Page 25 - SPIRE JulySep 2022 3rd Issue DIGITAL

A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H G R A C E K E L L Y
B Y D O T M C D O N O U G H

Grace Kelly is a ray of sunshine. Her electric charisma While still in your teens you played an original
and infectious positivity radiate from the stage. Her composition with the legendary Boston Pops and
genre-bending style weaves in jazz, funk, and singer- performed at Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration:
songwriter elements, pushing her to the forefront of the how did you process such big events at such a young
fusion scene. Grace’s powerful saxophone playing, age?
heartfelt vocals, and dynamic dance moves have left
audiences smiling, dancing, and in emotional tears. The stage has always felt like home to me. I get more
nervous gearing up for the performance and hanging
out in the dressing room than the actual stage! As
Grace believes music is a powerful medium that can soon as I walk onto the stage and greet the audience,
inspire, heal, and connect us all. Her latest album was my nerves settle down a bit, and from there, I let the
inspired by the words of incredible women who embody music take over - being in the music and performance
great courage and resilience, including Maya Angelou’s mode is my happy place.
“And Still I Rise,” a poem that ignited much musical
inspiration. The result of this album is a deeply personal I don't know if I processed those big events at the time
collection of songs with anthemic beats, upbeat grooves, - I was honestly so nervous when preparing for them! I
and soulful melodies and lyrics. Grace created this mainly focused on doing my job of putting on the best
album to help people connect to their inner strength performance I could! I feel truly blessed and honored
to have been part of those momentous events!
and voice and find the courageous hero within
themselves.
What was the best piece of advice another musician
Get ready for a night that will lift your spirit and leave ever gave you?
you wanting more!
My alto hero and mentor Frank Morgan told me, "Be
the best Grace Kelly you can be." He would discuss the
stress and anxiety he felt growing up being penned as
the "next Charlie Parker" and talked to me about the
importance of being the best me and not somebody
else.

What made you want to create an NFT and can we How do you adapt your writing process when
expect more from you in the future? composing for a film as opposed to writing a song for
your own album?
I am fascinated with what is happening in the NFT
world and excited to see digital art moving forward When scoring for a film, I am thinking about how to
with great innovation! The NFT world has the power create music that supports the scene. I want the
to change the way artists get paid and create new characters to lead the scene's emotions and have the
experiences and connections between artists and music to support that. Sometimes that means scoring
consumers. It was cool to put together a brand new one note for 2 minutes if the scene happens to be
offering when creating my NFT. I paired together something suspenseful or maybe just scoring drums
exclusive digital art from my music video "Unbroken for 8 bars! One of the past films I scored, "The Bird
Wings" with physical elements, including a digital Who Could Fly" had very little saxophone in its score.
frame and tickets to my live show! I am excited to Writing my own songs is very different because I'm
continue educating myself and learning more about picturing myself singing and playing the music and
the NFT world as it evolves! writing for my band.