Bonnaroo 2022 Artist Spotlight: Stephen Sanchez

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2022 lineup. And, for the first time in three years, we finally feel confident that there definitely will be a Bonnaroo this year, after a postponement then cancelation in 2020 due to Covid, and an unfortunate rainout of last year’s would-be September event. Returned to its traditional timeframe of June 16-19, this marks Bonnaroo’s 21st summer and 19th installment, and features a largely new lineup for the festival’s much-anticipated return!

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend on the farm!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

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Northern California native Stephen Sanchez only made the move to Nashville and began releasing music a couple years ago, mid-pandemic, but after a fantastic debut EP last year, the young singer-songwriter is quickly becoming one of the most exciting new artists in the local scene. Initially attracted to classic pop, soul, and doo-wop music from the ’50s and ’60s, falling in love with artists like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and The Platters, after rifling through old records at his grandparents’ house, Sanchez got into more contemporary acts like Cage the Elephant and Foster the people as a teen, and found some initial attention on TikTok after posting a cover of Cage’s “Cigarette Daydreams.” TikTok would become something of a launchpad for his career in the early days of Covid, after the earnest and soulful singer was met with a ton of positive response for original tune “Lady By the Sea,” which would become his first formal single. Inking a deal with Republic Records and moving to Music City, Sanchez broke out with his biggest original song yet last year, the confessional and longing “Until I Found You,” a tune which recently got an updated version featuring Em Beihold. For his debut EP, 2021’s What Was, Not Now, Sanchez recruited buzzworthy producer Ian Fitchuk (Kacey Musgraves, Karen Elson), honing his timeless, soulful, harmonic, and earnest sound, with melancholy and deeply personal and inanimate songs about love, loss, and longing, which have resonated wide over the past year, leading to millions of streams, live dates around the nation, and even a recent late night TV debut. Stephen was slated to play Bonnaroo last September. but debuts at the fest in 2022 at an even more exciting moment of his swift career ascent.

WATCH | “I Want You” (Official Video)