Anne Steele to Play Dallas' Rose Room

Anne Steele grew up in the tiny town of Shelbyville, Indiana. With only 20,000 people and one high school, everyone knew everyone, Steele says. Now, the singer is known by a lot more people in a lot bigger places. She's been in love with music since she was a kid. Both her mother and her grandmother were both singers and she knew from a young age that she wanted to sing. Steele explains, "My mom says that I could match pitch from my crib. When she would sing a note to me, I would sing it back on the same pitch. I am not sure if that is true, but I always feel like it makes me a singer from birth so I go with it!"

Here's Steele on all things music from more on how she got started to where she wants to be down the road.

EDGE: How did you fall in love with music?

Steele: I grew up listening to all kinds of music. My grandmother was a jazz musician, but my mom listened to all kinds of music. I grew up loving jazz, pop, classic rock, standards, torch singers, etc. The two singers that truly became my greatest inspiration were Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston. I believe that I am the singer I am today because of what those two incredible singers taught me at such a young age about how to use my voice to inspire and engage people. To connect to a lyric and to become what you are singing. The lyrics have always been what I have connected to, and that is why I write the lyrics to my original songs now -- because I want people to feel what I felt when I first heard a song that I connected to.

EDGE: What bands or musicians inspire you?

Steele: I am inspired by singer/songwriters right now. I believe that sharing your story through music is not only difficult but brave. I love Sara Bareilles, Adele, Pink and Kelly Clarkson. I also love Jason Mraz and Lukas Graham. I am equally inspired by female and male songwriters and I find that the things that make you feel connected sometimes come from the most unexpected places.

EDGE: How would you categorize/describe your music?

Steele: My music is mostly categorized as pop but is now heading more into the singer/songwriter area the more I am working on my new album. I have been spending a lot of time in Nashville writing with incredible writers and the shape of my next record will be much different than my last EP that was called "What's Mine." We are starting to head into a more connected direction. I will never release another song that I am not at least a co-writer on. It is important to me to have a voice in everything I release from now on. I want people to really hear my true voice.

EDGE: What things (other than music) inspire your music?

Steele: There are so many things that inspire my music. My wife, my kids, my friends, my family, and my audiences. Every piece of my life is inspired by the people that I love and that love me. When I write music I think about those people and how they have affected and changed my life. Every road you take, and every path you follow is somehow influenced by the people you love and that you walk that path with.

Most of all, I would say that my wife Kelli has been the best part of my musical inspiration. She has shown me what it feels like to truly love someone and to be able to write about it and express it without fear and judgment. I can also revisit my past in a way that I was never comfortable doing before. That gives me access to my emotions and feelings that I may have never felt comfortable talking or writing about before. Now I feel like an open book. That is so freeing and beautiful. As a songwriter that makes you so much better.

EDGE: When did you meet your partner?

Steele: The first time I met my wife was when she hired me to work as a singer on an R Family Vacations cruise in 2005. This is the company she owns that creates vacations for LGBT families and their friends and families. I worked for her company as a singer for the next five years until we actually started dating in 2010. We were married on June 1st, 2013 at our home in NY and we have never been happier.

EDGE: How would you describe your fan base?

Steele: My fan base has a wide range. Because I have worked for R Family Vacations, Atlantis Cruises and RSVP Vacations I have a very large gay fan base. I would say that it is mostly gay men, but I also have a very strong straight following. I have a small lesbian following but I would always want more women to get into my music. I think that because I mostly work with gay male cruise companies my primary following has tended to lean toward the gay male crowd. However, being an out gay woman I would hope that women would be open to hearing what I do and giving my music a chance.

EDGE: What do you like to do when you're not playing music?

Steele: I really like to travel. My wife and I love to see the world, and we get to do that a lot with my work and her work, but when we have time off we like to take trips and see the world. When we are home, we are with our kids. We have shared custody so every other week we are home and doing ALL kid stuff.

We drive to school, volleyball, basketball, dance, school events, school dances, etc. Our kids are all teens now so priorities have changed. They want to be with their friends and at social events, so basically we have become Uber drivers! Either way, we love family time and never take a moment for granted because before we know it they will be grown up and off at college and we will be empty nesters and so lost without them.

EDGE: What's your dream for your future when it comes to music?

Steele: My next dream is to write the next album. I have been working with some incredible Nashville songwriters and I just want to focus on writing something that truly represents me as a singer but also as a human in this crazy world we are living in.

I want to show the parts of me that haven't been shown yet in my music. The confused mom, the loving wife,the angry ex, the anxty teen, the insecure artist, the brave lesbian, the supportive daughter, the pissed-off sister, and so much more. I just want to show who I truly am... and hope that people get it.

EDGE: What's your dream for the future outside of music?

Steele: My dream outside of music is always that my family is happy and healthy and safe. My wife and my kids are always my first thought. They are the people I love more than anything and that I will always protect and support without question. I just want the kids to have the best lives they can possibly have. Kelli and I always make their needs our top priority. I know that Kelli is the one I will spend the rest of my life with and there is nothing more comforting and calming than that. Together we can do anything and we always stick together no matter what. I truly feel like the luckiest girl in the world when it comes to this part of my life.

EDGE: What's one thing that you think people would be surprised to learn about you?

Steele: Something I think people would be surprised to hear is that sometimes I am a total procrastinator and unmotivated. I am a creative person but I also shut down occasionally and just need to watch 2-3 hours of Bravo TV in a row. It's usually when I need to write lyrics or patter for a show, and I just can't make myself do it. Kelli will come over and say, "Babe, don't you need to work on your show order" (or something like that) and I will say, "No, I need to watch ten hours of 'Housewives' and then I can." (True story.)

I think its okay to know what you need when you need it. There is something freeing about expressing what you can and can't do in the moment. As an artist, someone that goes on stage and gives so much of yourself away, I think it's vital to know when you need to take something for yourself. If that is nothing more than three hours of Bravo TV, you are still winning!

EDGE: What can fans expect from your show at The Rose Room?

Steele: My show at the Rose Room will be an epic night of ALL '80s music. I wrote this show called "The Mixtape Of My Life" and premiered it in NY to a sold-out house at Joe's Pub and it was a total blast. I have taken it on the road to LA, San Diego, Boston and now Dallas! It is all stories and songs from my youth growing up in Indiana in the '80s. The goal of this show was to help people go back to their own '80s memories and experience it all together. I sing all the songs you love to hear plus I tell stories so we can all laugh together and share the awkwardness that we all felt. I promise it will be a truly cathartic experience!

EDGE: Anything else you want to share with Edge's readers?

Steele: One more thing I want to share is that I recently released a new single called "Love Can Take Us There." It was a song written in response to the Pulse Nightclub shooting. I was devastated by what happened in Orlando and I reached out to two out songwriters in Nashville named Shane Stevens and Stephony Smith. I asked if I could come down to Nashville and we could write and record the song in 1 day. We did it. We released the song quickly because I wanted all proceeds from the sale of the single to go to the One Orlando Fund. This is a fund set up by the Mayor of Orlando to directly help the victims and the families effected by the shooting.

I wanted the song to be an uplifting dance song so that it could focus on the love and support that came after the tragedy and not the focus of the sadness and devastation of the actual incident. I hope everyone will go to iTunes and download the song. Not only is it a kickass dance song, but it will help so many support so many people that truly need our help. Our community always stands together, and now more than ever, it is important to speak out and be proud of our community and our fellow LGBT people.

Anne Steele will be performing on Saturday, October 8 at 8 p.m. at The Rose Room Dallas, 3911 Cedar Springs Rd, Dallas, TX 75219. For more information, call 214-526-7171 or visit http://www.annesteele.com.