Stephen Jerzak
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Stephen Lewis Jerzak (born May 5, 1992) is an American alternative-pop musician, singer, and songwriter from La Crosse, Wisconsin. Some of his notable singles include "Cute" which gained popularity on social media networks in his early career, and "She Said", a record label release of a song that was done collaboratively with American actress and singer
Leighton Meester Leighton Marissa Meester ( ; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is known for her starring role as Blair Waldorf on the CW television series ''Gossip Girl'', which ran from 2007 to 2012. She has also appeared in fi ...
.


Biography


2004–07: Early Career

Growing up in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Jerzak began playing music as a preteen, teaching himself several instruments in his father's home studio. He joined his first band as lead singer and guitarist at age 12. The band "Under Age" consisted of classmates including his friend and now producer, Joel Tock. At age 14, he wrote and professionally recorded his first full-length album titled "Two Years Broken ", in which he released only a minimal number of physical copies and were mainly sold through his local record shops to his hometown following.


2008–09: EP Releases, Nationwide Touring

Stephen joined MySpace in November 2008 at age 16. He started uploading cover songs and quickly became one of the website's most popular newcomers. With a steadily growing fan base, Stephen released his debut EP called "The Sky High EP" in January 2009. His second EP, "Peace.Love.Truth" followed in May 2009 consisting of his hugely popular song "Cute". Later that year, "Smile, Happy Looks Good on You" was released in November and "Snow Looks Good on You" was released in December giving the fans exactly what they wanted with more songs they could relate to; Most notably, "King" and "Party Girl". By the end of 2009 he had already amassed well over 10 million song plays on his MySpace music player and ultimately became the site's Number #1 Unsigned Artist. With an artist management deal already in place and his first major record label offer on the table, Stephen had already turned his attention to touring. Starting in the summer of 2009, Stephen co-headlined the "Bromance Tour" which took him on the road to meet his fans for the first time. On that tour he performed in 23 cites across the United States, including dates in New York, Florida, and Texas. Stephen participated in three additional tours in 2009, including an opening slot on the "EZBronz Tour" with
Breathe Carolina Breathe Carolina are an American electronic music duo from Denver, Colorado. The duo formed in 2007 consisting of David Schmitt and Kyle Even. They later expanded to a full band whose best-known lineup included Schmitt, Even, drummer Eric Armen ...
. By the end of 2009, Stephen participated in a total of four tours which he traveled over 22,000 miles and played 70 shows from coast to coast, including his first concert appearance at the Unsilent Night 3 Festival at the Dr. Pepper Star Center in Frisco, Tx. on December 27, 2009.


2010: Record Label Signing, High Profile Touring

At age 17, and after several major record label offers considered, Stephen signed to Universal/Republic Records in January 2010. Afterwards, he immediately moved to Los Angeles, CA to start writing his first full length Album. He began working with high-profile producers such as
DJ Swivel Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young (born 14 December 1984) is a Grammy-Award winning music producer, mixer, vocal engineer, songwriter, and plugin developer. His work with The Chainsmokers yielded 3 RIAA Diamond Certifications (" Closer", " Something Ju ...
, Mark Maxwell,
Matt Squire Matt Squire is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixing engineer, and songwriter. His production, songwriting, and mixing credits include Panic! at the Disco, Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Kesha, One Di ...
and John Fields. After the first three months in LA, and with some tracks recorded, he hit the road again to play
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in March 2010 and also, continued on "The Class of 2010 Tour" with
Stereo Skyline Stereo Skyline was an American pop rock band from East Meadow, New York, which was formed in 2006. The band's well-known line-up consisted of guitarist and lead vocalist Kevin Bard, drummer Rob Michelsen, bassist Brian Maddox and lead guitarist ...
and
The Downtown Fiction The Downtown Fiction was an American rock music, rock band from Fairfax, Virginia, Fairfax, Virginia. The Musical ensemble, band consisted of guitarist and lead vocalist Cameron Leahy, bassist and backing vocalist David Pavluk, guitarist and bac ...
which took him from Texas all the way to New York. On May 1, 2010 Stephen played
The Bamboozle The Bamboozle was an annual three-day music festival which was held in New Jersey from 2003 to 2012, and was scheduled for a 2023 revival in Atlantic City by its founder. Every year, new bands competed for spots during the two days. The event ...
music festival in New Jersey just before moving back out to LA to continue writing and tracking songs for his highly anticipated debut album release on a major record label. While finishing up his record, Stephen was notified that he was slated for a direct support spot on "The Up in the Air Tour" with
Mike Posner Michael Robert Henrion Posner ( ; born February 12, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit.For Posner's full name, see He signed with J Records in 2009 and released his debut single "Cooler Than Me" the follo ...
, a national recording artist, that would begin in September 2010. Other performing acts on the high-profile tour included
Far East Movement Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American Hip hop music, hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles, composed of Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Splif, Jon Street, Ray Ro, DJ Virman, and Jerm Beats. They signed with Martin Kierszenba ...
, 2AM Club, and Bad Rabbits. This would be followed by another tour in late 2010 called " The Suddenly Yours Tour" with
Allstar Weekend Allstar Weekend was an American pop rock band based in Poway, California. The band gained its popularity from MySpace and then the Disney Channel television network. The band consisted of lead singer Zachary "Zach" Porter, bassist Cameron Quis ...
, a band who gained its popularity from the
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
television network. While anticipating these upcoming tours and also, a tour he would begin in August 2010 called "Hot Over Summer". Stephen's lead off single from his debut album, featuring
Leighton Meester Leighton Marissa Meester ( ; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is known for her starring role as Blair Waldorf on the CW television series ''Gossip Girl'', which ran from 2007 to 2012. She has also appeared in fi ...
"She Said was released on July 13, 2010. This high energy, club-friendly song would ultimately define Stephen's new musical direction with the upcoming release of "Miles and Miles" in 2011. Due to Stephen's heavy touring schedule and facing the reality that "Miles and Miles" would not be released in 2010, Universal Republic and Stephen agreed to release a full-length album from his current catalog on November 9, 2010 titled "My Uke Has A Crush on You", an album which featured mainly ukulele-based songs.


2011: ''Miles and Miles'' Album Release, Warped Tour

Fresh off tour in January 2011, Stephen began planning "The Peace Out Tour" starting in March that would ultimately take him into Mission, Texas where he performed at the Never Say Never Festival and then again in Houston, TX at
SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
Festival. Coming off the road in April 2011, Stephen was confirmed to perform on the Skull Candy Stage on the entire 44 city 2011
Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a touring rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music festival in the United S ...
which was set to kick off on June 24. Ten days prior, on June 14, 2011, Jerzak's album, "Miles and Miles" was released unveiling his new full-fledged pop sound and new musical direction.


2012–13: Cassadee Pope Tour, Nashville, TN

In January 2012, Jerzak landed a spot with
Cassadee Pope Cassadee Blake Pope (born August 28, 1989) is an American pop and country singer. She was the lead vocalist and songwriter of the pop punk band Hey Monday, with whom she released one studio album and two EPs. Pope embarked on a solo career in ...
, formerly of
Hey Monday Hey Monday is an American rock band from West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Pal ...
on her "Solo Tour" which began in
Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...
and ended in
Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...
, Florida. Other participants on the 21 date tour included
Darling Parade Darling Parade is an American Alternative Rock band from Nashville, formed in early 2007. The band consists of Kristin Kearns (vocals/guitar), Nate McCoy (guitar/vocals), Dustin McCoy (bass/vocals), and Casey Conrad (drums). By December 5, 2011, ...
and Justin Young. In March 2012, Jerzak moved to
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, Tennessee to seek other musical opportunities. While there, he has since written and recorded five EPs with other artist as collaborations. "The Nashville Sessions" w/
Jamestown Story Jamestown Story is an American acoustic-based music project created by Dane Schmidt, a singer-songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Schmidt released his first album under the name And Then I Turned Seven in late 2003 and has since released 7 a ...
was released in August 2012 and "Dance and Drive" w/Romance on a Rocketship was released in September 2012. "Taking on Eternity", a single off the Dance and Drive EP, was featured in Hollister Co. Stores across the country on the 2013 Spring Playlist. Other EP releases include 3 that were recorded with Dylan Lloyd, "What Could Be Better" released in September 2012, "This is Better" released in January 2013 and "Find A Way There" released in September 2013. Also, Jerzak released his first cover EP titled "Stephen Jerzak Covers, EP – Vol.1 in March 2013.


2022: ''Mixed Emotion''

Jerzak returns with a brand-new album titled "Mixed Emotion" that released on February 22, 2022. Taking elements from his old pop/acoustic style mixed with modern pop songwriting and production, the 10 new songs are lyrically themed as an inside look into his lifestyle and headspace over the past decade. Acting as a follow-up to his debut album "Miles and Miles" released by Universal Republic Records, the upcoming sophomore album takes a matured direction both musically and lyrically, showing relatability to his fan base that have grown up with him over the years. The 10 songs will take fans through a journey of his life with songs such as "Midwest Emo Music" and "Faded" showing a more personal side of him, alongside songs like "Insomnia" and "Outerspace" portraying his battle with overcoming the feeling of loneliness. This highly anticipated album is filled with catchy melodies accompanied by acoustic and electric guitar driving every track that were 100% written by him. The album was produced by long time friend and drummer Joel Tock, who also produced his first 2 EPs "Sky High" and "Peace. Love. Truth.", and also his ukulele themed album "My Uke Has a Crush on You". This blend of signature sounds from Jerzak's music career makes for a fresh and exciting take on the current state of his talents.


Tours


Discography


Studio albums

*''My Uke Has a Crush on You'' (2010) *'' Miles and Miles'' (2011) *''Mixed Emotion'' (2022)


EPs

*''The Sky High'' (2009) *''Peace. Love. Truth.'' (2009) *''Smile, Happy Looks Good on You'' (2009) *''Snow Looks Good on You'' (2009) *''The Nashville Sessions'' with Jamestown Story (2012) *''Dance & Drive'' with Romance on a Rocketship (2012) *''What Could Be Better'' with Dylan Lloyd (2012) *''This Is Better'' with Dylan Lloyd (2013) *''Stephen Jerzak Covers, Vol. 1'' (2013) *''Find a Way There'' with Dylan Lloyd (2013)


Singles


Promotional singles


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerzak, Stephen 1992 births Living people People from La Crosse, Wisconsin Musicians from Wisconsin