Grace Weber

Grace Weber is an American soul singer and songwriter. Weber is currently based in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up near Milwaukee, WI. She gained widespread recognition in 2009, after performing on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

In September 2011, Weber released her debut album, “Hope & Heart” which reached #8 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts in the US. Her sophomore album, “The Refinery” was released in October 2014 and reached #5 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts in the US.

Early life

Grace Weber was born on June 28 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Third of four children to Ralph Weber, a lawyer, and Patricia Mueller, a teacher, she grew up in a large and musical family.^[1] Her grandfather required each of his 10 children to learn an instrument, so she was exposed to music from a young age from that family heritage.^[2]

At 12, she joined the Central City Youth Gospel Choir in Milwaukee and began singing gospel in earnest at churches and revivals around the city, as the choir gave her “instant validation that [her] voice could move people.”^[3][4][5]

In 2004, at age 16, she performed on the nationally televised Showtime at the Apollo in Harlem, NY.^[6][7] She sang the gospel hymn “His Eye is on the Sparrow”. In the same year she was asked to perform at soccer icon Mia Hamm and baseball player Nomar Garciaparra’s wedding in Santa Barbara, California.^[8][9]

In 2006, she was nominated for and became a Presidential Scholar for the Arts, through her receipt of the Silver Award in Popular Voice from the National Young Arts Foundation in the same year.^[10] As a part of the Presidential Scholars, Weber performed at the Kennedy Center shortly after.^[11]

Also in 2006, Weber attended New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study and created a major in Music Performance and Music Marketing with a minor in Studio Art. Weber graduated from NYU in May 2010.^[12]

Music career

Early career: 2009–2010

In 2009, in her senior year at NYU, Grace submitted a video of herself singing Aretha Franklin’s ‘Natural Woman’ to Oprah Winfrey Show as part of its Karaoke Challenge.^[13][14] As one of the 8 semi finalists chosen from all entries, Grace performed live on the Oprah Show. Hosts included Billy Ray Cyrus, Gladys Knight and Ashford and Simpson.^[15]

In 2010, Grace was a Spotlight Artist to Watch in Billboard Magazine.^[16][17]

First release: 2011

Before the release of her first album, Hope & Heart, Grace was asked to perform at the official commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in Paris, where she performed her original song, “Leave the Light On”.^[18][19]

Her first album, Hope & Heart, was released on September 13, 2011 and produced by Mike Mangini.^[20] Notable singles from the album include “Leave the Light on” which was licensed to the Red Cross in October 2011,^[21] and “Baby Come Down” which was an in-store Starbucks play in January 2012.^[22]

The run up to sophomore: 2012-present

Throughout 2012, Weber received more press for her debut album, including being an NBC “First Look” in February 2012^[23] and Huffington Post’s A-sides with Jon Chattman performing “Hitchhiker”.^[24]

In 2013, Weber began production on her sophomore album, which to finance Weber ran a Pledge Music campaign; this campaign reached and exceeded the fundraising goal.^[25] The producers on this album were Malcolm Burn & Geoff Stanfield who helped direct her to a ‘grittier’ sound.^[26]

Notable singles from the album include the first release, “Perfect Stranger”, the follow up release, "Oil & Gold" and the pop ballad “Till I Hurt You”, which was the third single off the album and premiered on Conan O’Brian’s Team Coco.^[27] Collectively, the songs and the album received coverage from notable outlets including USA Today,^[28] Lucky,^[29] Soundcheck,^[30] NPR Music,^[31] Access Hollywood,^[32] Good Day New York, Blackbook,^[33] Relix,^[34] Entertainment Weekly,^[35] Audio Tree ^[36] and Kick Kick Snare.^[37]

In 2014, Weber was featured as one of Buzzfeed’s “11 Independent Musicians Who Are Making a Name for Themselves”, described as “old soul with new boogie shoes.”^[38] Weber also showcased at SXSW 2014^[39] and was featured as one of Maxim’s ‘Hot 10’.^[40]

In 2015, Weber was named one of New Music Seminars' “Artist’s on the Verge” along with artists like Wild Adriatic, Twin Peaks and Perfect Pussy. This development was covered by Billboard.^[41]

Weber was given the prestigious honor of performing for the National Music Publishers Association's annual event in Washington, D.C. opening for Lady Antebellum.^[42]

Musical influences

In terms of her singing, Weber has noted influences including ‘strong women’: Eva Cassidy, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and India Arie, where her songwriting is inspired by poets including Joni Mitchell, Thom York and Patty Griffin.^[43][44]

References