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Beyond the fest, the artist has played shows across the U.S. and Europe plus scored a support slot for Jesse Welles.
6/11/2026
Steph Strings performs at Danforth Music Hall on June 2, 2025, in Toronto, Ontario. Jeremychanphotography/Getty Images
As Steph Strings concluded her first headlining show in Brooklyn this March before a packed, cheering club crowd, she signed off with the declaration: “I’m 25 years old. I’m from Australia. And this is just the beginning.”
And what a beginning it has been.
In January, Strings’ self-released album Feel Alive debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA Australian Album Chart. In March and April, she played headlining shows in the U.S. and Europe — and on Saturday (June 13) she’ll play a midday set at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on the Which Stage. The set will be part of the Bonnaroo livestream on Disney+ and Hulu.
Strings has been steadfastly independent to date. Starting her career as a busker on the streets of her native Melbourne, she has declined so far to sign a record or publishing deal. And, nevertheless, she has landed summer bookings not only at Bonnaroo but other high-profile festivals including Summerfest in Milwaukee on June 19 and the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park, N.J. on Sept. 19. She also has a support slot on Jesse Welles’ summer tour.
“It’s been a rock star year,” says Strings. She spoke to Billboard on a Zoom call hours before a flight to Denver where she played before a crowd of some 3,000 in a free concert at the Levitt Pavilion, on a bill with Colorado-based singer-songwriter Patrick Dethlefs.
Strings’ rise highlights the role of music festivals and booking agencies — often ahead of music publishers and record labels — in the industry’s global A&R process today, and in the discovering and development of tomorrow’s superstars.
Strings’ growing fan base demonstrates how social media has become a promotional tool as powerful as a PR campaign or radio play. She has a combined social media reach of more than 1.5 million across platforms.
A Bonnaroo booking for an unsigned artist is “unusual, but not unheard of,” says Josh Knight, senior vp of music at The·Team, the agency that represents Strings for North America and Europe. “I’ve built my whole career around artists that are independent and most of them have played Bonnaroo and the larger festivals,” adds Knight. “You don’t always need to be on a label to sell tickets and have people listen to your music.”
The·Team first saw success booking Strings in Europe where her virtuosic guitar playing, engaging songs and charming personality won over fans in multiple countries. When the opportunity arose to work with Strings in the U.S., “I jumped at the chance,” says Knight, who succinctly summarizes the young artist’s draw:
“She plays great guitar and has a great voice and a story to tell. I knew that if we just gave it a shot, that we could build [her career] the way I’ve done so many other bands, which is on the road first.”
Here are six things to know about Steph Strings.
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She Never Wanted To Sing — At First
As a teenager, Strings learned to play the guitar by searching YouTube after school for performances she could break down and emulate. She came upon a clip of OneRepublic’s Zach Filkins playing intricate flamenco guitar at one of the band’s stadium shows.
“I just remember my heart racing and my world opened up because I knew I could do that — even though I obviously wasn’t at that stage skill-wise or even performance-wise or confidence-wise. He’s ripping in and it’s cool just to be up there by yourself — with no vocals.”
But it was not until she played her first formal gig at The Evelyn Hotel, a bar with a music room, on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy (just outside central Melbourne), that she worked up the courage to sing with her guitar for the first time.
“I sang ‘Dusty Roads’ that night,” she recalls in the mini documentary posted on her website, describing her performance of an early song. “And it sounded horrific.”
She has since grown into a confident vocalist and songwriter with works such as “Three Wishes,” “Devil Woman” and “Wildfire” — three songs she names as her own current favorites.
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Her Team — Including The·Team — Has Her Back
From Melbourne, Strings is represented by Weird Fishes Management, the partnership of Joe Miles, Aidan McLaren, Rhett McLaren and Allana Vullo. In Australia and New Zealand, she is booked by Desiree Venue of Lonely Lands. Tom Taaffe of The·Team is her booking agent for Europe while Knight and Lindsay McDowell of The·Team represent her in North America.
As she returned home from Europe on May 1, the artist posted her thanks for another essential team member on Instagram: “This whole Steph Strings thing would be IMPOSSIBLE without Miss Laura!!!” she wrote of Laura Siebert. “This woman is my tour manager, my driver, my merchandise seller and MOST important my partner. Some of you may have been lucky enough to meet Laura behind the merch desk, always smiling and telling you all about the penguins back home on Phillip Island!”
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She’s Done The “Hard Yards”
When the Bonnaroo booking was announced, “my first thought was like, ‘am I good enough for this?’ And then my brain went to, yes, I am because I have done the ‘hard yards,’” says Strings, using an evocative phrase from Australian rugby. “I’ve been pushing for a really long time. I’ve been gigging a lot. And my social media … I run all of it by myself. I do all of my own marketing. I do all of my own posts. I edit my videos. I have a spreadsheet where I organize which posts I’m doing.
“Portraying who you are online helps connect you to the right audience. So I’ve put a lot of time into it, and I think that’s maybe why it’s all come together and led to this point.
“I will say, though, that these festivals seem like an even bigger jump than I’ve ever done in my whole life. It kind of goes to show, maybe in this new day and age, does an artist need a record label? If the artist is willing to work their bum off on social media, touring and if your booking agent and manager are incredible together, you can get booked for Bonnaroo.”
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She is “Really Proud To Be Australian”
During her shows earlier this year, Strings took the stage to “Sunrise” by fellow Australian and guitar master John Butler. She’s also covered “Follow the Sun,” written by Australian singer-songwriter and activist Xavier Rudd. In an 18-minute mini documentary on her website, she gives a shoutout to other fellow countrymen and musicians including Pearce Brothers and guitarist Tash Sultana (the latter of whom also plays Bonnaroo Saturday).
“The impact that Tash had on me was huge,” says Strings. “Tash is the first non-male musician that had taken my interest because, when I was a teenager and watching YouTube videos of musicians, it was always the greats — and they were all men. Tash started busking on the streets just like me. As a kid, I thought, if Tash can do it, I can do it. And I hope that I’m doing that for young kids, too.”
When she is off the road, Strings divides her time between Melbourne and the oceanfront of Phillip Island — what she describes as “a very Australian stereotypical life.”
She continues, “I’m really proud to be Australian and for what we stand for. I feel like I live and breathe Australia. Australia just makes people happy. I want to spread that around, spread that happiness with everyone to just show them if you live like this — if you get outside, you travel with wildlife, have a beer, those kinds of things — your life could be happier.”
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Her Live Duet with Jesse Welles Almost Never Happened
Strings counts the fast-rising topical singer-songwriter Jesse Welles among her fans. The artists were already following each other on Instagram when they were both booked at Canada’s Edmonton Folk Festival in August 2025. As Strings came offstage and Welles walked on, they waved to each other: “We were like ships in the night,” she says.
Then this past March, their respective tours brought them to Toronto during the same week, and Welles invited Strings to his show at Massey Hall.
Expecting to be in the audience, Strings took time to relax that afternoon in her hotel. “I’m in my pajamas because it’s my day off. It’s like 3 p.m. and I’m just laying there relaxing, on my phone, FaceTiming mum and dad, just scrolling. I thought, I need to get off my phone. Just one more look.”
“I get a message from him in that moment: ‘Hey, Steph. What song do you want to play tonight on stage?’ He said, ‘Be there in one hour because we’re going to try this.’”
The two performed together on Welles’ song “Saint Steve Irwin,” about the late Australian wildlife champion and pop-culture icon. The performance was shared to YouTube and helped land Strings a supporting gig on Welles’ tour this summer for dates including Pier 17 in New York on July 31.
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She Could Have Been a Therapist — and Sort of Is
“I wanted to be in the sports psychologist or physiotherapist world, just helping people or being a teacher,” says Strings. “I’ve always loved helping people. I’ve done it from the moment I could talk. I’ve always been the psychologist for all of my friends. And it’s funny that that’s what I wanted to do.”
She does see a connection to her career now and early goal of helping people, saying, “It’s nice knowing that my music is doing the same thing. It makes people dance, it makes people cry and it gives people therapy. The best thing in the world you can do is be a service to others, and I feel honored that I get to do it in my own special way.”
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