Sparkbird

Sparkbird is the project of singer-songwriter Stephan Nance (they/them). Their music has been featured by Obscure Sound, Good Music Radar, Rock the Pigeon, Homoground, the National Audubon Society, and Birding Magazine. Their breakout single "November," described as "a masterpiece of contemporary musical artistry" by Sinusoidal Music, amassed millions of streams on Spotify in the months following its release.

Sparkbird's performance history spans three tours of Japan and others in the UK, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Italy. In 2024 and 2025 they toured the US and Canada in support of Madilyn Mei (Elio), Shayfer James, and Fish in a Birdcage, with additional shows supporting Cosmo Sheldrake and Rabbitology.

Sparkbird’s songwriting has earned praise for its speculative storytelling elements and a “slice-of-life aesthetic… reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens and Joni Mitchell” (Good Music Radar). For their fiction, Stephan is a 2021 Lambda Literary Fellow, 2022 Tin House YA alum, 2023 Oregon Literary Fellow, and 2023 We Need Diverse Books mentee.

Stephan lives in New York City with their partner Adam, along with an 8-year-old Senegal parrot named Georgie, and a 47-year-old Yellow-naped parrot named Fred. Stephan is currently working on their next album and a young adult novel.