Page 11 - ION Indie Magazine SeptOct 2024

“I was in a local community theater production of A Christmas Carol when I was maybe seven years
old,” Grace laughed as she recounted the story, “My only line was ‘Oh my,’ and as soon as I said it, I
ran off-stage and began sobbing. I kicked that fear by the time I was eight and have been performing
ever since. I now feel my most authentic and confident when I'm on stage, which I’ve noticed has bled
into my life, especially in terms of having confidence in myself and what I have to offer.”

Grace emphasized the importance of confidence in a profession; while also pointing out how
frequently women tend to devalue their worth to society and their passion within their profession. With
her live shows, Grace intends to build a warm community of people who are proud to be whoever and
wherever they are in life.

“Something I've noticed in women of all professions, specifically through my experience as an artist,
is the tendency to want to downplay what you do,” she frowned. “For example, I'll tell people I’m a
singer in an off-handed and underestimated manner, but I am a performer! This isn't a hobby, this is
a profession! I am an artist, and finding this persona and energy I perform with has made me feel
alive. We should declare proudly what makes us, us.”

Grace gained this extra boost of confidence throughout her time at Belmont University of Nashville
Tennessee, when she realized she was exactly where she wanted to be with her career. Entering
college, Grace was still battling with the concept of truly releasing her music in the musically saturated
scene of Nashville, but as she wrote more and lived through more life experiences, the confidence
slid into her personality until it was part of who she is now.

“I got my degree in May, and with that, truly felt like I’ve come into my own as an emerging popstar,
but I really struggled with that feeling when I first enrolled in Belmont University,” Grace admitted. “I
had no idea how I was going to make things happen. I would look enviously to people who had music
out and a good following already established, and just wonder how I was going to get there.”

“However, as my time in college was drawing to a close, I realized I had become exactly who I was
trying to be. I was touring during my last semester of college. I have a following base with fans who
attend multiple shows. I’ve played festivals! Now that I’m a college graduate, I feel like this is truly my
job. When people ask me what I do for a living, I no longer tell them I’m a student first, I get to tell
them I’m an artist; a performer. It gets more real every day and I’m so proud of all the hard work I’ve
put into this lifestyle within this small window of time.”

A Soul Full of Pop

Molly Grace finds a great deal of inspiration amongst the 70s funk and R&B genres, as well as an
adoration for performing the music vocally. She finds the confidence dripping out of the music
infectious to her own, lyrically and performatively.

“My favorite genres to sing are funk and soul and bluesy R&B,” Grace smiled. “I loved to sing that
style when I was alone in my room growing up because I could really belt it out. It uses my whole
voice, and I still do that, but now it’s on a stage. It's so fun when I'm on tour, and I get to perform a
more vocally challenging song than some of the others in my lineup. I love to sing soul and R&B, but
just as much as singing the fun, pop stuff too!”

“I love reimagining old funk classics and making them a little gay and fun,” she grinned. “We did a
mashup of ‘Blame it on the Boogie’ and ‘She's a Bad Mama Jama’ on tour, and it was so fun to Molly
Grace-ify those. In the future, I’d love to take a super pop song, something by Sabrina Carpenter for
example, and funkify it a little bit. I want to let my band have fun with it.”

Photo credit: Mackenzie Boyd