In the vibrant and ever-evolving world of indie music, Grace Gardner stands out as a multifaceted artist with a unique blend of folk-pop and raw, emotional storytelling. Hailing from a small town in Texas, Grace's journey has taken them from the musical theatre stage to the heart of Philadelphia's DIY scene. In this interview, Grace opens up about their musical influences, the themes that define their work, and the experiences that have shaped them as both an artist and an individual.

Nicolle: Hi, Grace. Why don´t you introduce yourselves a little to any new potential fans?

Hi! I’m Grace Gardner, I’m a singer, songwriter, arranger, and producer from outside of Dallas, Texas, USA. I usually simplify my genre by identifying it as folk-pop. Still, it draws from everywhere, especially as a self-taught producer — I find I come into the production process with a lot of fluidity and flexibility. I try to write lyrics as honestly (and, in appropriate cases, as cleverly) as I can. When I was in high school, I was in a few bands and knew how to play a few instruments, but I kept largely to myself (and kept to the musical theatre group, which I was a part of).

I went to university in New Orleans for something completely unrelated to music — neuroscience — and was enamoured by the musicality of the city. It’s where I started teaching music and began my career as a solo artist. I now live and make music in Philadelphia, which is a more recent change and far from where I grew up, but it’s been nice to be back in a city with such a strong DIY scene. I’ve toured with a few fantastic emerging artists in the indie and folk spaces like Adam Melchor, Tiny Habits, Frances Forever, and Haley Blais. 

Nicolle: You grew up in a small town in Texas. How did that shape you and the music you make?

I feel like it was less the town I was in and more the music tastes of my parents that influenced the sound of the music I now make, but their tastes were no doubt rooted in the music of the region. My dad is big into older country, like Willie Nelson’s era, and he and my mom both listened to a lot of more recent-but-not-radio country music like The Chicks and Sheryl Crow.

Growing up in Texas resulted in a strong sense of storytelling in my writing. That’s something I’ve always heard music executives say they love about cities like Austin, New Orleans, and Nashville: the storytelling in country, folk, Americana, blues, and jazz music is just incomparable. This storytelling is reflected in the instrumental in all of those aforementioned genres, of course.

I write my songs alone, almost always on a guitar, and I come up with the fun instrumental parts later, so it begins with just me and a story. Being around the kinds of stories I was around — the folk artists that perform at Kerrville Folk Festival again and again — and being exposed to the ways they were told, the words that were chosen, is what changed me. 

Nicolle: What are some of the most recurring themes in your songs?

I had someone I worked with dub my genre as “catharsis folk,” which I’d say is an apt answer to this question. This upcoming project especially, surrounds the feeling of contained rage by force. In a space that valued silence from me, I learned to keep my bigger and more disruptive feelings (which there was an abundance of because I was a child) inside. It resulted in all the things I’m unpacking in therapy, like poor communication skills and weird attachment, but I’m thankful I at least learned a healthy coping mechanism when I needed one, which was writing. I wrote to relieve. I wrote so I could at least say the thing to someone. 

Nicolle: What are your biggest influences? Do you listen to old stuff from, let’s say, the 80s, or do you prefer contemporary music?

I feel like I often cite my inspirations to be newer artists, and they often cite their inspirations to be far older artists, so I’ve been feeling lately like I need to intentionally be around fantastic songwriting long before my time — I love Labi Siffre, James Taylor, John Denver, Carole King, the Beach Boys.

There is endless inspiration to be found in music released far more recently too. Some of my favourite artists right now are Mali Velasquez, Madison Cunningham, Dora Jar, and The Army, The Navy. I love the sonic choices that each of these artists make that truly make them unique within their genres. I mention her in what feels like every interview, but Olivia Barton’s songwriting will never cease to amaze and inspire and provoke me. 

I love your song ‘Scorpions Don´t Live Forever’, what inspired you to write it?

Thank you so much. I got to work with an indie label, Final Girl Records, on this release. They were doing a compilation album of one song for each sign of the zodiac, and my proposal for a Scorpio song got accepted, and I thought, “sh*t, time to write the song.”

At the time, I was living in an area where I found scorpions all the time, so the allusions to biological/environmental facts about scorpions weren’t too far off from how I was living. It was more of a prompt than anything, I’m so sorry to disappoint! It was earlier on in my songwriting journey, and I wish I could extrapolate some really meaningful takeaway, but I do think my storytelling abilities have vastly improved since the song was written, so my response to a prompt like that would likely look different now, and mean a lot more. 

Nicolle: What song made you fall in love with music and want to be an artist?

While I don’t remember what it was that made me want to be a recording artist and have a solo career, I could think of some songs that made me want to create, period. Those songs largely stemmed from experiencing live music — I remember walking away from a Train concert with my dad, and they’d played two of my absolute favourites (“Meet Virginia” and “Drops of Jupiter,” obviously), and I was young so I didn’t know how to label what the feeling was, but I now know that feeling to be an inspiration.

The same feeling hit me watching Adam Melchor’s set side stage, and Haley Blais’ too: I got off of those tours and just wrote at the speed of light. It was seeing “Drops of Jupiter” live after listening to my dad sing it in the car for so many years that put everything into context for me: I wanted to create and I wanted to share, and that far outweighed (and still outweighs) my want to be seen and known as the person creating and sharing these songs. I could think of multiple songs that make this realization recur to me as I continue with my journey as an artist, too.

Hearing “Caledonia” by Dougie MacLean still makes me cry. So many Madison Cunningham songs, but especially “Broken Harvest” and “Life According to Raechel.” I loved “Chinatown” (the single version, not the album version, but love both) by Girlpool when I was in high school too. Seeing Hovvdy open for Dayglow in 2021 was my first time hearing of them, and I walked away with a new favourite band — “Blindsided” was captivating. 

Nicolle: You have a song called Smaller coming out soon, can you tell me more about the story behind it?

The release process for “Smaller” has been the scariest one for me so far because it surrounds such a vulnerable part of my life, one that is safer to keep secret but wrong to keep secret. “Smaller” was written about experiencing narcissistic abuse and seeing no way out. It’s a very stripped-back song, it only has a few elements to it, and it’s incredibly lyrical, I’d say the saddest song I’ve written to date. While the other songs on the project “Smaller” belongs to also surround experiencing narcissistic abuse, “Smaller” is by far the most slow and gut-wrenching in this collection of songs. I’m feeling nervously relieved to start sharing this part of my life, and I’m continually trying to come up with ideas to weave in the sharing of other people’s stories in the telling of my own. 

Nicolle: What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?

If we consult my 5-year plan from 5 years ago, I’d be about halfway through medical school right now. I have a nearly-done (truly, one semester away from being done, I left school to tour) degree in neuroscience and public health, and I was planning to get a certificate in the studies of domestic violence as a public health crisis, and then continue to get an MD.

I love science, I love studying public health, and it’s still something that interests me, but I knew the whole time that making a career out of it wasn’t an option for me if I wanted to lead a fulfilling life. I’ve been playing instruments since I was very little, and songwriting/music serves as the great love of my life, so I think I would’ve found my way to music eventually.

What kept me from doing it for so long was living with the framework that I wouldn’t have a stable life without what my family would call a “Real Job,” and I let that lack of stability scare me for a long time, but leaning into it and learning how to make it work for me has been extremely rewarding. I felt weights shift off my shoulders when I dedicated myself to music full-time, even though I knew it would be far more diligent work than I was already dedicating to my studies. 

Nicolle: If you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?

This is the question of a lifetime, and I feel like I have a thousand answers, and have already checked off some of those boxes, which is unbelievable to me…honestly, one of the best parts of opening shows is getting to watch the headliner. One of the best parts about being on lineups at all is getting to see the acts you’re on the bill with — and having a free introduction to a new artist if you’re unfamiliar with them. I would love to open for Andy Shauf, Madison Cunningham, Kara Jackson, Clairo, Alex G, Dora Jar, Julien Baker, or Joy Oladokun. I could go on and on. 

Nicolle: What’s next for you? Can we expect more music in 2024?

Yes! Thankfully! This has been one of the most exciting parts about being a completely independent artist as well as someone who produces their work — cranking songs out at my own pace (which is sometimes very fast, and sometimes very slow, depending on inspiration a lot of the time) and putting them out as frequently as I can. After “Smaller” are a couple more singles, one of which has a feature that I’m SO excited about, and then my third EP will come right before the end of this year.

I’m excited to put out this project because all of these songs were written to relieve; all of these songs were written in situations where I had no one to talk to but my pencil and paper. I’m really hoping to start working on an album after this, and I’m always writing new material, but I also have a back catalogue of around 80 finished songs that are just collecting dust in my Notes app, so it’s all chaotic and I have no clue where to begin, but I’m just so excited to keep creating and keep sharing. I’m really thankful to have gone on such an empowering and inspiring tour this summer with Frances Forever — I came back home feeling so refreshed and ready to finish this project. 

Grace´s musical journey is one marked by constant evolution, introspection, and a deep commitment to honest storytelling. From her Texas roots to the bustling indie scene of Philadelphia, they continue to carve out her own niche in the music world. With new music on the horizon and a passion that fuels her creative process, Grace Gardner is an artist to watch as they continue to share their powerful and personal narratives with the world.

Grace´s new single Smaller comes out September 13th and you can save it here.

Follow Grace on their journey on their Instagram if you want to know more.

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Nicolle Knapova is a 30-year-old young adult writer and freelance blogger from the Czech Republic. She has a master’s degree in Creative Writing and Publishing at Bournemouth University. She loves to write about music, books and TV shows. If she’s not writing her fan fiction, she’s writing her poetry and sharing it on her Instagram @elisecaverly.