Stephen Day views music as an unmatched transfer of energy and an album tour as the completion of an idea. Having just wrapped his “Gold Mine” tour, Day feels fulfilled. 

“It’s a very complete feeling to make a record that feels very much your own, and then realize that it’s become a part of other people’s lives in a way that you might not have imagined,” Day said. “This was the Gold Mine tour and that span of time was marked by this tour and this album.”

Day sat down with the Hustler to dive into his newest album, discuss his tour experience and reflect on his journey as an artist. 

Early career

Day grew up in Buford, Georgia, a town 45 minutes northeast of Atlanta. His father was a pastor, and his mom was a nurse practitioner, but she also sang and played music in church. After Day found his mom’s guitar in her closet, he started learning a few chords, watching YouTube videos and learning from a guitar teacher. It was around this time he fell in love with John Mayer. 

“I fell in love with John Mayer’s ‘Room for Squares’ record,” Day said. “I was inspired by the guitar playing and the songwriting and singing that all happened at one time. He always had guitar parts around his writing style, which I was super just blown away by.”

Day started writing songs in high school and continued to write as he transitioned to college at Belmont University. He published his first EP during his sophomore year of college, and after graduation in 2018, he published his 2019 album “Guess I’m Grown Now,” and his 2021 album “The Shapes I’m In.” 

Gold Mine

Day released Gold Mine in August 2024, but started writing it two and a half years ago. He worked with his friend and producer Micah Tawlks to write “Kinda Cowgirl.” This song, inspired by 50s and 60s country music and 70s soul music with its slide guitar and harmonica, defined the album’s meaning.

“In the album, the fun and maybe the beauty of things is in the middle and in the gray,” Day said. “How a lot of things get talked about is usually kind of black and white, but I felt like this album was sort of like a play on two types of music. I think I ended up just writing songs that I loved.”

The “Gold Mine” tour concluded on April 11; Day played in Nashville at the Basement East on March 18. 

“The show in Nashville was wonderful. It’s always fun to play for the city you live in, and I feel like Nashville has meant so much to me over the years,” Day said. “People that worked on the record, other writers and producers were there to sort of celebrate it as well.”

Role models and advice

Through his career, Day has looked up to Mayer, along with Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Alan Stone, Glen Campbell and Theo Katzman. In addition, he has opened for Teddy Swims, Ben Rector and Stephen Sanchez. From his role models, Day has learned how to give back to his audience. 

“The people I’ve opened for recently have been in bigger venues and sort of like, have bigger crowds,” Day said. “They’re really gifted at treating their crowds like family and showing their gratitude and appreciation for where they’ve taken them as an artist.”

To other up-and-coming artists, Day advises: keep making albums you love and push through feelings of being stuck or lost. 

“As you put out the music that you want, the next thing will come,” Day said. “I know I’ve experienced that stuck feeling before, but I know that, in pushing past it, I got to find so much more than I would have expected. I think you just end up surprising yourself as you push through that feeling.”

Day also expressed that he always gets nervous before going on stage. In his experience, he just improved at battling and accepting that feeling. Day also described how his career in general has been a “fun, hard, challenging and slow grind.”

“The last time I did a headline tour was in 2021, and I was sleeping on floors and in people’s sheds and stuff,” Day said. “There’s been many a show in my career where nobody has shown up, or a few people have shown up, but I just want to keep making great records, and hopefully I can keep sustaining some sort of career out of it that I love.”