Following the rules and waiting for something to happen has never been in country music up and coming artist, Stephen Neal’s mind saying, “ I knew the path of going to Nashville and writing hundreds of songs and playing in song-writer bars and just hoping that someday someone hears you, would not be a reality for me. I knew my opportunity would lie ahead building my own fan base and connecting with new fans in each city that I’d go”

Stephen has done just that. With just over a year since he decided to “go for it” and release his first EP, “I Just Drive” and then a second acoustic EP Stephen has amassed a fan base on his social media alone over 20,000 followers which continues to climb. “It’s fun to watch this thing grow and grow at the pace it is. Its incredible to be playing in one state and have fans show up from two states over and singing my own songs back to me when they have never seen a show or heard my music on the radio yet.”

Beyond his fresh new music, attributing to the new Nashville artist’s factor of a rapidly growing fan base would be how much he connects with his fans on social media or meeting with as many as he can before and after shows “to me it makes sense, give back to those that keep giving to you. I try when I can to get to know as many people as I can and hope that it puts a smile on their face. Its the least that I can do when they are supporting me and my music”

Incredible is also getting to play your first year out with fellow artists such as Chris Young, Joe Nichols, Granger Smith, Trace Adkins, Michael Ray and many more. “Its been pretty surreal to get to learn from these guys here in my first year, watch them from the side of the stage, catch up and pick their brains on things that I may or may not have thought of. Many of these artists had also chosen the path of grinding it out on the road for years as well which gives me a greater appreciation for their craft but also inspires me”

At the end of 2016 Stephen plans to release a new EP to go alongside what you can already hear on his Spotify channel and iTunes. “I have been working on some new songs which I would say is the most excited I’ve gotten about anything I’ve done in the music industry yet and have high hopes for whats to come”