Singer and songwriter Jeffrey Steele is debuting his new single, “A Voice,” described as an anthem for connection and compassion amid division, a voice for the voiceless. It previews his upcoming album American Storyteller.”People feel like they’re not spoken for. I feel like I’m not spoken for. I feel like everybody has a voice, but they don’t get a chance to use it. And I feel there’s a lot of people that aren’t being spoken up for,” Steele told Just The News exclusively.
Steele, who’s been in the music business since childhood, said the song became easy to write in a short amount of time.
“When I got into that frame of mind as a songwriter, it was 30 minutes,” he said. “We knocked it out.”
The music video also draws on Steele’s inspiration – the inspiration he’s received from people in his life.
Rebuffing suggestions to hire actors for the music video from a casting company, Steele said, “I’ve got people in the last 20 years of my life that I’ve come across that have changed my life, that have set me on a different path. And they’re absolute heroes.”
Steele, a longtime talent in the music business, is best known as one of Nashville’s most prolific songwriters, with over 60 hit songs co-written for artists including Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Montgomery Gentry, Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Zac Brown Band and many others.
Raised in a musical family in North Hollywood, Steele began performing at age 8 and was playing keyboards in rock clubs on the Sunset Strip by age 17. In 1987, following his father’s death, he changed his last name to Steele as a tribute (his father worked in steel processing).
From 1990 to 1996, he was the lead singer and bassist for the country band Boy Howdy, which released albums on Curb Records and charted seven singles on Billboard’s country charts. Steele wrote or co-wrote several of their songs, earning early BMI awards.
After the band disbanded, Steele shifted focus to Nashville songwriting while also pursuing a solo career, releasing such albums as Somethin’ in the Water (2001), Hell on Wheels (2006), and others. His highest-charting solo single was “Somethin’ in the Water” (No. 33 in 2001).
However, it’s his songwriting that dominates his legacy, with hits including: “What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flatts, “The Cowboy in Me” by Tim McGraw, “Knee Deep” by the Zac Brown Band featuring Jimmy Buffett and “Something to Be Proud Of” by Montgomery Gentry.
His songs have amassed over 65 million air plays, contributed to more than 50 million records sold, and been recorded by over 100 artists.
Steele has earned numerous accolades, including his 2013 induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, five Grammy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for “I Thought I Lost You” (from the Disney film *Bolt*, performed by Miley Cyrus and John Travolta).
