she had graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a BM in classical piano performance. These days, she's performing her own politically-influenced jazz/folk tunes, described by listeners as "Ella Fitzgerald on speed beating the shit out of Regina Spektor," "Tom Waits on helium," and "New Orleans second line, gypsy swing, and The Atlantic Monthly crushed, mixed, and compacted into a viral so you can snort it," out on the road in a hatchback with a Roland. She has performed at joints like Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, The Bitter End, The Cutting Room, WFMT's "Live from Studio One," and the Dame Myra Hess Series at the Chicago Cultural Center, and she has collaborated with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Joel Newton, and Christian Howes, in styles ranging from free improv to burlesque accompaniment. Stephanie's songs, sometimes her own and sometimes jazz standards modified in vocalese style, address issues ranging from drug busts in her Harlem neighborhood and feminism to the recent presidential election season and the challenges and joys of life on the road. Stephanie has released two full-length albums, "reDemo" (2008) and "The Off-White Album and Waltzes in the Key of Gypsy McGee" (2009) and is an Attention Spaniel Recording Artist.