INTERVIEW: Stella Cole Brings Holiday Magic to Studio E
12/13 @ Studio E, Linde Center for Music and Learning in Lenox/Stockbridge, MA
Photos by Luke Rogers
“I’d never dared to dream that the next album would be with Decca Records, part of the Decca-Verb group which is this very historic label, that Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday, Judy Garland, and Mel Tormè all recorded for...”
As the world transforms with technology and social media, so does the way stars are discovered. There’s a good chance that you’ve seen one of Stella Cole’s viral videos over the past few years, along with the tens of millions of other viewers across all platforms, and it's for good reason: her voice. Stella possesses a velvety timbre with the power to match that hearkens back to the golden age of American musicals and standards.
When I spoke with Stella, she was preparing to head off to London for a highly anticipated performance at the London Jazz festival accompanied by a full orchestra, demonstrating how she has become much more than a viral sensation We spoke in depth about her journey and her upcoming show at Tanglewood’s Studio E at the Linde Center for Music and Learning on December 13.
Stella was born and raised in smalltown America in Illinois. She grew up watching The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music and not much else. It instilled a love of singing that she took with her to Northwestern University where she studied acting. However, as her education went on, she grew tired of being told how needed to change her vocal style and approach lest she never find success in that way — as a result, she gave up singing altogether. When the pandemic happened and all her classes shifted to Zoom, she decided to take a break from school and move back home. It was then that she rediscovered something in herself.
“I thought the world was maybe ending and who knows what was going on?” Stella recalls. “My family was getting together and watching all of these comforting movies and I was sobbing through all of them, remembering that I love this stuff more than anything — why have I not been doing this for the past couple of years?”
Shortly thereafter, Stella was on a walk with her dad and he expressed his wish for her to sing again. She acknowledged she missed it herself. He went on to suggest that she should post some videos of herself singing on YouTube, as her voice and humor would get noticed. After first brushing it off, she eventually listened to him, posting on a new app that was taking the world by storm: TikTok.
“None of my friends were really on [TikTok] yet and I didn’t think anyone would see it if I posted there. So it started as a fun little game for my family and I, like ‘Oh my god, my video has over 100 views!’ Then it was 50,000, then 500,000, and a million,” Stella says. “All of this is happening and I'm just in the woods with my family and my dog and nothing is changing, so it just felt like a game with numbers on my phone. Sometimes it still does — though now there’s the real life aspect of living in New York, performing all around the world, and it’s just like, how did this happen?”
Of course, the very real reason it happened is her undeniable talent. A talent that she has been able to nurture with her world class voice instructor, the New York City-based Joan Lader, who has been referenced by such stars as Madonna, Roberta Flack, and Sting. Stella has worked with her since 2021 and credits her with “teaching her everything she knows,” from different techniques to strange vocal exercises.
“There are different jaw and throat massages that release different muscles. I’m always sticking my tongue out in weird ways. My band says, ‘What the hell are you doing?’” she laughs. “Yoga and meditation are important too, because if I'm tense or my shoulders are tight, it's going to contribute to vocal tension.”
This dedication to her craft has landed Stella a plethora of unique opportunities, including being able to perform with NYC-based pianist Scott Bradlee’s Post-Modern Jukebox, a collective of rotating musicians that reworks modern songs into old styles, like swing and jazz. A natural fit for someone with Stella’s voice and taste in music. She reached out through a friend of a friend in 2021 expressing interest before moving to NYC herself. Bradlee replied that there was nothing going on at the time and to reach out again later. So, in December 2022, while living in New York with now around 400,000 followers on social media, and gigging around town, she did just that.
“He got back to me and said, ‘Let’s fly you to Nashville and we can record two or three songs.’ He gave me a playlist of songs to choose from, we did a Zoom call, and next thing you know I was touring the United States in February and March [of 2023].”
Stella would go on to tour Australia and New Zealand with PMJ; one of the songs she performed with them, a reimagining of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” has over six million views on Youtube currently and is one of her most streamed songs. She got a taste of life on the road, living on a tour bus, and what the music industry for a touring musician was like.
From playing small jazz clubs to 900-person capacity venues in Paris in one year, to being recognized on the streets in Australia and Germany, Stella's career has taken off in a short time. Her eponymous debut album released in August 2024, was made entirely through crowdfunding. Her latest album — and major label debut — It’s Magic, was released this past August via a legendary record label, which still leaves Stella awestruck.
“I’d never dared to dream that the next album would be with Decca Records, part of the Decca-Verb group which is this very historic label that Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday, Judy Garland, and Mel Tormè all recorded for, so that’s been insane,” she says.
“It’s such a dream every time I'm able to be in the studio with a big orchestra, arranged by the wonderful Alan Broadbent (who has worked with Nat Cole, Michael Buble, and Barbara Streisand, among others). It’s just amazing to be in their world and circles and that feeling of singing along with the orchestra right there. I just feel like I'm inside an old movie; it’s magic, literally.”
Stella is now bringing the magic with her Christmas Dreaming tour, where you can expect to hear music from not only her latest album, but also her Christmas EP, Snow, and other favorites like her new take on the Carpenters’ classic, “Merry Christmas, Darling.” Fans can expect holiday tunes, jazzier tunes, and of course the song that put her on the map, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”
“Comments I get a lot from people are that it’s like going back in time or they feel like they’re in a different world,” Stella says of her shows. “I think it calms people down. It’s a great romantic night; it sort of takes you away. That’s the goal — to make you forget everything that is stressful in the world and your life and just listen to music everyone loves for an hour and twenty minutes.”
For tickets and more information on the show, click here.