Meet Stefan Anderson-Findley | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stefan Anderson-Findley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stefan, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
There was one point in my music career where I quit my day job to pursue music full-time. This was pre-pandemic days and lasted a couple of years until the pandemic closed everything down and forced me back to Pueblo, my hometown, to find myself in the day job routine once again. The lockdown became a blessing in disguise though, bringing my now wife and I together and having our first kid since then (if you can believe in a silver lining to the pandemic).

At the time, the idea of being on the road, traveling, meeting new people, performing music that I poured my heart into was what ultimately brought me to quit my job and do the music thing! I am grateful for the experiences that it brought me and would do it again if the opportunity were to arise.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have been a professional musician since high-school, taking paid gigs locally with my previous band, to operating as a solo musician, and now currently writing under The Canary Initiative co-led by my wife and I. It hasn’t been easy and many days I have wanted to give up or throw in the towel to writing music, and there have been some periods where I do take an extended break from it which I believe is healthy. What has ultimately kept me going is the countless times I have had the opportunity to have conversations with people after shows that have connected with the music and the music speaks to people in a way that I never would have imagined. This has taught me to not take myself too seriously as a musician and allow space for the music to grow in an organic way rather than trying to force it to take a certain shape.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I tend to lean towards outdoor spaces such as trails to hike on or biking trails. Being from Colorado, there is plenty of that so I would probably first take them to Garden of the Gods to get a nice overview of the city and ease them into an easy hike. I also enjoy smaller town vibes so we could stop on by Old Colorado City after a nice hike to check out the strip of local vendors and restraunts there. I would take them out to eat at Pizzeria Rustica, a local pizza joint, then take them to Colorado City Creamery to grab an ice cream for dessert. That would be a solid day in my books!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people in my journey that have contributed to my inspiration and love for music: of course my mom and dad have been there since day 1, Jordan Smart, The Haunted Windchimes, Inaiah Lujan, Dave Hammer who gave me my very first drum kit for free, Janna and Jason Burns who were my high-school choir directors, Kyra Williams former band mate, Nordista Freeze, Sma Hearn, Guetts Gutterman, Emma Hawkins, the countless interactions with folks after a show who have given me encouragement to keep on going!

Website: https://stefanfindley.bandcamp.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/stefanfindleymusic?utm_source=qr&igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg%3D%3D

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stefanfindleymusic?mibextid=D4KYlr

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@stefanfindleymusic5188

Image Credits
Photo 1: John Rodriguez Photo 2: Kyler Vollmar Photo 3: Tyler Shown Photo 4: Javier Quiñones