I'm gonna say love actually because I love that movie. You don't have to just watch it at Christmas. Yeah, exactly. Hello and welcome to WNC Original Music episode 177, the regular and star polygon episode.
This week, very happy to have on the show Danny Grace. Danny is an emerging artist from Ashland, North Carolina. She started playing music in grade school when she was bullied and picked up her first left hand guitar. This eventually led to busing at Earth Fair.
Earth Fair, if you're not from Ashland, is one of our local kind of like Whole Foods grocery store. It's semi-famous for his busking scene outside of its entrance. Anyway, after the busking, Danny began to pursue a full-time music career where she met Peter Brownlee, a gifted producer, who worked on her artificial emotions and closer tracks. Danny has played at the Leaf Festival and has built her own home studio and begun teaching herself music production to start the production of her sixth song EP.
And you're gonna hear some of that on this episode. You can find her at DannyGraceMusic.com. This is Danny Grace. We're a song only known and we don't lift up our voices.
It's hard to stay strong, just remember that it won't last long. You can't scream and cry out. Let us know we're a song only known. You know, it is a two-six song that is being read on along with a couple other songs for my spring release, which I'm really excited about.
And it was written kind of in the context of like you hear a lot of things and like the media, you hear a lot of things on whatever, if you watch the news, I don't watch the news, but if you watch the news, you hear a lot of things that might be true, might be false, or it just might be uneducated. And I feel like people, in my opinion, people should, instead of listening to everything they hear and instantly believing that, research on all sides, find studies, find evidence behind what you are taking as a belief system or a moral whatever it is. And that's really all we know went to because I feel like in this world, there's so much going on with social media, sometimes fake news or miseducated news gets mixed with real thing. And that's really what that song started as.
And I wrote that when I was 16, 17, also around that time my mom had just passed and it was very unexpected. So that was another reason I was like, we only know what we're told. You know, that's why the lyrics of the song. And we only see what we know because everybody's perspective is very subjective to your own experience of reality.
So you're writing this at 16 or 17 and how old are you now? You don't mind? Are you looking back and saying, you know, that person, you know, I really had it figured out at 16 or 17 or do you think, well, you know, I might change that a little bit if I wrote it today, but I'm going to leave it like it is. I wouldn't change it.
I wouldn't change it. I feel like if anything, that song and those lyrics are more relevant today, then they were back in 2016, 2017, because now especially there's a lot going on and there's a lot of miseducated information going on on all sides of what everyone's talking about. You know, it's not just like politics, it's how they're referring to, I'm referring to in general. They're at this lab.
Exactly. Exactly. And even within the music community as well, there's misinformation or some genres are known to do something, some genres are known to do different things, but music is meant to be shared, it's meant to be meshed together, if you will. So I've never changed it.
I think that song is very, very good. I'm loving, I'm excited to rework it in my release because I'm going to add things to it. Like, percussion is just going to be solely acoustic anymore. I haven't figured out exactly what I want to add yet, but I'm really excited for that change.
But as far as the lyrics and melody goes, it would take a lot for me to change my songs, honestly. You tell me about a book that you might recommend to people? Does that be your favorite book? Just any book or books you might recommend?
Any book? Any book, yeah. If I don't like it, I'll delete it out. I think everybody should invest, it doesn't have to be one specific book necessarily, but in a spiritual book.
Nothing that is religiously tied in any way, should perform whether that's Christianity or the Quran or anything, but just like a book about yourself, your spiritual self as a whole and also books on meditation because I have OCD, which is an anxiety disorder. And one way I self-manage is meditation. I feel like a lot of people with mental health or PTSD, a lot of those issues could really benefit from that, not tied to a religion or any kind of belief system unless that's what they would want. But I think that would be very beneficial to, in my opinion, anybody and everybody.
That's the great answer. Good job. Yay! That's perfect timing.
So I first started getting really bad anxiety when I was 15. In high school, I was bullied a lot when I was younger for many years and that definitely manifested itself into my social anxiety I have today. And I remember I started having panic attacks. And one day I was at the mall.
This is going to sound really silly, but I was like 16, 15. And I got my hair cut at the mall and they were walking out with my dad and I had this overwhelming fear that people would hate my hair. I know it sounds weird, but my 16 year old self, that's what my mind wanted to fix it on. That's how I didn't know I had no CD.
I didn't know I had no intrusive thoughts. And I actually went to the bathroom because I was tapping panic, checking the bathroom. And then I walked out and my father was kind of freaked out. He was like, well, what happened?
What happened? What happened? I was like, fine, fine. And then I wrote artificial emotions as a way to let those feelings and thoughts out and kind of take the control away from them, if that makes sense.
And I also feel like with mental health specifically, a lot of people don't talk about it, just like chronic health. People don't talk about it. So people don't understand it as easily. Unless you search for the information.
So when I go artificial emotions, my goal not only was to reach other people that felt like they had these issues or obstacles, but also to reach out to people who may not completely understand that thought process of somebody with a mental health issue or an issue that is chronic and invisible specifically because invisible illnesses are hard. And that is really the basis of that song. And it's a really emotional song for me to this day. Sometimes when I see I just kind of like disassociate into another completely different space.
And sometimes it makes me emotional when I perform it as well because it's got that deep root of letting things out. But music, my song said most of the time, then therapy for me after I was bullied. So that's going to be a reoccurring theme definitely as well within the podcast with a couple songs. You know, that's interesting.
When I took coincidentally, when I took, when I took, when I took, when I took, when I took ancologist, I took abnormal psychology. And the, our instructor said that it's very difficult to study teenage psychology because there are, there are teenage behaviors that if they were present in an adult would be a diagnosis, but they're totally, totally normal in a teenager because of all the anxiety that comes to be in a teenager. And one of the examples he gave was, I forget, I forget the disorder, but it wasn't even a disorder. It was, I forget what it was.
Anyway, but the example he gave was if all your hair fell out and you didn't leave the house, like if all your hair fell out, he said, if you, if as an adult, if you, if you, if something happened, you use the wrong, you know, hair dye or something and all your hair fell out and you didn't leave the house for a month, that would be, that would be a, that would be a reaction disorder. Right, yeah, exactly, exactly. Because you're so ashamed of it. And you know, there were a lot of, a couple of people in the class were like, I don't know, I might not leave the house, you know, and, but he said, but if you heard a teenager say that, you think that's, that totally makes sense.
You know, of course they wouldn't leave the house because they don't, they don't have the coping skills for that. And that's part of like being a teenager and like what you went through, you know, having a, just being self-conscious about your hair, as an adult, you'd be like, okay, I'm self-conscious about it, but I can get through it. You know, you have the two things going on at the same time. You can, you can have it and you can deal with it.
And it doesn't like totally, totally. Does all of your life, but as a teenager, sometimes those things come up and if it's your first time dealing with it, it makes sense to stay in bed for a month or worry that people are going to freak out if they see your hair or something like that. There's going to be a lot of coincidences. Yeah.
You plan for those coincidences. We got this because it's all planned out. Are they really coincidences? Right.
Yeah. You got my list that I sent you beforehand of things, coincidences we want to have. You're going to have a lot of coincidences. You're going to have a lot of coincidences.
You're going to have a lot of coincidences. You're going to have a lot of coincidences. Right. Yeah.
You got my list that I sent you beforehand of things, coincidences we want to have. Yeah, I have to hold up. Okay. Good.
How about a movie you recommend for people? This is hard because I don't ever watch movies. I'm moving picture. You're familiar with the idea of movies.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to be a little savvy, sad.
I'm going to say love actually because I love that movie. It's such a good movie. Yeah. It's a great movie.
Yeah. You don't have to just watch it at Christmas. Probably see it exactly. Exactly.
In the moment before Christmas is another one. You don't have to watch it at Christmas. Right. Yeah.
Arbor Day. Whenever there's trees in it. That we just met. But you know what I'm about.
Slowly. I see. If you're the one for me tonight, we'll wait and see. Oh, everyone around me.
Bob into the beat. Keep on moving. Close. All we have is now.
You're here with me. Leave me to your car. I want to. Keep on moving.
Close. You're my heart. That is all we have. Let's live like it's the life.
Keep on moving. Close. I love this song. So the story behind Close.
This is a big story. It's a big story to me. When I was 17, I met a producer that used to love it. His name is Peter Brown.
He has a known guy talking about it on this blog. He's going to find out that it's okay. And he was one of the first producers that I had ever met that actually like, when I only worked with one or two producers, but he was so focused on the story. He was like, you can make it.
He was very encouraging. He was the one who also did artificial emotions with me. But closer, we actually, I told him I wanted to start getting into upbeat music. You know, music that people had danced to people, that kind of music.
And so we actually sat down at his piano and we actually wrote closer together. Like he would be singing and I would be coming up with lyrics and we played the piano and we wrote it together. And closer is, it can be about a number of things. It's a long story.
You know, it's about, he hasn't sat in like a club song. He's like, you know, he's like, you know, he's like, you know, he's like, you know, he's like, you know, he's like, you know, he's sitting in the club scene where people are dancing to the bright lights, the big crowds. I know that we just met, but I know what you're about. Kind of thing, you know.
But taking it out of that club scene, that's more of like an analogy or a simile. I don't know if it's going to be, but a metaphor. A metaphor, it's not. For you being around a bunch of people, and you feel one way or the other.
I wrote this song with him. One of the feelings I was getting was, I'm bisexual or pansexual, whatever you want to call it, but I mean that umbrella of queerness. And part of that was, if you see somebody, and you love And you love them or you want to get to know them and whatever that is No matter who it is. There shouldn't be any fault in that for anybody in my opinion.
Um, and that's really What I wrote that song for but I wanted to write it in a way that was inclusive to everybody to be able to just listen to it And have a good time not listen to it and be really focused on the lyrics and be really focused on the production of song Even though I think it's a beautiful song. I wanted them to focus more on like this is a good song I want to dance to this song and I want to have fun to this song. That's that's what closer was but the production of it was really fun Um, and I miss Peter. Oh, what were the um, what were the little weird sounds in there?
What was making that? You mean like the clothes thing? Yeah, yeah, so Peter actually I told him I wanted to experiment with sampling and So he took clips of my voice and he put them on a piano and he just started playing it He started playing my voice on the piano and sampling it and putting it on song. Oh, okay It was really fun.
It was a good experience Do you have a favorite vacation spot or vacation experience you like so when I was younger we were on a couple cruises And one of my favorite places has always been Honduras Because it is so beautiful The culture down there anywhere in the Caribbean. I think the culture is beautiful, but Honduras was beautiful. The people were beautiful Also, Belize too because I went to both those areas Honduras and Belize was also really really beautiful Encouraging body who hasn't like left the main continent of the United States To travel somewhere in the Caribbean if you especially can't go like over a year ever someplace far away You know, I encourage everybody to go and experience another culture outside of our Main an armpit because I think that cultural Diversity and learning about the ways that some other parts of the world whether it's other countries or other parts of the United States or Europe I think it's very important for people to learn other cultures and be open to other cultures and then bring that love That other people in other countries have to their culture back here and to share that That's a good good reason to choose a vacation vacation spot. I love traveling in general.
So I don't anywhere More with Danny Grayson just a few moments want to remind you to check out her website Danny Grace music calm And that is spelled d-a-n-i-g-r-a-c-e M-u-s-i-c Dot-com did you get that write it down? Also, don't forget to check out the podcast just search wnc original music where we get your podcast or go to wnc original music Dot-com or just tell google to play wnc original music Also your smart speaker also your friend who listens to wnc original music. It's probably where you got this episode On bandcamp go to angry blue planet dot bandcamp dot com and grab our album because it's fantastic and bandcamp supporters get the PDF album booklet as an added bonus angry blue planet dot bandcamp dot com Corrections and clarifications from last week's episode with the get right band Itopia is the name of their recent album starts with an I Itopia EYE topia is the name of an optician in Texas so we were both right This week Allison Price our resident reviewer covers an album from his and hers a North Carolina bass duo The album is come on in is their third album and you can find them at his and hers and see dot com As soon as you press play on the most recently released album from husband and wife americana folk duo his and hers also known as Caleb in seren Davis You're sure to crack a smile at least that's what happened to me when I listened to their third album come on in And the true fashion of folk music even the lyrics that pull on the heartstrings of longing are suffused optimism in their words North Carolina based his and hers creates music inspired by family relationships in rural simple living Those wholesome themes are very apparent on this album as is the chemistry between Caleb and Sarah I enjoyed hearing their interplay between their voices and their instruments Which were of a tapestry that suggested many more musicians were present than an actuality The songs on come on in were written recorded and produced at the Davis home Which I didn't know until I read the description Caleb sent the mixing is just that good All vocals and instruments were played by the husband and wife duo with the exception of harmonica Which was performed by Kenny or Silla or the full band down the mountain Overall if you enjoy americana folk music steved in tradition get freshened up with youthful energy and joy You should check out come on in by his and hers. You'll be in for a great time This has been this is quin Davis.
This is it and this is w and c original Listen my mind's a again Trying to overcome the thoughts my mind's created in my soul cries out for an escape as the light Darkness consumes me Sitting at the base of this ever-grinjuring I think to myself is their potential enemy Life is spent with one dogs And I have yet to discover that I remember seeking the escape from my perceivance Holding in my emotion Hiding myself behind a mouse Sitting at the base of this ever-grinjuring I think to myself is their potential enemy Life is spent with one dogs And I have yet to discover them Sitting at the base of this ever-grinjuring I realize there's potential enemy Life is spent with one dogs And I have yet to discover them That's another good one. Back to the coincidence's Evergreen I wrote when I was 15. It was the first song that I'd ever written And it is about how I felt being really growing up Because I remember when I was younger I used to play outside a lot and there was an airbag to guard Kind of our backyard, kind of a neighbor's yard. There was a big pine tree And I would always go to that pine tree and I would climb it and I would just kind of be in my own space Especially with the emotional state.
I was in at that time And when I was younger It was kind of my way of getting away. I've always been a nature person So getting away and being within Wonderful mother earth nature That's what ever great about you know sitting at the base of this evergreen tree I think to myself is there potentially me, you know And I'm really excited to rework that song as well which I'm actually in the process of doing at this time Moving on from flight to you I'm really excited. What are you? What are you gonna do different with this song?
Um, I'm trying to just same thing with all we know I want to keep the melody and the lyrics the same I want to keep the guitar most of the same if I can Um, and I would just want to add more elements to it where it's not just acoustic and voice anymore. I want to get more I don't know the word is but more complex. Yeah, um, I was reading where you are really getting into home studio recording Um, what do you enjoy about that? It saves a lot of money.
Yeah It's a challenge. I'm actually sitting at my PC right now. Um, I use I bought FL studio. It's great But d iw teaching yourself music production is a big learning curve.
Yeah, um, I feel like I'm doing a good job You know, I've never I take my little music theory here and there but I've never Been able to go out and take multiple classes on music theory. I use a production. So you too has been a great resource for learning music production and I've always loved music. I've always wanted to make it a career And what better way to love music and make creative music than to make music.
Um, so I hope one day I'll be up to that part where I can start recording other people as well as myself. Oh, yeah. Have you recorded people other people? Yeah When I was uh, I'm a lot older than you in my first um recording experience.
I still have it. Do I have it here? Somewhere but I had a little four track cassette recorder. It was a four four track studio.
Um portable It was about the size of an iPad but two inches thick and uh, it just used all four side all or both sides But like a set take it once so you could record four tracks individually and then you could bounce it down and do you know four more tracks and that sort of thing It was basically the technology they had in like 1965 But uh, this was like the 90s and I would go and record bands and at that time like There weren't you know, there weren't even personal computers, you know, they were just starting But uh, there was no such thing as a doll or anything like that and just it was so great because just to be able to record your band on four tracks Or or be able to like record, you know, two people and turn into four were just amazing And I would like make I made quite a bit of money doing that just with no production value You know, just whatever whatever was in the room was on the tape at the time There was no going back and putting in reverb or anything like that and uh just that sometimes I get like I feel like we're spoiled with the dolls because Um, just what we could do back then with just four four track cassettes was, you know incredible for the time Everybody was like just amazed by it and now, you know, people fight about like so they'll say some doll is crap when i'm like, no A doll any doll is an amazing piece of you know technology and you should be thankful for it, you know And I get really just depends on how somebody uses it. Yeah, yeah, you know, I feel like anybody can make Quote, unquote bad music. Um, even though I don't even know what constitutes and bad news. I guess badly makes music or badly I don't know, um, but you can in my opinion that any girl specifically But I also feel like any dog can make a lot of really nice things too other than w and c original music The podcast you're on right now.
Do you have any podcast recommendations? There is a podcast on Spotify That is called internet urban legends. Uh-huh Now if anybody that ends up watching this is somebody who likes haunted things or Because here's the theory things or anything in that a cult vibe. Mm-hmm That podcast is really good because basically what they do is they go through these like urban legends and stuff and they debate They have like somebody who has really a lot of supernatural experience and they have a skeptic on there as well And they kind of just like go back and forth about Could it actually be real or could there be a scientific?
Explanation for it and it's really good. I like that. I like the science part of it. Yeah, it's when I was fun.
Bye Yeah, okay Internet urban legends. Uh, by the way, you said anyone who watches this, but you know, this is uh an audio podcast It's not gonna be on or listen to it. Just don't think they kind of really I feel bad You participate I feel bad if you got all dressed up and you weren't you know, just wanted to find out later It's the first song that ever completely will semi-completely done myself I wrote this long back in like 2019 2020 But I saved it and I sat on it because I wanted to record it the right way Now I wanted it to be perfect and I'm really trying hard to make it perfect and I'm really excited Yeah, it's got a lot of synth bass. It's got a lot of cool vocals in it.
It's got a lot of guitar in it And I think it's gonna be amazing when people listen to it actually performed it Um the other week at white horse and black mountain Everybody loved it before dancing. They were cheering. They were clapping It was a really good experience Especially since it was the first time other than like the small teasers I've done on instagram this first time I've actually like brought this song forward as a whole piece For our audience and the love that I got was really exciting Really exciting. Oh cool.
How are you playing? How are you playing the tempo songs live? Are you still just using a acoustic guitar or you do? I'm using a backing track.
Oh, okay. Oh great. Yeah, right now. I can't play guitar I'm doing at my day job or third-chip job, but my non-music job that hopefully will When they become my music job, you know, right?
And so because I play left handed I can't fret my record Right now. So even my two six songs at this moment I am doing the backing tracks from when I recorded them Yeah You talked earlier about busking at earth fair. You want to revisit that? I don't think I I don't think you got everything out that you were talking about about it.
You were you started 14 busking at earth fair Yeah, yeah, I started it Where it's English is hard. I started busking at 14 and busking a street entertaining, you know, I was playing on the street. That's where I sang a lot of covers I Had a little I still have it's a battery powered amplifier very good very useful um And it was kind of the start of my musical journey into a career because at that age I didn't really know what I wanted to do Like I knew I loved music, but I didn't know It would become like my passion my heart and soul I enjoyed it was therapy and me but busking and the love that I received from busking kind of a catapulting me into this like Performer music scene mindset of I want to do this as a career. Yes, it's difficult to be a musician as a career especially at the beginning But I don't care Right.
Did you ever uh Have a clash with the other people wanted to bus there in front of earth fair? Or was there like a schedule? Oh, okay Somebody earth air ran a schedule for the buskers outside and there would be A couple of singers there would also be a couple of vendors one which I'm still very good friends with today. Um And so I would just contact him and say hey I went down a schedule and they're like, yeah, do you want to play sundays for one to three?
And so I played sundays for one to three for a couple years Did you get did you meet a lot of people that just came up and watched you and were like Hey, I'm a musician too A lot of people also with that were surprised and very quantum Carpet back I was a tanded especially other guitarists because they see that and they're like, what is what's going on? You know because there's a lot of left handed players um And yeah, I would get people saying like that's one musician. I actually met there's a band called stick figure music And they're big now, but I met that I was there and they had just played a bonaroo that year and they were like you're really good I keep it up and that's something I always kept in the back of my mind of like that's cool Another headline at all these big festivals that I met them. Yeah, um, so I met a lot of people are fair Okay, that's also how one of the ways I got a festival gig in 2018 Um at least in black mountain in October.
I was really young at that point So I didn't I didn't know exactly what performing at a festival and tailing. I was little I never been to a festival I'm actually about to go to my first concert in a where I won't be performing. I'll just be enjoying and They come up to me and I'm like a hero. I know you should message on so I messaged them once in 2017 And I never got a response but then I messaged them again in 2018 and they put me in for their festival I got to play three 30-minute steps So I wanted this is it's funny to me.
It might not be funny to you, but it's actually a break up song It's like my Taylor Swift moment if you will. Um, I was in high school. I was 17 when I wrote this And I was writing it in tears I don't know if the person it's about knows it's about them. They probably do hopefully they don't If you do, I'm sorry But I remember I wrote it in tears and I recorded it at landslide studio um in ashfield and I remember when I was recording it for the first time which is also being re-recorded and re-released in the release in spring um At one point I just like I don't know what happened, but I just started belting it out.
I was just letting it out, you know, and it was one of the most Influential moments singing has had for me um Because you can sing when somebody sings it singing but when you sing from like a therapeutic point of view Or a point of view that is rooted in um negative emotions or sadness or trauma whatever you will It's different It's different. Um, it feels different. You know instead of just feeling your voice. You feel your whole body as an instrument just Cleansing itself.
Yeah, and that was one of those amazing experiences. I'll probably ever have recording First time Um, are you gonna record at home? Yeah, okay. Yeah, so I have a sonus rebel here and that's done me very very nicely.
Um, I'm a re-recorded I haven't gotten to that song yet, but yes, they'll be re-recorded with a couple new ones as well Okay, do you have any uh musical impressions? I don't think so. I know who I've been compared to I don't think I sound like them. Who is it?
Um, I've been compared from some pastor by me busking when I was younger They told me I was like well, I'm del Rey I've heard that I'm like dino Um with my singing style I've heard Carly Pierce who's a country singer When I used to live stream this one's a big stretch when people used to compare me to like a Dell But I'm definitely not a Dell But yeah, but I can't as far as I can personally somebody's voice. I've never really tried. Yeah Um, I've mainly tried to foster my own voice and find one style Okay, thanks to danny grace for being on the podcast once again You can find her at dannygrace music calm also You can find all of her songs on all the streaming services and check the show notes for specifics on it Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast wnc original music wherever you get your podcast or go to wnc original music calm Also, thanks alz and price for the review of the new album by his and hers alz and recently became a scrum master so think about that for a while Closing track this week comes from our friend land in gray land and gray has been on the podcast before He's got a great new song out called honeymoon eyes. He co-wrote it and co-performs it with zina brian That's really cool track.
I think you like it. Here's land in gray. Have a good week Not trying to trash one of these things he's seen is wonderful. I'm recording this okay.
Go ahead