Casii Stephan is a soul pop/rock artist hailing from Minnesota. Now based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the impassioned songstress evokes subtle vibrato notes and roller-coaster-like melodies, which immediately grab the listener, while her emotional lyrics share intimate stories. She has been compared to the likes of Florence Welch, Fiona Apple and Carole King, as her vocal timbre possesses a full and warm quality.
An underlying theme throughout Stephan’s music is hope, she explains, “Its such a cliched word and yet there are so many layers to it. Hope keeps us alive. It keeps us moving. But it also feels flighty some days like a pixie that does what it wants. But it's not a pixie. It's more like the air we breathe. Some days it's presence is stronger than we realize and some days we forget in our day-to-day lives that it's there... keeping us moving forward”. Her music combines her love for the storytelling elements of Disney ballads and the bold, brilliance of The White Stripes, as well as the soul-wrenching R&B melodies of H.E.R.
Casii Stephan has seen success both obtaining and being nominated for multiple awards from the likes of Independent Music Awards, Hollywood Music in Media Awards and USA Songwriting Competition to name a few. She also heads a female fronted festival entitled MisFEST in Tulsa, that has gained recognition both locally and nationally. She and her band, “Casii Stephan and The Midnight Sun” have performed at regional festivals and multiple SXSW official showcases. Prior to the pandemic in January, she performed multiple solo showcases at Folk Alliance International in New Orleans. Casii’s 2020 single, “Trapeze Artist” premiered in Billboard and was profiled by EarMilk, and Pop Dust.
During quarantine, Casii shifted her performances to an online format. Her weekly Saturday morning Facebook Live performances quickly morphed into a music talk show web series affectionately named, “Coffee with Casii”. Casii provided the songs and stories and then her manager, Amira Al-Jiboori provided the technology, moderated the live stream comments, and soon became a side co-host, much like the Andy Richter to Conan O’Brien. Casii has added a “special guest” segment to her show where she interviews a local musician, artist, business owner, activist, etc bringing attention and awareness to how others have survived the pandemic. Once Tulsa’s shelter in place order lifted, Casii and Amira “took the show on the road” and started to live broadcast from local businesses, art galleries, theaters, coffee shops, etc while they were not open to the public. The success of the web series caught the attention of Circle Cinema and Sundance Film Festival. Casii and Amira recently produced three episodes at Circle Cinema as a part of the Tulsa Satellite Sundance Film Festival.
By the summer of 2020, Casii was able to get in the recording studio and record a new full-band single, “Here Comes the Light”. The song details letting go of harmful words and negativity that are “buried in her skin” and embracing the light. Sonically, the single soars with soulful vocals, Americana-tinged guitars and 90s pop rock inspired soundscapes. Casii Stephan released “Here Comes the Light" in February 2021 with rave reviews from American Songwriter and EarMilk. She released the "mesmerizing" music video complete with dance vignettes and colorful light to portray the emotion of the song on March 2nd with a premiere by Parade Magazine.