Page 12 - ION Indie Magazine SeptOct 2024

Along with the clear influence of funk and R&B in her music, Molly Grace loves the
bright, sassy, boldness of pop music, and her personality is pure pop star!

The music scene lately has seen quite an influx of female artists reaching streaming
highs, specifically pop stars with many albums released within the past year, and
Grace has had many of them on repeat.

“Chappell Roan has recently been inspiring me so much. I love her music
production, the playfulness of her songs, and her writing style as well,” she raved.
“In that way, I am also currently inspired by Sabrina Carpenter, similarly, due to the
playfulness of her lyrics, as well as her stage presence…it’s so captivating! I also
love how Bruno Mars marries retro, funk, and soul with pop. It’s really cool. I'm
always getting inspired by different things I hear.”

Grace began her schooling at Belmont University with the dream of finding this
stride in her career before she had released any sort of music on her own, and in
her time learning about the process of writing music, she also received the
opportunity to start collaborating with other artists in the Nashville area.

“I wasn’t very versed in the process of co-writing music, and my only experience in
writing music before was unreleased, so I was a little scared when I first got to
Nashville,” she admitted, “But now I've been pushing myself to write with other
people, and I’ve realized writing with others brings out different ideas I might not
have thought of on my own. I’m finding different flavors of my own music!”

“For example, I typically write songs on guitar, because that's my main instrument,
but I've been writing with my friend Claire Ernst, an amazing pianist, and they’ve
led me to a more soulful sound because they use a Rhodes piano. My sound has
started to find its shape in a combination of pop and funky R&B.”

Grace is now consistently integrating these influences into her own music, blending
feminine pop with the soul of the 70s. Looking and listening to Molly Grace’s
discography, her influences and admiration for the styles can be heard as she takes
her place in the music scene.

“I’ve been writing some of my future releases with the vibes of my two songs ‘Lover
(Love Her)’ and ‘Lady Lady’ in mind because they’re definitely favorites of mine to
perform, but also favorites of the crowd to watch and dance to,” Grace explained.
“What I love about my music, and I think what separates me from other artists right
now, is that it's pop music with strong funk and soul influences under there. My
other slower and more challenging song, ‘If I Never Told You,’ features strong funk
and soul influences and is very emotional, but I love to perform it.”

Throughout 2023, Grace released 11 songs and reached new heights of following
on her social media accounts, and as of 2024, she performed her first solo tour,
booked for the Bonnaroo lineup, and even a Times Square show in New York City!

“This process of being more consistent on social media and releasing the music I
might be too afraid to release has forced me to figure out and face exactly who I
am,” she said. “I feel like I’m prepared for my next project, and am very excited to
show people ‘Here I Am.’”