New York City-based singer/songwriter, Chris Grace is about to set things on fire. With his full-bodied, charismatic voice and the dark, seductive undertow of his vivid lyrics Chris Grace is, as they say, the real deal. Once you've heard his music or witnessed one of his live shows, Grace's magnetism and star power are impossible to ignore.
Chris Grace was born in Detroit, Michigan, in the heart of the legendary Motown music scene. Doctors soon realized that he was not responding to sound on his left side and eventually determined that he was completely deaf in his left ear, a handicap that would not deter him from pursuing music. His father, an army lieutenant turned music man, and mother a former opera singer, led their family west shortly after Chris’s birth, only to return to the east coast settling in the suburbs of New Jersey. Because of his fathers’ career, Grace was constantly surrounded by music and musicians. He was especially drawn to the works of artists such as R.E.M, Nirvana, Leonard Cohen and Tool, citing their lyrical abilities as a key reason for his admiration. At the age of 16, Grace learned how to play guitar and drums, and immediately began writing compositions of his own. “I realized that nothing I was going to feel in life could compare to the feeling I got from writing a song. It was a real turning point for me, it gave me comfort.” Beyond a natural talent for creating melodies, Grace developed a truly engaging ability to turn a phrase demonstrated in the luridly honest Edge of the Bed, “Please forgive me now but you'll never be the one I need, I'm so sorry that I used you while you were loving me.” and his politically primed Gloss, “Sometimes enemies provide identity in this life, so peace is slow to come cause life without a gun gets boring.” Focused on music and wishing to further develop his songwriting skills while broadening his world view, Grace left home and began touring on his own.
After playing shows up and down the East Coast, Grace finally settled in New York City, when in 2002, he was approached by Grammy Award winning producer Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Emmylou Harris and Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack). Together, they crafted Grace’s first record, Compulsion, which was released on his own label, Eucommia Records. It featured the disarming single Hush and showed off Grace’s ability to play with different types of sounds and genres: acoustic odes, modern rock inspired by the bands he admired.
Two years later, Grace hooked up with long time friend and Grammy Award winning engineer and mixer, Joe West and recorded an EP entitled, Evidence. It was self produced and recorded in 9 days and featured a more stripped-down sound. “Evidence was a solid progression for me,” Grace says. “Not only was I getting more confident in the studio, I felt I was getting closer to a sound that was identifiable to me, and compelling in its expression on stage.”
Off of the strength of Evidence, Grace was asked to join platinum-selling recording artists Michelle Branch and Gavin De Graw on the Virgin Mega Tour, which familiarized Grace with major touring and opened up his eyes to, “the drug of getting up in front of a thousand people and playing music.”
Now, after a time of reflection and preparation, Grace has re-emerged, armed with a collection of new material and plans to kick off a nationwide tour starting in March. He is only at the beginning of the next big chapter of his life and career. This is the time to watch him and see what he will do next.
