Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 246: Grace Bowers

Episode Date: November 21, 2023

Updates from Europe with a dash of future plans involving band family vacations. And with Thanksgiving just around the corner, will this deranged family fulfill their desires in sumptuous Berlin; the town in which you really do need thick skin?? But most importantly: Ernie's favorite doner. And on the Interview Hour we got Nashville rising guitar hero, Grace Bowers! Even at the age of 17, Grace is a force to be reckoned with and is proving herself time and again on a variety of stages. Andy investigates her origin stories as you can do at her website: gracebowers.com oh guess what.... you can watch this episode; now in color!  Psyched to partner up with our buddies at Volume.com! Check out their roster of upcoming live events and on-demand shows to enrich that sweet life of yours. Call, leave a message, and tell us if you think one can get addicted to mushrooms: [phone]  Check out our new album!, L'Optimist on all platforms Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out our good friends that help us unwind and sleep easy while on the road and at home: dialedingummies.com Produced by Andy Frasco, Joe Angelhow, & Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Arno Bakker The U.N.

Hello, I am Arno Bakker. Now, here's a scene for you. There's a table near the street, in an old familiar place, the Italian restaurant, him and me, face to face, and a phone. Andy Fresco and the crew crash-landed in Groningen, the Netherlands, after a weak European tour. I happen to live there. I chose the restaurant.

I get to see them again. Tired eyes stare back from across the table. Puzzled gazes try to find out where the fuck they are, or how they even got there. A bottle of red, another bottle of red, no rosé, sir, maybe a beer. They have been sleeping all day. They came in last night, party crashed,

the government mule concert, went on to the Irish pub, from there to the karaoke club, and I don't know how they keep going. Live on stage resembles live off stage. They are machines. I don't know what their oil is, a bottle of red, a snuffle of white, all depends upon their appetite. But now they are fucked. Glued to their phones like flies to a light bulb, disappearing into the light. At least, Frasco is. There's fishy spaghetti, meaty pasta and ravioli Napolitana.

Grabby fingers empty the plates, conversation sparks up. Things are okay with me these days. You lost weight. Do you remember those days hanging out? And there's more fools. Proper Italian thin pizza crusts hit the table. The boys have returned to earth. Another bottle of red. And even Andy gets up from his fly on the screen routine. Immediately starts manhandling Floyd. Touching me, touching you. Man, when he's on the ball, he is unstoppable. And there they are, arisen from their slumbers, ready to rock the world again.

Fuck that red. Let's go to the Irish pub instead. A pint of Guinness, two pints of stout, life is grand and loud. And that is where this scene ends. There I was, waving Sean and Ernie and Floyd and Annie goodbye. They look happy enough. I got a bit emotional. But whatever kind of mood you're in tonight I'll meet you anytime you want In that Italian restaurant

You beautiful motherfuckers Alright and we're live Andy Frasco's World Saved Podcast I'm Andy Frasco's World Save Podcast. I'm Andy Frasco. How's our heads? How's our minds? Are we staying out of trouble?

Are we... Look at this just sleepy-ass van. Everyone is just asleep out there. Look at this. Boom. We are in the van. It's the last day of the tour. We're on our way to Appledorn. What a fucking trip that was.

Holy shit. Did you have fun, Floyd? Yes. Yeah, I fun, Floyd? Yes. Yeah, I did. Yeah? Yeah, I got to room with you for the first time. That was really great. Hold on.

So, how was that like? What was it like? Yeah. You kept to your side of things, and I kept to mine. I didn't push the bed. Yeah, I did ask you to do that, remember? Yeah. I was like, when I go back, I don't want to see that bed all next to the other bed.

Okay, he's just mad at his wife and his kids here that we can't really have our love story that we wanted for the end of the story. He had to bring his wife to the show. I wanted to have our Lady and the Tramp moment. We were in Italy. It was romantic. I wanted candle lighting. And the whole night, he didn't even give it to me, but that's how it goes sometimes. We are driving. We're in a van. This van is, uh, I'm ready to get the fuck out of this van. These, uh, I have a

headache from your, these, these type of vans are like going on a train where you're always backwards and you're like, your stomach hurts and but um the tour has been amazing we've had such amazing time germany was insane um netherlands was amazing just this whole it was it was a power it was uh we first went to london we flew in um and that was fun london i mean i like london it was fun but London, I mean, I like London. It was fun. But everything's just hella expensive. And the food kind of shitty.

And, you know, it was fun. But it was kind of stiff. You could tell, like, a lot of people doing missionary sex out there. And not really a lot of vibe. But shout out to London. We had a great time. There was our first time ever it was awesome and then um we got to utrecht which was a fucking blast and then um and then we got to

germany and that was fucking insane like i couldn't believe the shit that was going down in germany that was it was the most energy they were so stoked for us felt like a punk rock show we were doing like songs like love is a waiting game and they're mosh pitting. The love is a waiting game. It was just fucking insane. Um, so shout out to Bomberg,

shout out to all of Germany. And then we did that Rolling Stone festival and we got a standing OVA. I mean, it's popping off over here. I just want to say thank you so much. Um, you know, this is like a hundred show,

140 or show 150 this year. So. You know, this is like a show 140 or a show 150 this year. So, you know, the fuel in the tank is getting less and less. And for you to give us that energy to take it home, I really appreciate it. So shout out to Germany. I'd give you my clap, but I don't have my podcast machine here. But, yeah, it's been good. And then I did the horror in Germany, 2,000 people. That was pretty heartfelt, pretty powerful.

I've been fucking doom scrolling all this Palestine and Israel news. I've just been doom scrolling since I got sick in the beginning of the tour. And I was sleep deprived. And when you're sleep deprived, you start doom scrolling because uh because i got sick in the beginning of the tour and uh i was like sleep deprived when you're sleep deprived you start doom scrolling because you can't sleep you got to force yourself to sleep and with this uh tour schedule you can't really like say all right well i am going to bed early today no it's a well we're just going to pound through this alcohol and try to get to sleep without thinking about the headache you have or whatever at four in the morning after a loud gig.

So I started doom scrolling and I was like, fuck, fuck this. This is why people get all anxious and stuff. You got to stop doom scrolling, people. I mean, I know it's hard not to, all this fucked up shit in the world, but we got to be present. We got to be inside. We can't just be inside our telephones the whole time. But yeah, we got Grace Bowers on the show.

I'm excited. This is an amazing interview. She's 17 years old. Guitar phenom. It's unbelievable the talent she has for 17. She reminds me of when I first saw Taz for the first time. I mean, it was just surreal to see Taz

just popping shit off. And she reminds me a lot like that. And she's just taken Nashville by storm. And it's been so fucking cool to see. We had her sit in at our Brooklyn Bowl Nashville show. She just fucking powerhoused it.

But, yeah, it's been great. This tour has been amazing. I'm going to, after this show, I'm flying to Florence, Italy. I'm going to chill out there for four or five days. And then I'm going to go to Berlin. So I'll do another podcast update from Florence or Berlinlin to um yeah let you know how it's going i can finally get some sleep up in this i got 10 days off i've had 10 days off in forever like straight up forever so it's going to be exciting to just chill out um avila's going on vacation, too. He brought his girlfriend. Let's say hi to the Avalas, actually.

Here we go. It's our big screen moment. Hey, guys. We're going on vacation with the Frascos and also the Kelloggs. Yeah. I'm so excited to be with the Kelloggs. What are we doing, Floyd? What are we doing, Floyd?

Where are we going on our trip? What are we doing? Floyd? What are we doing, Floyd? Where are we going on our trip? What are we doing? Where are we going? I'm just going to be like, I'm not going to get in there and push my agenda. Why not? Because I'm sure there's going to be plenty of opinions going around. So I'm just going to be like, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you do.

Okay. It's going to be fun. Me and Frasca are going to have Thanksgiving in Berlin. Yeah. We're going to go find some schnitzel and hit some techno clubs maybe. Yeah. Hopefully we get sleep, but we probably won't. It's sex club Thanksgiving, baby.

That's what we're doing. We're going to the disco club. We're gonna go Oh, yeah, and we're gonna watch people have sex and eat a turkey. Yeah, baby. Oh Man, how'd you have fun on this European trip Ernie? Oh hell. Yeah, it's fucking badass. What was your favorite part? Bomberg for sure. It's a punk rock show just like non-stop energy just Everybody's having a fucking great time. And people going fucking nuts. I've never seen a crowd just go like, just moshing

from beginning until the end. What about, what was your favorite donor of the trip? Ooh, ooh, ooh. Uh, probably Groningen, since that's probably one of the only ones we did. We did one yesterday.

That was okay. It was a little oily. No, Groningen was probably the better one. Yeah. But been doing the Broja donut rather than the Capsulons now.

Yeah, me too. I can't handle all the fries. No, I can't do it either. It's just too much. Yeah, I can't. But we love it. Then we got Sean Eccles. He's just fucking living the dream out here. How it then we got sean eccles he's uh he's just fucking living the dream out here how about man you know we're just live we're doing it

yep having a good time don't you love these van seats and they're the best um my feet are going numb yeah um they're swollen and i can't wait to get the fuck out of this oh dude maybe you got gout this time i think sean's got the gout tour got switched out to Sean this time. It's hard not to get gout in fucking Europe when they just give you a fucking meet. I've been trying. I'm next, bro. I'm next. I mean, you know, it's the gout tour, but it's been fun.

We got Jason, too. He's driving, but we'll see what we can do here. Hey, Jason. How was the tour? It's been good, man. We're spoiled with all these German and English beers. American beer tastes like shit now. Oh, yeah. We're fucked. I never want to go back to American beer.

It's been fun. Have you been having fun? Oh, yeah. It's been a good run the crowds have been great and the venues actually have been pretty surprising you know been digging them and you're the only guy who knows how to drive stick so you've been driving the whole time you've been driving the stick well you have to but okay i know no respect he says he gets no credit um but um yeah okay i gotta give boat credit now hey Hey you've been killing it on the drive in Bo How's it going out there I'm alive

Ready to go home Bo's burnt out It was his birthday We had a great birthday But yeah he's ready to go home I think we're all ready to go home But I just want to say from the bottom of my heart We love you, thank you Europe

Thank you America for supporting us On this endeavor And we're going to keep it going We're going to keep it vibing We got another tour right after this The East Coast We're going to finish it off with a bang, boys, right? Oh yeah!

Oh, we're tired But we'll get through it, guys. I swear, we'll give you all we can. Shout out to Dialed In Gummies for keeping us high. We did smuggle in some Dialed In Gummies into Europe. I know I probably shouldn't say that out loud, but we needed them. That's the only way I could sleep when this time change is fucked up. needed them. That's the only way I could sleep when this time change is fucked up. But if you're in the Colorado area and you want to eat some edibles, go grab some dilating gummies. They're

the best in the business. You could get out there. It's about the wintertime. The snow is about to hit. So if you want to go into these snow towns, go grab yourself some dilating gummies. They're everywhere in the state. So if you want to go to Vail, go grab yourself one at one of the dispensers. You want to go to Steamboat Springs. I love Steamboat. They have a great mountain, great winter vibe. Go grab some dialed-in gummies. Or if you just want to go to Denver and watch all the winter shows,

like our show on January 26th, go buy your tickets, Ogden. Go grab some dialed-in gummies as well. Denver's a great time to be. During the winter time, so you might as well come out there, get high with us, and rock some dialed-in gummies. And, if you want to watch this interview with Grace, you should head to volume.com.

I'm telling you, volume.com is the best content creators out there. They help me. I mean, I'm talking from experience, people. They've helped me so much build my podcast.. They helped me. I mean, I'm talking from experience, people. They've helped me so much build my podcast. They've helped me so much build a bigger audience than we've already been having. Thank you, everyone who's been downloading and listening. But most importantly, they help you build your career. If you're a content creator, might as well. YouTube is cool and everything, but it only gets you so far unless you have a viral video.

You know how hard it is to get a fucking viral video these days? So get out there. Sign up for volume.com. It is worth it, I swear. Also, if you're not a content creator, why don't you just head to volume.com and watch all the amazing live streams that are archived from volume.com. So many good shows from Daniel Donato to, I mean, the list is endless. So head over to volume.com and watch all the live streams. And our podcast is archived there. If you want every video archived, the only place you can

find our video podcast is at volume.com if you don't want to listen to it on Apple or Spotify. All right, guys. I love you. This year trip has been a blast. We're tired. You can tell from our eyes and our voices, but we gave it all we can. Thank you, Europe, for the amazing hospitality. It wasn't as much

of a starving abroad tour like it used to be. Oh, man. We've been eating. We've been eating. Well, fuck man. We've been eating. We've been eating. Well, fuck, yeah, we've been eating. And drinking. Jesus fucking Christ. So cheap out here. I know. I couldn't.

See, when beers are $3.50, you wonder why you get gout. It's like, keep it coming. We're alcoholics. Keep that shit coming. All right. I love you. We're alcoholics. Keep that shit coming. All right. I love you. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We're going to go have a disco Thanksgiving with the Avalos.

Oh, yeah. Going to be out there going like, yeah, I want to get a black turtleneck and dance and sweat in that turtleneck. You got one? Okay, cool. I want to go full fucking European hipster on that ass. Oh, yeah, we come out here, go disco party, go watch people have sex, yeah. All right. I love you. Be safe out there and enjoy Grace Bowers. Bye. All right.

Wow. Grace Bowers, how you doing, bud? Good. What's the word on the street? Where you at? I'm sitting at home in Nashville right now. Right. My first question is, do you go to school? Are you homeschooled? How did you become a prodigy? What's going on? How do you have the brain of a of a

45 year old woman um okay so my fresh i'm a junior now in high school and my freshman year we moved to nashville and i went to this really crappy christian school and I hated it. And I decided I can't do this anymore. So then my sophomore year, I did like one week in school. And I just like straight up quit. And now I do it online. And I pay a friend of mine to do most of it for me. And I have straight A's. Let's go, straight A's!

Yeah, straight A's. So technically I'm in yeah straight A's not really yeah when did you know you fell in love with the guitar how old were you when you first felt like this guitar feels comfortable well I've been playing since I was

nine but I feel like the first time I really started caring about it a lot was during covid and i was like locked in my room with nothing else to do and um that's also like around the time when i first heard like bb king and all these like blues players um and that's kind of what made me like really really get into it and start playing so how old i was probably like 14. Oh my God. How'd you learn so quickly? Lots of practice.

Like, are you a person who like stay just, will just like obsess over something, like be in the room and just work on a lick until, until you finally master it? Or does it just come so natural to you? I don't know. Sometimes I'll obsess over something and then sometimes I don't

when I should be obsessing over it. But honestly, I think I probably practice for like at least two hours a day right now. I mean, during COVID, of course, I was like, that's all I did. I think that's where I had the most progress. And then once you kind of have like a base of knowledge, like it's pretty easy to keep going from there. And especially being in Nashville,

I get all these opportunities to play live all the time. And that's also also important for practice. Totally. Are you from Nashville or where are you from? No, I'm from California. I've only been in Nashville for two years. What part of California? I'm from California.

Oh, no way. I'm from Danville, 30 minutes from San Francisco. Oh, little NorCal queen. We see you. Yeah. What part are you from? I'm from Los Angeles. I'm from San Francisco. Oh, little NorCal queen. We see you. Yeah, where are you from? I'm from Los Angeles. I'm from Southern California. But I went to college at San Francisco State.

What did you... Tell me who's the first person in your life that really inspired you to follow your dreams? Slash. When I was nine, I was really obsessed with Guns N' Roses and all that hair metal stuff.

The really cheesy ones like Winger and Poison and Rat. Notly Coup. Just the cheesiest stuff. It was horrible. It's awful. Like, just the cheesiest stuff. You could, like, just... It was horrible. It's awful. No, it's so cool.

But Slash was like... Slash made me pick up a guitar. What did you like about Slash that made you want to pick up a guitar? Okay, I feel like I put Guns N' Roses, like, a step above Poison and all those other bands I just listed

because they're still cheesy, but they're not as cheesy. There's just something really cool about Slash, and he looks so iconic. And the Les Paul, of course. That was one of my first guitars. It was a Les Paul tribute. I don't know.

There's something that drew me to them. So why did you guys move to Nashville? Did your parents think that was the right move for you guys to follow your career? Did your parents get a job out there or what, what attracted you to Nashville? I have two little brothers at home and school. We moved during COVID says so all the schools out here

are not out here, we don't live there anymore all the schools in California were closed they were open and we visited just kind of liked it that's awesome what about when you were living near San Francisco

were you playing were you getting gigs Were you getting gigs? Did you have to do your homework, go out there and rock? No, I didn't play my first... I played my first live show out here two years ago. What? Yeah, I didn't play anywhere in California.

I wasn't really... I don't know. I didn't get asked. I didn't really anywhere in California. I wasn't really... I don't know. I didn't get asked. I didn't really know anyone else who played music. Were you rocking though? Not really. I have videos from that time and it's not good. But were you playing in San Francisco a little bit?

You started playing when you were nine. So those four years before COVID hit, because you're 17 right now, right? Yeah. So those four years before you went through COVID, were you just in your room just shredding or just practicing wood shopping?

Yeah, pretty much. Except I wasn't that into it. I went to School of Rock. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Guitar lessons out of a strip mall i was going there for like probably i remember probably like four years and this guy he was he was nice but he just taught me again cheesy hair metal songs like note for note so i could play like all these all this really cool stuff like I didn't know

what what I was playing like he just I was just playing stuff note for note and it wasn't really fun and I didn't really enjoy it until like I you know had nothing else to do with my time when we all got shut down yeah so yeah those those first four years I feel like were kind of it was kind of just something that I did. Yeah, that's so cool. So you go through COVID. Who were like the first musicians in Nashville that you started playing with? Or were you just because you were locked down, you couldn't really play with anybody? Well, the first time I ever played at like, the first time I was ever asked to sit in was with this band called DOG. Do you know them? No, I don't. Who's that?

They're great. I mean, it's three guys and they're like Southern rock. It's just really great. You have to see them live. But they asked me to sit in with them at this little bar in texas for south by southwest and i don't i don't think that they knew that i'd never played before i still don't think that they know that actually but um it was great i was i mean i was so nervous too before playing there was probably probably 20 people in this little tiny bar. It was cool though. I'm super thankful for them.

What was going through your head? I'm at South by Southwest. This is a big showcase for me. You probably can't get into the bar. You could play your set and then leave because you're not 21. What was going through your head? This is so surreal.

Or did you feel like you were born to be on that stage? No, I felt like I was about to shit myself. There's 20 people there and I was horrified because I'd never done it before. And now I'm out doing it almost every night. It's no big deal anymore. But my first time was terrifying. Did you feel like you messed up a little bit? Or did you feel like you killed the notes?

Was it a solo thing? Did they give you songs? I felt like I did great. I felt like it was the best I'd ever played. And now I go back and I watch the videos and it just sounds horrible. Well, you're getting better as a musician. You're getting better as a musician.

So, of course, you're going to critique yourself. I would hope so. So, when did Gibson find you and get you an endorsement um that's actually really random because when i was still living in california they had this thing on their website where you could send them a video uh-huh and so i sent them this really horrible video of me playing sweet child on mine and um i sent it to them didn't tell anyone about it and basically forgot about it and then we moved to nashville uh probably a few months after that and all of a sudden i'm scrolling instagram and it shows that gibson started

following me oh my god and i'm like i'm like freaking out. Cause I forgot that I sent them this video and, um, they messaged me on Instagram and they're like, Hey, we want to like work with you. I was, I think I must, I must've been 14 his week. I don't even know if we had moved to Nashville yet or we're just visiting. But, um, yeah, I got, I got endorsed by Gibson because of the horrible video of me playing sweet child. Okay. So you get this, you get this message from Gibson saying, Hey, we want to endorse you.

Then it must be like in your head. You're like, Oh shit. It's about to get real right now. Do you, did you have a manager? Do you, are your parents managing you?

Like how did you, how did you, uh, move forward with like, you know, now you're a professional guitar player. Uh, yeah, I actually just got a manager. Neither of my parents, actually no one in my family is a musician

or even plays an instrument. So before that, I was just doing it all myself. And I still do a lot on myself, like booking and all that. You book all your shows? Yeah, every single one of them are you Grace let's go my little entrepreneur I love it

hold on so you're booking all your shows like because this is what I I was in high school when I first started music I was I worked at a record label I was 16 I was booking all my all my concerts too was it did you have to fake a name as an agent for people to take you seriously?

How is the process going of getting gigs? No, I'm super lucky because of the position I'm in. Because most of the time, people are just asking me to play with them. Right. I don't think I've ever asked anyone to sit in with them. It's just like being... I feel like going to shows

is a great way to get to know people. And then they're like, dude, you should just come play with my band at some shitty bar that we're playing tomorrow. I don't think I've ever turned it down.

That's how I met you through Paul McDonald when I saw when Paul was doing that residency. And I was like, who is this person? How'd you meet Paul? Because he asked me to sit in with him one day at Dee's Lounge. Probably almost a year ago now. Oh my gosh. So you get the endorsement from Gibson. Did they post your video?

All of a sudden, now you're having 100,000 followers on your Instagram and stuff. Did you just see the followers just keep coming through? Like, oh shit, this is real. Oh yeah. Yeah, and it was scary too and um they they like posted a picture of me on their instagram which was like the first time i'd ever gotten any recognition because at the time i had i mean i was like just i didn't even know what i was doing i was like just starting with all this social media stuff and again i was running it all myself. I had no one to tell me

you probably shouldn't post that. I just had no one to tell me how to do it. They needed a picture of me to post to their probably 3 million followers. Oh my god.

I sent them this really old, outdated picture. And it's still on there somewhere. And it's on their website too. And I can't... It's up there forever. And it's really embarrassing. I look like a little boy in it. So after they post...

Were you putting videos up? Was that the first time? And all of a sudden, you started seeing 10,000 people following you, 20,000, 30,000. Was it a quick process of following? Then you started making videos. What was going on through your head

where you're like, oh my God, all these people are paying attention to me. What was your game plan to keep people entertained um honestly there's never been a game plan and i'm pretty sure it's all just luck at this point because um i actually i started off um reddit used to have like a live streaming thing kind of like twitch except you don't get paid for it yeah and um i would live stream myself for like two hours a day like literally just practicing in my room and all of a sudden people start watching it uh-huh and as i keep doing it they're getting like

like some of them got like a million views just from people like just on Reddit watching me like practice. And so then, so then I started Instagram, they'll go over to Instagram and then, you know, and then the Gibson thing happened and I start posting on Instagram and it just built up way faster than I can handle. So were you overwhelmed or like, was it stressful? Cause you're still in school i mean you're like you're a high school kid like what the heck you know yeah a little bit but like also i try i try not to care about it too much because really you shouldn't be putting that much thought into it

i've i've never you know i've never done that thing thing where you post at a certain time of day or use these certain hashtags. I've never tried with it. It's just, again, I think it's just I got lucky. No, you didn't get lucky. You're talented. You're a superstar. And it's just starting. So this is unbelievable.

So, okay. So a couple years in. Now all of a sudden All the heavy cats Devin Allman, Daniel Donato Dwayne Betts, Trucks They're starting to hit you up Are they calling your manager? Are they DMing you? Dwayne Trucks hits you up You must be freaking out

Yeah Actually the first time I played With Dwayne Trucks was With Daniel Donato at this thing he did At Brooklyn Bowl yeah i actually the the first the time first time i played with doing trucks was with daniel donato at this thing he did at brooklyn wool and um his manager tour manager joe do you know joe we know joe vel yeah that's our guy yeah you would know joe he he actually hit me up about that and um i was shrieking out a little bit so So you mean... I think at that time it was the most people I'd ever played to. How many people? I don't know.

Not... Probably like 300 or 400, I'd say. Yeah. Which isn't that much, but... Were you nervous? No. At that time, I kind of stopped getting nervous. Yeah. that much but were you nervous no at that time i kind of stopped getting nervous yeah you've you're you're in control of your feelings now because you're a rock star it's the confidence like that no but you know it's the confidence level you you do it enough

you get you get enough people patting your back saying you're awesome i mean it the sky's the confidence level. You do it enough. You get enough people patting your back saying you're awesome. I mean, the sky's the limit. I feel confidence is half the battle, right? Totally. So who was the first musician that got in your DM saying they want you to sit in that you just absolutely freaked out about? Devin Allman. Devin Allman?

Actually, I was looking at this the other day. I have a screenshot of it. He messaged me on Instagram and he goes, Hey, Grace, you want to jam at the Ryman? And I was just like... You're like, what? I didn't even respond to it. You didn't respond?

You're freaking out. I didn't respond you're freaking out how to respond to it oh my god did you end up doing it yeah I ended up doing it it's my phone background picture of us at the end I love oh my Grace this is so crazy

this is crazy what would you tell people your age following a dream? Just keep doing it. Don't let anyone get in the way. Right. Have you ever had moments where people told you you're not good enough? You're not strong enough to do this?

Or did you always have people on your side giving you confidence so you could do it? No. have people on your side um giving you confidence so you could do it no i i feel like a lot of the time usually like right before i play there's like always like some old guy who's gonna come up and like like there there's this one time i was playing americana fest last year and um i was setting up my stuff and this guy comes up and tells me how to plug the cable into my guitar. Oh my God. And it's stuff like that. This is just stupid. And it happens all the time.

That's what makes me really mad. It's not people telling me that, like, I can't do it to my face, but like at the same time, they're telling me, I don't think you can do that. Why do you think they're saying that?

Just because they think they know better it doesn't bother me it's stupid yeah well what about your parents were they very supportive of you following your dream at such a young age yeah they are i think um i don't think my dad likes me playing out in bars very much. I wouldn't either. They're very supportive. Yeah. Do they come out? Do they wait with you in the audience? It's like a soccer mom, like a proud soccer mom or something.

They pick. It depends on the show. Most of them know, but if I'm playing at the Ryman, they, it depends on the show. Most of them know, but like if I'm playing at like the Ryman, they'll come. Right. Or if, um,

like that, that underdog show you were at, they were like, hell no, I'm not going to, I'm not sitting there. They, they,

they definitely pick and choose which ones they want to get. Do you have your driver's license? Yeah. So you drive, you go out. So are you setting, I drive myself. So what about future plans to get out of Nashville? Are you doing a tour?

What's the future for you, Grace? Well, I'm hoping to start recording some stuff. I want to do an EP. Have you heard Santana's first album? Yeah. I want to do it an EP. Have you heard Santana's first album? Yeah. I want to do it like in that kind of style with like a huge like rhythm section, drums. Yeah.

And then kind of minimal vocals. I don't want it to be instrumental because I think instrumental stuff gets boring real fast. Uh-huh. Just like great musicians, probably like five or six songs and then follow it up with another album of like classic rock stuff more on the bluesy side but yeah i do want to get on national one tour what about uh what about god you're so this is like i'm talking i feel like

i'm talking to a 40 year old woman right now um this is crazy so what about singing like i've never heard you sing is that something that interests you or do you just want to be a fucking shredder? I let other people do the singing. It's not my thing. It's not my place. That's crazy. Maybe you want to do it.

So when you're writing, are people trying to tell you to write songs and sing and be a songwriter or no one's giving you that advice Oh no I get shit For not singing everyday Why I don't know

I just think I mean living in Nashville I feel like everyone Sings I do write though I do lots of co-writes Usually someone Usually I'll have a guitar riff I do write, though. I do lots of co-writes. Usually I'll have a guitar riff or a chord melody, and then someone else will kind of help me finish it out.

So it's not like there's a lot of limitations to not singing. I just don't really think it's my thing. Right. I mean, look at Derek Trucks Has he talked to you? Have you met him? No, I haven't Who's someone you want to meet in the music industry That you haven't met yet that are one of your idols?

Well, Derek Trucks would be pretty cool It's coming soon, Grace I have a feeling I hope so you know, going back to this idea of having a big rhythm section, big big section of band you put on this

fundraiser at the Bass Menis, which I got to go to which was so cool seeing 20, it felt like there was like 20 or 30 musicians all there to support you on this dream. Tell the audience what that vision was for the show and who you're there to support. You were doing a fundraiser. Yeah, that was like a benefit for the Covenant School. And then half of it went to music cares as well but um it was

kind of after like i got the idea after that school whole school shooting thing happened which was just horrible i mean it wasn't that far from my house and my little brothers were in lockdown at a different school but it was just like kind of hit home having it be so close to us. Right. So I got this idea and put that lineup together. And then we ended up raising $27,000 for it. Let's go. That's what I'm talking about, Grace. Yeah, you had a whole production. You had Keith Greiner on there doing the video work.

I heard it was on the local Channel 4 News or what was it? Yeah, it was on a few news stations here. So you're saying you're the one called. So were you just hitting up all these musicians like, hey, come sit in, come sit in? Was that a lot of pressure? I probably typed out the same message to everyone like 30 times. Yeah, it was a lot of pressure.

But just because I'd never put together my own show like that before. So I was definitely watching for a while to see how many people would show up and then we ended up almost selling it out oh yeah everything was fine but i i was really nervous those first like half hour yeah people weren't showing up you know it's nashville everyone's late and you know especially it's an industry show where all the musicians show up right at the bell, you know, you know, you talk about school shootings and as a student, how, what's your, what's your take on what's going on at these, at these high schools and these middle schools and these shootings,

do you feel safe at schools? No. I mean, we shouldn't have to be thinking about that. And when it happened, the Covenant shooting, I got a text from my little brother, Sam, who's 16, almost 16. And he just texts us, there's a school shooting. And he doesn't say what school it was at. He just says, there's a school there's a school shooting and he doesn't he doesn't say what school it was at he just says there's a school shooting and like i was sitting at home and my heart just dropped because for a second i thought it was his school oh my god and um thankfully it wasn't but like can you even like just imagine getting if it had been his school

oh my god It's horrible. Awful. And then all this, the special session stuff that's been going on at the Capitol, they haven't been letting like people go into it to watch. It's like, there's just nothing, nothing is okay about it. I agree.

And it's given me chills thinking about someone of your age who is just there to learn and to be scared for your life that some crazy fucking person is going to be shooting up a school. And for you to help promote awareness of that, I mean, it's something different if someone my age, 30, a musician, but someone who's actually going to school. I mean, it's got to be more effective. How can we open the dialogue that we should be having gun control? Well, I mean, tell people to stop being stupid. I mean, it's really so frustrating especially coming from california where i'm like people were so open about everything i feel like and i just and then we move out here and i go to like this redneck christian school my freshman year

and it's just total culture shock. And I don't think there's any way that we can change some of these people's minds because they just don't care. I know. It's sad. But there are things we can do. The GoFundMe link for my show is still up. People can still donate to that. All the money goes to the school to help give all those kids therapy and all that.

But yeah, it's really a hard thing because there is a right answer and it's to ban them. It's just a hard situation. Yeah, and it sucks. It's like we're putting our kids in danger over public, just because you want a fucking gun. It hurts my soul that you have to deal with this

or have this always in the back of your head when you're trying to learn science or trying to learn music. So we're here to help you too. So whatever we could do to help, let us know because I don't want any kid to feel like that. It's fucked up. So let's talk about something that isn't as heavy

because that's heavy stuff. And for you to have to deal with that and promote it and try to raise money and build awareness is so inspiring. So you get, I want to hear more about this Newport Folk Fest. I saw you all over it. It's exciting. You're with all the hipsters of the scene. This, everyone was wearing white.

It was a hip, real hip community out there. Did you feel like you were accepted? Was it cool? Because that's a new community over the Nashville scene. Yeah, totally. So, the last festival I played

before Newport was Bonnaroo. Oh my God. You did Bonnaroo? I've never been to a festival like Bonnaroo before. And, so then I go to Newport, which is like the total opposite of it. Bonnaroo? I've never been to a festival like Bonnaroo before. so then I go to Newport, which is like the total opposite of it.

In a good way, I feel like Bonnaroo. I loved Bonnaroo. I loved it. But Newport was just different because I feel like people were there to hear music and not like... And people had clothes on right

which was a big thing at Bonner yeah and it shut down at 730 what? their after party but Newport like the festival itself shuts down at 730

wow I thought it was great oh yeah everyone it's you know those folk singers need to go to bed at a proper time, drink their milk and cookies. When I played Bonnaroo,

I didn't get back till 3 in the morning, and I feel like that was generous on my part that I got back at that time. Hold on. Did you go to Bonnaroo by yourself, or were your parents with you? No, my dad... Okay.

My dad was with me for half of it. And then someone asked me to play with them at 12 o'clock. And he kind of dipped out and made me drive home by myself. Your dad's like, Peace! I don't blame him.

Oh my God. So are these sit-ins so last minute or do they prepare you for them? Most of them are pretty last minute. Yeah. Well, it won't be anymore because you're getting famous. What?

It won't be like that anymore because you're getting more and more famous every day. We'll see. I like it. I like the last minute stuff where I don't know what I'm doing. Right. What was the worst gig you ever did? Oh, there's this one time. I'm not going to name any names. Talk that shit, Grace. Come on. I'm not gonna name any names Talk that shit Grace come on You know I'm not even gonna say what venue It was at It was near Broadway

In Nashville It was around there And this girl asked me It wasn't anyone's fault This girl asked me to sit in with her And they're playing like 80's cover songs And um I thought I knew them.

So I didn't practice any of them beforehand. And I have a video of me playing Sweet Child O' Mine like really out of tune. Hell yeah. To quite a few people. It's really embarrassing. And then I just kind of fucked up the rest of the set too. It was not good. Yeah. When you have moments

like that, do they eat at you for a long time or can you forget it and move on to the next gig? Well, I was trying to forget it. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard, right? It just sticks in your head. We don't remember all the great gigs we have.

We remember that one fucking show. That's just sus. Exactly. Tell me about this. I heard you just went to the 2023 Variety Power of Young Hollywood. What is that? Is it a cult? What's going on?

Are they trying to make you drink the Kool-Aid? What's going on, Grace? Give me some inside scoop. That was weird. I've never done anything like that before. It was cool. It was a great opportunity. I had a stylist get me this really cool suit. That was cool.

But all the people there were like, had been in like the Barbie movie or were like TikTok influencers in like the barbie movie or were like tiktok influencers which was just like that's not your vibe it was so weird it was and the outfits they were wearing it was great people watching it was great but no one came up and and talked to each other like everyone was in like i felt like I was back in middle school. Everyone was in their own little circles. Because I feel like in Nashville,

people come up and they'll introduce themselves to you and ask you questions and just be friendly. No one was doing that here. Yeah, and you're like... I'm part of that. You're not in the club. You're a rock star. All these other people are actors.

They're probably scared shitless of you. You'll eat them alive out there, Grace. Did it make you feel lonely, though, that no one wanted to talk to you? No. I left early. We were staying at the Sunset Marquee and they were having

like a 50 years of hip-hop party. Oh, cool. And that was way cooler than the variety. Hell yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Hip-hop. Hip-hop over fucking young actors.

Why are kid actors so You know I think you're lucky That you got successful at a young age In music versus like being an actor Because everyone All these young kids They seem like they're too cool for school

Or something Yeah I think... Have you ever met a Disney star before? Like a former Disney star? Oh, yeah. Paul McDonald. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

No, but I think I remember... Yes, I have. But it wasn't like a super famous Disney star. What about you? Have you? Yeah. No, I haven't. But like, they just seem kind of fucked up.

Yeah, they do. Or like, you know who was a Disney star? It was Jake Paul. Yeah. He's fucked up. That's not a very good example at all. Yeah, exactly. That's as well.

So what'd you learn about how to approach life moving forward, seeing all these young Hollywood people just not, you know, absorbing life and not absorbing conversation? I don't think I really learned a whole lot. Yeah. That's the thing. I was like, Why were they asking you to do this?

Was it like a conference? Were you getting an award? What is that thing? No. It was just kind of like a conference? Were you getting an award? What is that thing? No, it was just kind of like a cool... I mean, it was like I got to walk the red carpet, which is cool, and get some press shots. Awesome. And Sony was sponsoring it.

Who was? Sony. Oh, cool. Sony Headphones. So that was part of why I went. Honestly, it was just a cool opportunity. Yeah. Just weird people.

Yeah, I know. Did you go, who'd you go with? Your publicist, your parents? You just like rolling in there? You flying in there by yourself? You're just doing everything by yourself? What's the vibe? My mom was with me for a little bit of it.

And then I guess we would kind of call her my publicist. The lady, I won't say her name, the lady who got me to go works with branding deals. She works with Sony, which is why I was there. Yeah, so those are the people. I did not go there by myself. Yeah, no, they'll eat you alive. Don't, Grace.

We got to protect you. You are a saint. You are a rock and roll saint. You are our generation of royalty. It's pretty amazing what you're doing at such a young age. And I'm rooting for you through and through. Do you have any big dreams, big aspirations of how you want

your career to be later in your life? Honestly, I just kind of want to keep doing it. I want to get a killer band. I want to be touring original music. I just want to be happy with it. Yeah. No aspirations for... and I want to be touring original music. I just want to be happy with it.

No aspirations for... It doesn't have to be a big thing. I don't really care what it turns into as long as I'm still happy doing it. Is happiness the most important thing for you? Yeah. Yeah. And you promise when you start feeling jaded, you guys should talk to all your older friends.

Paul, me, we'll get you out of that situation because we need you out there. Do you feel like there's not a lot of killer... Have you ever met Taz? No, I haven't. Oh my God. You two would vibe off. He's going to Yale right now.

But he got really popular when he was 12 years old. Have you talked to Sierra Hall? No, I haven't. She lives in Nashville. You guys should pick each other's brains. She's super sweet. Yeah. I think you'd love that. I think

you guys would hit it off and she could give you a little advice of how to move forward. Are you going to go to college? What's going on? Are your parents making you go to college? Are you going to graduate high school and say, screw it, I'm officially going to be a rock star? I don't know. Since I'm doing online school, I have great grades.

I'm going to finish high school. Technically, I could go to... It wouldn't be that hard for me. I think I'd get into colleges pretty easily. I'm not saying that sounds super obnoxious when I say that out loud. No. No, no, no. It's easy right now because I'm doing it online.

Yeah. And it's not hard. I would like to go to Belmont, but I don't know if I can be stuck somewhere for four years. No, you got to spread your wings. Yeah, well, we'll see. I might or I might not doing homeschool

and not hanging out with friends all the time does that get lonely yeah it does especially with my two little brothers I have to drive them around everywhere I have to drop them off at school every morning I have to like take them to football and I'm seeing

like what I could be having and I drop them off at a football games. And I'm seeing what I could be having. And I drop them off at a football game and then I go drive myself to a bar to go play. Yeah. I kind of wish I was at a football game right now. Yeah. I mean, that's... But also, I'm really... No, I hear you.

Yeah, sometimes it's weird. Well, yeah. I mean, at the other day, you're still a kid and you deserve to have all those experiences. Like I regret not going to college and not going to the dorms. I went on tour straight when I was 18, you know? So it's,

but at the end, you know, I look back at it. I'm like, yeah, I'm really proud that I had work ethic at that age, but I also missed, you know, I'm like, yeah, I'm really proud that I had work ethic at that age. But I also missed going to a high school football game and hanging out and laughing with my friends.

Not just with grown adults about a guitar solo. Yeah. Feels that way sometimes. Why don't you just sneak into these football games? Screw it. Just root for a team. Don't even... just you know what i did that the other day yeah when um because my brother was playing a game and um i ended up walking i did like three laps around the whole place i'm like i'm bored and i left left. And then later,

my brother comes home and he's like, Grace, this girl I know OD'd in the bathroom. I'm like, maybe I'm not missing out on that one. Hold on. People doing drugs like that in high school? Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. You're not doing any of that shit, right? No. Good good no smoking weed we gotta keep you focused I didn't smoke weed until I was 19 just now I'm giving you dad advice I'm the wrong person to give you dad advice

I'm gonna stop actually do whatever you want don't get in trouble and don't harm yourself you know wow thank you so much for being on the show going to stop actually. Do whatever you want, Grace. Don't get in trouble and don't harm yourself. Wow. Thank you so much for being on the show. You're an incredible spirit. I can't... I'm in Nashville all the time. If you ever want to write some tunes together, maybe me,

you and Paul, let's go. Let's write some hits. But I'm so... I'm so fortunate to meet a person like you, Grace, who's just no bullshit. You like what you like. You're not trying to do it for fame. You're doing it for happiness.

And that makes me happy that the youth are starting to do that more and more. What's your take on social media? I feel like kids now, they stop caring about social media as much. Or are people still addicted to it at your age? People are definitely addicted to it. Yeah. I'm addicted to it. Not because I want to be like,

if I had the option, I probably wouldn't be on it at all. Right. But at the same time, I wouldn't be getting any of these opportunities that I have without it. So I do try not to be on it that much. And sometimes I find myself just scrolling for no reason. Yeah, doom scrolling.

Totally. It's such a hard balance because you have to be on it, but then at the same time you can't be on it too much. Yeah. And sometimes that's just hard to control. Yeah, maybe make your post and get out of there. I know, but that's so hard, though. I know. I'm the same way.

I'm like, I want to see what's going on with every other musician. I want to see who commented. Do you take, you know, do you look at every comment? And, like, if people are talking shit, do you take when you do look at every comment and if people are talking shit do you take offense to that or you stop worrying about that? No. I mean I get hateful comments all the time

and then I look at their profile and they have nothing going on. Why? I don't care. Why should I care about that? Exactly. It might be a little different if someone said it to me in care. Yeah. Like, why should I care about that? Exactly. Um, it might be a little different if someone said it to me in person. Yeah.

I probably still wouldn't care, but like, I don't know. I, I just think, I do read a lot of comments, but, and I shouldn't.

You should see my list of blocked people that I have on my phone. Yeah. It's way, it is way too long. Why? Are people trying to get in your DM talking shit? No, people are sending me pictures that they shouldn't be sending.

What? Oh, fuck these people. Are you serious? Oh, yeah. Creepy ass people? Yeah. They're all over Instagram I know it's fucked up God damn it Grace

You should have someone Shelter you through that Cause you don't need That's It's gotta be hard being You know A woman in this music industry A girl

I mean you're not even 18 Like this is That's not cool No I mean, you're not even 18. Like, this is... That's not cool. No, I mean, there's... There's creeps even hanging around in Nashville. I'm not going to say any names again, but... No, it's fine. Yeah, it's hard.

Shame on them. Shame on them. Yeah. Yeah, fuck that. That's what... We need to get you a bodyguard. This is... We're going to...

We're going to. We're going to go fund for the school shootings, but I'm going to do a sidebar go fund to get Grace a bodyguard because we need to protect you at all costs. You're a national treasure at this point, Grace. We don't need any of that creepy bullshit in your presence. We need you to be

creating art and not worrying about anything else but art and happiness. Okay? Alright. You got a big brother in me, bud, so whatever you need creating art and not worrying about anything else but art and happiness. Okay. All right. You got a big brother in me, bud. So whatever you need from me, I got you.

I appreciate that. Well, Grace, thanks for being on the show. I really appreciate them. It sucks. Do you have to deal with that through internet and these trolls and stuff? And,

um, and for you to still do this with an optimistic view on life and to go through this and even when your other... Even when all these bullshit actors, you go to these bullshit actor conferences and you still have optimism about the future is honorable.

And we're here to reach you on, bud. Thank you. Do you have anything you're promoting? You got a new single coming out or do you have a show you want to promote or what you have something you're looking forward to? I'm playing Eric Clapton's Crossroads at the end of September. And then, and then I might play Pilgrimage the day after, but we're still deciding on that.

But for now, just Crossroads. Holy shit, you're a rock star. This is awesome. Are you going to meet Clapton? Did they hit you up saying they want you on this or what? I don't know. I think the guy who books it got me sitting in with some people

and he said he might try to get the Clapton thing in, but I don't, I don't know. I'm not going to take it. Oh my God. Oh God. This is exciting. Let's go.

We love it. We love to see you win. Grace. We love to see you win. Well, stay inspired, stay happy. And,

um, if you need anything from us, you know, you know, hit us up. Thank you. Have a good day, Grace.

Thanks for being on the show. You tuned into the world. You tuned in to the World Saving Podcast with Andy Fresco. Thank you for listening to this episode. Produced by Andy Fresco, Joe Angelo and Chris Lawrence. We need you to help us save the world and spread the word. Please subscribe, rate the show,

give us those crazy stars, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you're picking this shit up. Follow us on Instagram at World Saving Podcast for more info and updates. Fresco's blogs and tour dates stars, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you're picking this shit up. Follow us on Instagram at world saving podcast for more info and updates. Prescott's blogs and tour dates you'll find at andyfrescott.com and check our socials to see what's up next.

Might be a video dance party, a showcase concert, that crazy shit show or whatever springs to Andy's wicked brain and after a year of keeping clean and playing safe the band is back on tour we thank our brand new talent booker Mara Davis we thank this week's guest

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