Justin Stein

Justin Stein is a Chicago native with deep blue eyes and mid-western values who lives to sing. Cutting his Marvin Gaye falsetto with a touch of James Brown grit, he stays on the soul side of mainstream pop Justin Timberlake has made so much of. He's a confident and engaging entertainer who calls his personal mix of pop, soul, r&b, funk, and EDM Soul-Stained Pop.

Justin was the kind of preschooler who went for the toy microphone instead of the miniature football. At five, he debuted on stage at a community talent show in Florida and knew what he wanted to do with his life. Always outgoing, he was invited onto the Rosie O'Donnell Show when she heard him belt "Lullabye of Broadway" during the intermission at a Barbra Streisand concert. From ages 9 till 18 he sang and acted in regional theaters all over the Chicago area, and while in high school also discovered the recording studio. By graduation day he'd recorded an album of mostly self-composed songs that attracted a Los Angeles-based manager. A day later he was on a plane, and before July was over he was opening for Disney-associated artists like Jordin Sparks, Jesse McCartney, Raven-Simoné, and Corbin Bleu in his own tour bus.

But there's only so far a bus with your face on it can take you, and that January Justin broke with his manager. Dreams of a record contract dashed, he went into a numb depression that didn't lift for several years. Two years studying acting at NYU's Meisner Studio forced him to confront his insecurities, and at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, he found what he hadn't known he was looking for‑-a musical camaraderie that helped him grow past his Disney-pop stopover into a self-assured, self-aware pop-soul auteur. Recently he's been playing NYC venues once or twice a month‑-shows heavier on soul than you'd think from his appearance. His favorite was the Stevie Wonder tribute concert when Questlove joined on slide whistle during "Sir Duke."

Justin has always had a lot of confidence, and down as he felt for a while he's not surprised he's come out on the other side. NYU helped, music itself obviously helped, and he's happy to say there was a girl helping too. Like the singers and songwriters who have inspired him‑-Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Otis Redding, John Legend, and lately Bruno Mars‑-he sings mostly about love, and having spent most of his life as an entertainer, he believes music's prime purpose is to make listeners feel good. In many ways he's had a blessed life. But he's struggled too, and those struggles add conviction to his songs of love and happiness. A passionate performer who leaves his heart on stage, Justin Stein still knows what he wants to do with his life‑-sing for the people.