Out of a throng of singer-songwriters aiming to break through this year, Graci Phillips stands head and shoulders above them all. Jason Barnard speaks to Graci to hear about her story and music.
Hi Graci – great to speak to you. I was hugely impressed when I first heard you. Your sound really stands out amongst the many new artists I’ve heard recently.
Thank you so much, Jason! I very much appreciate that. Thank you for having me be a part of The Strange Brew!
Can you tell me about ‘Burning House EP’ and the lead single ‘Conductor Doctor’ – what inspired it and what should we expect to hear on your album?
Conductor Doctor is about my deep love of traveling! My parents were full time speakers/musicians when I was growing up and we were on the road full time. Sometimes as much as 300 days out of the year! Much of my formative years were spent gallivanting across the continental United States in a purple RV with my family and my parents program team. As you can imagine, this really instilled a love of travel and exploration in me. I think travel is so incredible and important. When we step outside of our comfort zones we get the opportunity to see life from someone else perspective, we get to learn about new cultures and traditions, and we get to expand our own perspective. We learn a lot about the world and ourselves when we’re forced out of our bubble, which I think is super healthy!
I was so excited to finally release this project. My last album came out in 2011, so it was a good chunk of time between projects! I’ve had a big evolution in my music in those 5 years. More with content than anything. Going from writing high school heartbreak songs to much deeper subjects like resentment and forgiveness was a big jump. I would tell people listening to look for some of the over arching themes in the project. The music is pretty, but we actually deal with some pretty heavy ideas here. I’m very proud of it.
‘It Fades’ shows a more melancholic side. Are your songs from personal experiences or do you draw from other influences?
For me personally, I have never been able to just pull a random song out of thin air. Songwriting for me is very personal and tends to be the way I process life. Not every song I write is necessarily about me or my experience, but it’s almost always something I’ve watched friends and family walk through or something I’ve witnessed first hand. Specifically, I wrote “It Fades” at a time when there were several couples close to me really struggling. Even though the song isn’t about my relationship, that was the way I empathized with them while also really wrestling with this idea that love can just fade away. Or at least that’s how it seemed at the time. I’m not that much of a cynic, but I think songwriting can be a great place to air out really dramatic feelings. Get the thoughts out of your head and onto paper where you can really get a good look at them.
Where are you from and where do you live now? Does that impact your music?
I was born in Nashville, TN and that is where I live now! As I said, we were on the road a lot growing up, which had a huge impact on my music—just getting to experience a lot of diversity I think is great. We did a little bit of bouncing around. We lived in Ohio for a while growing up which is where I first started writing my own music, when I was around 10-11. Then we were back in Nashville where I gradated high school. And then I moved with my family to Indiana for about two years before coming back to Nashville (for good) when I was 20. I think no matter what kind of art you do the place you live has a huge influence. Nashville is definitely a great place to be based for music. There is a lot of energy around music and there are a lot of fantastic musicians and songwriters in Nashville. I think one of the biggest impacts it makes is being in a community where so many people are creative gives me a lot of motivation! I think if I lived somewhere with less of a music scene or musically creative community I might not feel impressed to be very prolific. Going out and seeing other artists play always gives me a fresh wind of creativity. I’m very thankful for it!
I can hear echoes of country, rock pop and soul in your sound. What are your formative influences and where did you come across these artists – a parents’ record collection or other sources?
My parents being musicians my whole life were hugely influential! They have great taste in music. We listened to a lot of James Taylor and Stevie Wonder. My parents are both more country gospel writers themselves, so we also listened to a lot of gospel, country, and bluegrass. My musical interests really started to peak at about 11-12 when I was introduced to The Beatles. They have absolutely been the biggest influence next to my parents. I can remember so vividly the first time I really heard the Beatles. I was in the car with one of the travel team members and he had popped a CD in, the first disc of the White Album. Martha My Dear came on and I was instantly transfixed. I had never heard anything so incredible before. At that point I started devouring whatever music I could get ahold of. I would walk to the library and check out as many CDs as they would let me. I would come home with stacks of CDs and lock myself in my room for hours listening. The Beatles, CAKE, Fiona Apple, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Sufjan Stevens, Janis Joplin, Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix—whatever I could get my hands on. This was before music streaming and I didn’t have an iPod, so I was all about the CDs.
You and Zach Lee played a wonderful version of David Bowie’s ‘Life On Mars’. Bob Dylan’s ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’ is another favourite of mine. How do you choose which songs to cover and which ones are you most proud of?
Zach and I have very similar tastes in music, so honestly we just choose songs that we love! There are so many songwriters that we absolutely adore, it’s so fun to do our own renditions of songs that mean a lot to us. We have a list of some of our favorite artists birthdays that we sometimes use to pick what songs were going to cover. Kind of as a tribute to them! I am really proud of a lot of the music that we do, but cover wise I am especially proud of “Jolene” and “Everybody Wants To Be A Cat”. “Jolene” is such a tragic song and I really wanted to depict that in our cover, which I think we achieved really well. The song is much heavier than the original productions presentation. I really wanted to bring it to a level where you could feel the lyrics. “Everybody Wants To Be A Cat” is such a fun playful song! Aristocats is one of my favorite old Disney movies, I had wanted to cover that song for a long time. It was also one of the first songs Zach and I covered together, which I think makes it special too. I’m definitely the most proud of the covers that we’ve really been able to put our own spin on and I think in that respect those are two of our best thus far.
What music influences you now? What artists are you proud to be associated to when people compare you?
Oh, man. There are so many. I feel like I am consistently influenced by a lot of the classics. The Beatles are still huge for me (as well as Paul McCartney’s current work), Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel. I get something new out of it every time I listen. But as for current music, Chris Thile is just the tops for me. There isn’t a thing he’s put out in the last decade that I don’t love. From Goat Rodeo Sessions to Punch Brothers to Live From Here—even his solo classical work. I just can’t get enough of it. My husband and I see him every time he comes to Nashville. We’ve seen Punch Brothers several times, Live From Here at the Ryman, Goat Rodeo, and Chris Thile solo. All absolutely fantastic. I usually cry, I’m a cryer. The whole music circle he runs in are all so great. Aoife O’Donovan is another in that group that I just love. Her album “In The Magic Hour” is beautiful. As far as comparisons go, I don’t get a whole lot. Vocally, I’ve been compared to Joni Mitchell pretty often, which makes me swoon! I like to think I’m some kind of amalgamation of all these artists that are so influential to me, it’s an honor to be compared to any of them!
How long have you been making music?
I feel like I’ve been making music my whole life. Growing up in a musical household there was always music happening around us. Always instruments lying around. Always a little jam session breaking out. It was honestly a very magical way to grow up! All five of my siblings are musical, so it’s more strange if there’s not music being made in my parents house. I got my first little guitar when I was 6, but didn’t take it seriously until I was probably 10. I was playing my dads full sized guitar a lot at that point, so for my 11th birthday I got my first full sized guitar! I named her Sophie, and it’s still the guitar I use today. I actually play it in the new “Conductor Doctor” music video! Sophie and I have been together for almost 16 years and have a lot of years ahead of us still!
How do you come up with song ideas? Is there always a set idea or is it a natural process?
I think it’s a little of both! Sometimes an idea will pop into my head that I really like. It might be a little snippet of a lyric or a few notes of a melody, but I will get really stuck on it until I can flesh it out. Other times I might just be sitting around playing music and stumble onto something. It’s pretty common to for the song evolve a lot as I write. Sometimes I’ll think I’m writing a song about one thing, but then by the end it’s turned into something completely different. That’s almost always a good thing though. Music is such a big part of how I process life’s highs and lows. Often times I don’t unpack events until I’m writing about them. I’ll sit down and start working on a song and all of a sudden it’s a therapy session. I can write about my feelings much easier than I can talk about them I’ve learned!
Are there any lyrical themes you return to?
I think I go through seasons of lyrical themes. It usually has to do with whatever larger themes are playing out in my life at the time. Several of the tracks from “Burning House EP” were born out of some serious introspection. The song “Burning House” was one that I wrote after a friendship fell apart and I had to take a hard look at what had happened and accept responsibility for my part in it. “Roger Ebert” was written in that same season when I was taking a good long look at my insecurities with needing to be perceived as intelligent, knowledgable, and needing to be validated in those things.
Right now a lot of my song writing is revolving around family units and relationships as that’s something I’m navigating right now. So that’s something you’ll probably see on the next album.
Zach Lee seems to play an integral part in your music. Can you tell me about his role and how you met?
Zach is so great! We actually went to high school together in Tennessee. We graduated from a teeny tiny private tutorial (fancy way of saying homeschoolers that hung out and took classes at a church with other homeschoolers) just outside of Nashville. There were only 12 people in our gradating class and we were all pretty close! We maybe played a little bit of music together senior year, but nothing serious, just for fun. I was recording my first album, “Catastrophe” at the time. After high school Zach went to college for music and I moved to Indiana for two years. We didn’t really talk much during that time, but when I moved back to Nashville we started hanging out and playing music together when he was home on breaks. After he got his masters in classical guitar he moved back to Nashville and we’ve been doing music together since! He is so insanely talented and adds so much to my music. Not only can he play anything I ask him to learn (usually in a fraction of the time it takes me), he has a great ear and has written so many beautiful guitar parts to my songs. We love so much of the same music that when it comes to writing music our tastes pair really well. I’m good friends with his wife too and we often double date to concerts and stuff! I’m very lucky to have such a great friend that I get to make music with.
Where and how do you record?
Both of my albums, “Catastrophe” and “Burning House EP” were both recorded in Nashville with my wonderful producer, Mike Demus! Mike has been a family friend since before I was born. He’s known me my whole life and just really understands my music. He’s super wonderful.
But for the cover songs that Zach and I put out, those are recorded at my house! Nothing very fancy, I’m not much of a gear-head. We use one mic for the initial guitar and vocal, and then depending on the song sometimes I’ll record more layers afterward.
Out of all your material, which tracks of yours would you recommend new listeners seek out and why?
I think that the “Burning House EP” is definitely more representative of the music we’re currently making than “Catastrophe.” So I think that’s a good place to start. One of my favorites is “Roger Ebert”, I love big sweeping melodies and introspective lyrics. It’s also a song that makes you think, which is something that is important to me in songwriting. “Conductor Doctor” is also really fun and I think shows off my more playful side.
What do you make of the current music scene?
That’s a hard question. I think on one hand it’s an amazing time to be a music creator or consumer, because we have so many fantastic resources available to us. I can record a song on my computer, film a video for it on my cell phone, and upload it to YouTube all in the same day. The freedom that creators have to produce content is really incredible! There are not many gatekeepers anymore telling people that they can or can’t distribute their music, which is so different than how it was even a couple decades ago! But on the other hand, because of that saturation, it’s harder to rise to the top. And sometimes your checkbook is more important than your talent. But over time the good stuff sticks. You just keep going and keep making good music. There really are so many fantastic resources for independent artists, it’s very empowering!
Can you tell me more about the Direct-To-Vinyl Live Session you’re doing?
Yes! I am so excited about this! We are heading up to NYC in the beginning of August to LeesaVall studios in Brooklyn! They are a really unique studio that only does recording directly onto vinyl—there are no digital copies of any of the recordings! This sounds super strange, but they describe it as a “musical polaroid”! So basically how it works is someone goes to our preorder page and selects the song they would like on vinyl. Then when we head to the studio we have a list of everyone who ordered and what songs they ordered. Then we record each song that is selected specifically for that person. They are the only person in the whole world who gets a recording of that specific performance! So if 20 people order “Conductor Doctor” we will record it 20 times, specifically for each person. It is a really cool concept! And because each is individual, we can personalize each one with the persons name or a short message before the song starts. It’s very personal and special. I am really excited about it! We are preordering now, and once the preorder ends it won’t be available anymore—so now is the time to order! People can check it out here: leestavall.com/products/graciphillips
We’re also doing an awesome vinyl giveaway centered around the new “Conductor Doctor” music video! There are details on my instagram and facebook!
Finally, how do people find out more about you?
Well, definitely check out the new music video here:
http://bit.ly/ConductorDoctor
Check out the Direct-To-Vinyl session here:
https://leestavall.com/products/graciphillips
You can find “Catastrophe” and “Burning House EP” on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and all other major online music retailers!
www.graciphillips.com
I’m also on all the usuals!
Go enter our #ConductorDoctorGiveaway !
