Hello all,
It’s about time for a post-CD release, post-move to LA update. It’s raining here in Koreatown. I’ve spent the day writing a new song and sitting in Mak cafe performing open heart surgery on the music Facebook page. Learning how to create my own page tabs and utilize more web measurement tools is also helpful for my job at the non-profit during the day. I really love being a message crafter. I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing than delivering a striking message in a brief and profound way.
It’s hard being without my husband/drummer here. Finding buddies for hikes, brews and concerts is challenging. Granted, I keep going to opera events and there are only a handful of people my age who LOVE opera as much as I do. Even an opera nay-sayer would have been impressed with hearing Placido Domingo for free yesterday! Perhaps the interweaving string parts of the songs I heard helped me to write a song this morning. I’ll show it to you soon. It has something to do with validating a life that takes many turns. My generation seems to switch and lose jobs, change careers and towns and relationships and alter just about everything constantly. Do we ever get used to that incredible lack of stability?
On a different note, musicians are very easy to come by here. They are the best friends to make (no surprise given my open mic friends from Berkeley). I have found many kindred souls who seek to give more meaning to this life with their melodies. They have helped me discover venues like Genghis Cohen, Room 5, the Hotel Cafe, Left Coast Wine Bar and a couple others that are starting to blur together.
My Koreatown apartment is in the middle of these venues, my job downtown, family in Silverlake- everything. It’s 8 minutes from everywhere I want to be. If I could only read Korean, I’d have an easier chance at choosing stores and restaurants to take a chance on though in this neighborhood. I did taste real ramen for the first time, and it’s really worth traveling to! The apartment is the largest I’ve ever had (a one bedroom is sadly the largest space I’ve ever rented), and it feels so spacious and empty. Just a folding table, three folding chairs and an air mattress to my name in there. Thank life for family! That’s where the folding table and chairs came from.
I heard the majority of Americans believe in angels. I don’t in a Deist sense. I think my family in LA are real angels; the kind that ask to be of help at every turn, the kind who always invite and always give, who love unquestioningly and create a landing place. I want the whole world to have a landing place. I want the whole world to feel as loved as I do when I venture to a new place and know no one. I want everyone to have this gift.
I am preparing my two new songs for a practice this Wednesday at the West Coast Songwriter’s event and then for my show at the Left Coast Wine Bar November 16th at 8:30pm. Click here to go to that Facebook event. I hope to help a couple folks feel more alive. I went to a show there recently and heard Aiyana Cadwell and Samantha Tart. That made me feel more alive. There is still great heat in the sky and still great passion in the world. More to come.
Grace is celebrating the release of the album “Afford to Believe” and her move down south at a party and show at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco on Sunday October 9th. She is excited to begin a new job in communications and marketing at a great non-profit while flexing her musical muscles in the city of entertainment. Jacob Wolkenhauer will open the night, followed by acclaimed LA singer-songwriter Terra Naomi. Please come support these amazing independent artists and help send Grace and Whitney to LA with love from the Bay.
Click here to purchase tickets.
Instead of a kickstarter campaign, all donations to the “Move to LA” band fund, which pays for gas, rental of a rehearsal space in LA, payment for the guest musicians at the release, and promotion costs can be made by clicking here (PayPal or Credit Card). Or here:
We are planning a party to release our new album, but since that’s going to take a while, we wanted to give you a taste of what’s in store now. The album is available digitally at bandcamp.com (just double-click on the player below) and we have a limited number of tangible copies that can be bought via the PayPal button below. If you dig the music, please visit our new facebook page and press the like button! And forward to your friends! As a reminder, we are not looking to make a profit off our 4th cd, rather we wish to recoup the expense of producing it and to share it with as many people as possible. This enables and encourages us to continue to compose. Thanks so much for your support over the years!
To have a tangible CD mailed to you, use this PayPal button:
Songs written by Grace Woods, except 4 by Grace Woods and Billy White.
Drums, percussion by Whitney Jacobson.
Electric and acoustic guitar, bass, percussion, glockenspiel, synths by Gawain Mathews.
Backing vocals on Spaceship by Elspeth Golden, Gawain Mathews, Kwame Copeland, Tamarind Free Jones.
Cello by Vicky Erlich.
Viola and violin by Irene Sazer.
Recorded and produced by Gawain Mathews at Bay View Music Studio.
Mastered by Justin Weis at Trakworx Studio.
Photographs by Tamarind Free Jones.
Design by Miguel Jimenez.
Special thanks to Bonnie Hayes, Paul Ruxton, James H Woods, Kathy Kennedy, our friends and family.
I’m looking forward to two wonderful events happening in the same day- Sunday February 13th. First, I will be volunteering at Beerunch, a beer and brunch pairing event. It happens at Public House in SF in the morning. My brother’s beer, Mateveza, pairs very well with huevos rancheros and I’m excited to see what new spin he may put on this pairing this year.
On the same day, I head over to Yoshi’s for a songwriters-in-the-round event in the lounge. Rebecca Burke accompanies me on violin, playing the arrangements for the more classically-inspired songs from the new album. Joining me for rotating 20 minute sets are Brad Brooks, famed lead singer of Pop Rocks and acclaimed songwriter, as well as Sonia Rao. Both are amazingly talented singers. Brad will also be accompanied by an accomplished violinist. This will be an intimate, unplugged, 5 buck show with drink and sushi specials. We hope to bring enough friends so that we get invited back to release our 4th CD on the main stage, so please come out and enjoy these digestible 20 minute performances from 8 to 10pm!
Whitney and I have decided on the album title, “Afford to Believe”. It’s also a name of one of the tracks on the album, but it has much greater meaning than what the song implies. I did a photo shoot with Tamarind Free Jones this past weekend in the foggy hills of Martinez and I’m excited to see how the CD artwork turns out. Miguel Jimenez, direct from Seville, Spain, is redesigning the website to match the ambiance of this project. I’ll keep you posted on the release date and huge party!
Coming up on November 19th through November 20th, our band is sponsoring an event for artists by artists called the 1010 Collective. Imagine a central, BARTable SF location with a huge art gallery, full bar and stage. Experience culinary demonstrations from Cocina Poblana, tastings of naturally caffeinated, yerba mate beer, Mateveza, and paintings from various local artists. Enjoy the sounds of the following bands: Jacob Wolkenhauer, Brad Brooks, George Lacson, Vanessa Verlee, Jeremy Rourke (with film too), Dylan Cannon and The Society.
Hello friends,
Thought I would update you on my musical life. I recently played a show with Amber Snider in downtown Napa. Believe it or not, I had never actually been to downtown Napa. Self-proclaimed foodie and attendant to many a Napa wedding that I am, it’s surprising I had never stumbled upon this mini mecca of river-fronted weekend activity. Napa restaurants are kind to their musicians and Napa tourists are fun-loving, sophisticated people in my experience. Whitney played his new mini bass drum, which has a lovely sound for such a little frame. It spurs conversation too. Thanks to Amber for having us.
We next play this coming Wednesday at Philz Coffee in Berkeley. Debbie Neigher opens from 7 to 8pm and then we play from 8 to 9pm with a full band (as full as can be in a cafe). Should be fun.
I’ve been in the studio a lot with producer Gawain Mathews. The drum tracks are all done and so are many of the vocals, piano and guitar tracks. I’m excited to make string parts in the next week. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Hope you are having an easy weekend,
Grace
We played a show last night at Luna’s in Sacramento with Nikki Maoz and Katie Knipp. Female-fronted line ups are so incredibly empowering. Last night and my recent visit to the Starry Plough open mic confirm my love for discussing vocal technique with other female songwriters, including vocalist and harmonium player Tamarind Free Jones.
I underestimated Sacramento. We’ve played there many times over the years; I know how supportive the community is of artists. What I didn’t really know was how cool and vibrant a place it is to live. We actually spent the night on this last trip with some friends who live in midtown as they call it. Within a couple blocks of their house we could stroll through the outdoor Sammie music awards showcase, or walk into a number of art galleries for their 2nd Saturdays Fest. There’s just a lot going on and it’s warm outside. And they even have fancy Chinese food at 2am. It’s really not the suburban sleeper town that I always pictured.
Whitney played his first show on his new “travel kit” which is basically a stripped down set that incorporates a tiny tiny bass drum. He can actually carry the whole thing, hardware and all, in two bags. In the interest of portability, I’m also awaiting a battery that I bought to serve as a silent generator so I can play and sing outside where there are no outlets (bbq in the park anyone?).
I want to thank our most avid supporters in Sacto who came out last night- Joe, Jules, Brian, Rob, Deanne, Maren, Melissa and of course Art Luna of Luna’s Cafe.
Today I feel like a train wreck. I have some transposing to do and some finalization of a new song, but I may just end up lying down and staying there. I’m back to another long recording session tomorrow and am pleased to report that these long stints in the studio are yielding some fun and cathartic moments. Hope you guys are having a great weekend!
Brainwash Cafe is a strange confluence of hipsters, laundry doers, beer aficionados, drunk bums, great musicians, good food and intimate coffee-drinking space. Such was the scene of last night’s cafe show with Mitch Park and Bray. Bray’s fans showed up early and were super kind and supportive of all the music. In classic Brainwash fashion, two pop rock acts had a metal opener. Mitch Park presented an energetic set of solid metal songs before a member of his band ( I believe it was the guitarist and secondary singer) threw up from the stage. Yes, I said from. None landed on me or anyone I know. The cafe made them clean it up. I was going to refrain from writing about it, but it’s just so rock and roll and one really needs to have a sense of humor about these things to keep gigging!
Anyway, after that, Bray’s drummer Steve was kind enough to let Whitney use his drum set, so it was almost a full band gig, which is always a fun surprise. We played a bunch of originals (just one Ben Folds cover) and were happy to be out performing again after the wedding shenanigans. Bray’s band played the cafe with the energy of a stadium show, in great honor of their fans.
In band news, we’ve been playing consistently with our new bassist, Achille. He is from Italy and he is one of the directors of the San Francisco Mandolin Orchestra. He got his degree in music from Milan, plays every type of bass you can imagine, and also sings and plays mandolin. We also have a couple guitarists we’ve been playing with who we will introduce once we get a couple gigs under our belt with them.
The songs for the new album are pretty much chosen and we have selected a local producer- a fantastic talent who can also accommodate our indie budget thus far. We have some stars in a our eyes about planning a trip to South by South West in March and other than that, we’ve just started gigging a lot again. I continue to take singing and songwriting lessons and Whit is taking some heavy theory classes so we’re always reading each other’s material and sharing new tid bits. Considering how often we travel to gig, Martinez isn’t all that different than Berkeley. I cook, clean and drive more. A lot of people (some of them family members) are moving out of the city to make their dreams happen as opposed to moving to the city. I look forward to watching these stories unfold. As always, thanks for listening.
-Grace
Hey Everyone! If you’re wondering where I’ve been the past couple weeks, I’ve been planning a wedding to my amazing fiance and drummer Whitney. He and I agreed it would be best to put off gigging until after mid June when the wedding will be over with, and then we’ll be back on the road with new tunes.
We just recorded 7 new songs and are working with some new producers in the Bay Area. We have a casual show at the Cannery in SF on July 3rd, but otherwise are in the midst of planning the wedding and the next big tour.
We’ve set up shop in Martinez as a home base where we now have a great band room in place. We do a lot more driving than we would like to, but we still share a car and believe that friends, family and music are worth it. Thanks for reading. See you soon!
