He really shouldn't have been worried...
Sometimes an artist's music hits you with the very first chord - pulling you in, instantly hooking you with the sound. That's how it was for me the first time I heard Steven Baggs and I knew the crowd was going to feel the same way. By the end of his set, everyone was wondering who Steven was an where he came from.
Steven Baggs didn't exactly come out of nowhere. He was with the lead singer of a band called "Five Foot Zero" for five years before going solo. The band appeared to be heading places, but in the end just wasn't the right fit for him.
"Things just weren't going the way I wanted in terms of my life and the band and the road we decided to take," explained Steven Baggs. "It's kind of hard when you're the person giving 200% and the rest of the band is only giving like 10% of their time and energy and effort. So, I said that if I'm giving 200%, I might as well give 200% to myself. As selfish as that sounds, at least I'll know I'm pushing as hard as I can for something nobody in the band was pushing for."
Baggs said that there were some people pushing him towards the decision, but, in the end, the decision to go solo was all his own.
"As hurtful and as crappy as it looked to the rest of the members, it had to happen. I'm a lot more confident with the music that I'm playing today and I'm a lot happier with the music. I feel like it shows a little when I'm on stage."
He also knows that there's more pressure in going out and performing under his own name rather than under a band's name.
"In all fairness, anything that happens on stage - good or bad - it's coming back to me now."
Five Foot Zero was basically the only band Baggs was ever in. He got his first guitar for his 14th birthday and taught himself how to play. He says he's been singing his whole life, but things really started to develop once he got to high school. It was also around that time that Brooklyn (Baggs' hometown) suddenly became known as a thriving music scene.
The situation right now is probably at its peak with the spotlight on Brooklyn and websites like myspace.com target=new>web link that connect fans with artists. Baggs thinks the pairing of technology along with the hip label is taking things to a new level.
"It's like being a small town celebrity," said Baggs. "People just get to know who you are. They may hear something about you and then bump into you on Myspace or something. Aside from Williamsburg being a big element in the growth of music right now, I feel like the Internet and technology push musicians and artists on to a whole different page.
"Growing up in New York where everyone is very music saavy and everyone's always looking for the new artist or new buzz, I feel like right now is a great time to be a musician. It's just a great time to have fun with music. Genres are changing by the day and new sounds are being brought out by the bands."
Steven will bring his uptempo, hook-driven rock/pop to the area for three shows in May. On May 20th he takes part in the Wave Gathering Festival in Asbury Park. He'll be doing a set at Red Fusion that night; back to Arlene's Grocery in the city on May 25th; then on Memorial Day Weekend, Baggs will return to Asbury Park for a show at the Saint on Sunday May 28th.
Join us for McCarter at the Museum - renowned performing artists in one-night only events at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Jason Robert Brown is a four-time Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon In Vegas and The Connector, has performed as a soloist or with his band in venues around the world, including sold-out shows at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall. His albums as a singer-songwriter include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes and How We React and How We Recover on Ghostlight, and Coming From Inside the House and Live In Concert with Stephen Sondheim on Concord.
With Special Guest Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe. Tony Award-nominated actress Betsy Wolfe is currently starring as Audrey in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, following her recent Broadway run as Madeline Ashton in the hit musical Death Becomes Her. She previously originated the title role in Joy, the new musical inspired by inventor Joy Mangano, and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her celebrated performance as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet. Other Broadway credits include starring as Jenna in Waitress, Cordelia in the acclaimed revival of Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade, as well as her critically acclaimed performance as Cathy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Last Five Years. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus and has appeared as a guest artist with more than 65 symphony, pops, and philharmonic orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her screen credits include First One In, Estella Scrooge, CBS’s Instinct, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years. Wolfe is also the co-founder of BroadwayEvolved, the acclaimed musical theatre training program she launched in 2018 to train and mentor the next generation of theatre artists.
A limited number of early access tickets for McCarter Director’s Circle members and members of the Museum’s Partner Circle are available, on sale Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM. General public on sale begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Please be aware there is no public drop-off or parking at the Museum. For visitors with mobility needs, please contact the Museum at least three business days in advance of your visit to request special access to the Museum via Elm Drive. Call 609-258-3788 and select option 1 to speak to a visitor services staff member, or email Louise Barrett at [email protected].
