By Brittany Kirke
Country artist Stevie Monce has followed his voice all the way to the beaches we call home. What brought him here?
Born in Ohio, Stevie grew up moving around and spent his school years playing soccer. He received sports scholarships for college but Monce decided he had another path that he wanted to follow, and that path was music. Music helped him discover his voice. Monce thanks his mother for instilling in him a hard-working sense of ethics. As a single mother who raised three kids, he admires her the most. He stated that he was “painfully shy growing up and wouldn’t talk much in the hallways at school,” but seeing what music can do for people allowed him to really open up and share his voice with the world.
Monce moved to Nashville in 2009 and lived there for 11 years following his dream of playing sold-out shows for the masses. He previously had a deal with Mucho Love Music but is currently signed with Penny Publishing, going on three years now. He fondly remembers playing with Florida Georgia Line, Love and Theft, Zac Brown, and several other country artists. With distinct rock n’ roll influences, his music adds a southern flair that captivates his audience, allowing him to establish a sound of his own. His stage presence is exhilarating, and you’ll be singing along with him in no time.
After touring for 10 years, Covid brought everything to a screeching halt and that is how Stevie’s journey to the panhandle began. Stevie quarantined with none other than Love and Theft’s Stephen Barker Liles on Dog Island; they caught their own food to enjoy with their families. It was during this time that Monce said he “fell in love” with the beaches and the community he had moved into saying “it almost become a ritual” to dig his feet in the sand and listen to the water.
But Monce is on a mission to spread the joys of music to every corner of the earth. Before Covid happened, Monce was invited to Tijuana, Mexico by a non-profit called Hope Song to play for patients at the C.H.I.P.S.A. Cancer Treatment Center. He fell in love with it and discovered his passion for playing them his music and telling them stories about how he wrote the songs. He was then asked to be a partner with the non-profit and would spend six months at a time in Mexico. He spoke on how Hope Song is a “big part of [his] life” and that it has allowed him to see how much music can help people mentally and physically.
“The tears of hope, the pain relief, and the simple organic joy” that it brought to the patients is something that he will never forget. This experience, he says, truly shaped him into the man that he is today.
Since then, he has been working on several new projects that he is looking to release in the next year or so. You can catch him locally at The Salty Goat every Tuesday and Dat Cajun Place every Saturday, among other venues. He will also be playing a show in West Salem, Wisconsin with Lee Brice in September, and a couple of other venues with Love and Theft in July. So, keep an eye out for it and follow him on Facebook and Instagram @steviemonce for more information.
