Amanda Grace has taken some time to visit with us and we would like to share more about her path in music. She has taken an unconventional journey in releasing her seven albums in total, and plans to release her eighth in 2023. At an early age, she used songwriting as her own therapy, and tool to get through challenges in her life. She has focused on creating inspiring songs taken from the stories and struggles of people she’s met along the way. Starting out with a children’s album was not in her plan, as she laughs now, as she had been in an alternative rock band before that album was started.
Interestingly enough, it has become more normal now for artists to do that now as they build their confidence in themselves, and she loves the variety. She has produced music drifting between folk, alt-pop and rock. With roots as a pianist her writing is thematically varied with an emphasis on melody and ballads wrapped in warm vocals. In 2016 she received a “Front Of Line” pass from The Voice. Her latest release, “Please Dear Sun” was nominated for Blues + Roots Radio Album Of The Year.
Looking back, she knew she wanted to pursue the path of performance at a young age. Since then and now, her music is genre fluid and she has been intent on releasing the songs she has felt most meaningful. Her favorite artists are Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlile, and Pink. She has shared the stage with Kyle Cook or Matchbox 20, Carnage and regional stars in the Minneapolis music scene. She joined The Mid West Music Festival at its inception. In 2015 and in 2018, she performed on the first day of the Wisconsin music and art festival, Ashley for the Arts. Wildflower joined the Boats & Bluegrass Festival in 2017 and her band played for Big Turn Festival. In 2019, her band performed at Big River Theater, Red Wing Arts Festival, and She Rocks Festival. With the great changes in the live music industry with Covid-19, she worked to move her music services online for a time and joined forces with Land Of 10,000 Streams Festival in 2020. Since then, her band has performed at the Historic Paramount Theatre, Hopkins Center For The Arts, the Historic Chateau Theatre of Rochester, and the Landmark Center in St Paul.
She mentions having a vivid memory of when she needed to go back into writing songs again. Her nephew Bryce was diagnosed with cancer as a boy, right around the time she was beginning her family. She went with her husband to visit him a few times at the St. Mary’s hospital in Rochester. He had asked her to sing a few times, but at the time she wasn’t doing anything in music. But the day he died he asked her to bring her guitar. She sang a few words about heaven, and he passed away in the moment. After a few months, she went on to record and release “Trains, Cars + A Trip To Mars.” His song was “Rainbow Skies,” inspired by the stained glass window at the hospital. She believes that at the end of the day, it’s about being able to connect with her audience over a song or a story; and that is the true goldmine to her.
http://www.instagram.com/amanda_gracemusic/
