Kristin Grice

Tell me about your start in music. What got you started in singing and writing music?

When I was 14, my grandfather came to visit us up in Ohio one summer and

he brought two or three acoustic guitars that my Great Uncle Grover had collected. I was

gifted a 19070’s JapaneseYamaha FG-170 flat top and I have written all my original songs on that guitar. Even though I started writing when I was a teenager, I grew up in a small town so there were not many opportunities to perform or be nurtured as a songwriter. I just did all my writing and singing at home. My first song was called “Shades of my Skin,” and I performed it in a local summer fest talent contest. It wasn’t until I moved down to Florida in 2013 and attended an open mic night at Natura Coffee &amp Tea and met my mentor and good friend Anthony Rouhana of Hotel Hurry, that I felt I was moving in a solid direction with my music. I wrote so many songs at Natura after that and it’s been such a gift to be surrounded by so many talented individuals who were fundamental to my growth as a songwriter.

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Who are your biggest inspirations? How do they influence your music/writing?

Thankfully, I was so blessed, growing up to be surrounded by all types of music. My father

introduced us to artists like The Beach Boys, Smokey Robinson, Elvis Presley, and the Bee

Gees. My mother was originally from Georgia, so I listened to ‘90s country artists as well. My brother exposed me to more diverse music, from The Backstreet Boys to Blink-182 to Eminem. When I moved to Florida, I found myself spending more time around blues and jazz musicians at Natura, so I started experimenting more with my music and my vocal style evolved. The first song I wrote at Natura called “The World is Yours Tonight” was heavily influenced by Jason Mraz and now, I’ve gravitated more towards artists like ZZ Ward or Fleetwood Mac for an edgier, grittier style, like in my song “Should’ve Known Better”. On the softer side, with a song like “Northern Lights,” I tend to lean towards soulful or ethereal artists, so Sara Bareilles or Imogen Heap are two big influences.

 

I really love how important mental health is to you and how you raise awareness with your platform. What led you to be so outspoken about it?

I was motivated selfishly at first to talk about mental health so openly. Back in

April of 2015, I had to move out of Orlando, about an hour away from my friends. This was

right after graduating college and quitting one of my first entertainment jobs within three

months because of how toxic the environment was. That separation from Orlando

was hard on me because I was no longer near my musician friends, and I felt so lost. For the longest time, I had been writing music that I thought other people wanted to hear. Some of my older songs were upbeat and always fun to sing, but they weren’t expressing any real emotion. When I took a trip down to Miami to visit one of my college friends, I started writing a song called “Black Roses” and that was the first song that expressed my feelings of depression. I wanted people to hear how I was feeling, and I didn’t want to feel alone. I had to go through a lot of personal self-discovery to start writing those songs, and it was uncomfortable but extremely valuable for my self-awareness. Through that work, it’s led me to be more confident in how I speak about mental health in a public forum. I hope that now my music and just my identity inspires someone to be courageous and go on that journey too. It isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. Lastly, I never want anyone to feel how I felt in those moments, so it’s important for others who struggle with mental illness to know that they are very much loved and worthy of feeling safe and supported. May music heal them the way that it has healed me throughout my entire life.

 

You’ve spent some time in Nashville at one point in your journey for your music. What was that like? How did it help you grow as a musician? 

In the spirit of being open about mental health topics, I must say that Nashville was not a good fit for me, mentally or emotionally. The reality of it for me was that I just couldn’t cut it there and that’s okay. It wasn’t a good time in my life because of the circumstances of what brought me there, which probably impacted my ability to

really enjoy the music scene in Nashville. Not for lack of trying though, because I did go to

songwriter rounds and try a few co-writing sessions with artists there. In Orlando, the music

scene felt for me very nurturing, and I felt like I had more of a community here, but in

Nashville, the scene felt, at times, competitive and very isolating. It didn’t

feel very collaborative for me. But it’s important for artists to keep in mind that you might not

always connect to a place. Just because music happens in Nashville doesn’t mean it’s the

right city for you. If  there is a lesson from that experience, it is that stepping outside of my comfort zone is always worth it. I feel I’m a stronger person and artist for it.

 

What is your writing process?

My writing process has evolved since the Natura days where I used to write so much. It worked for me in the beginning because I was surrounded by fellow creatives all the time and the noise helped me. But now it depends on the headspace I’m in. Sometimes the lyrics come to me first before the melody and vice versa. Lyrics also come to me in a variety of different spaces, so thank goodness for voice memos. The process of writing music is a consistent journey of self-discovery which can breed chaos and beauty, but it’s a beautiful kind of mess. For example, I wrote some great lyrics the other day, but they were the result of coming down from a major depressive episode. The best stories we tell as musicians are products of both love and pain. Being an artist is emotional and invites a slight insanity to the process, so you either are feeling creative or you just go with the flow.

 

What is the backstory on your song “Should’ve Known Better”?

Two things that happened with this song. One, if you haven’t watched Daisy Jones & The

Six, please do. It’s an incredible show with a phenomenal soundtrack. There is a song in the

show called “The River” and I became so immersed into this track that it became the

foundation of how “Should’ve Known Better” was going to sound. The song is essentially a

representation of what it’s like when your head is trying to talk your heart out of a bad

situation. I’ve had several relationships/friendships in which I gave pieces of myself to make

others happy and it resulted in me feeling very unloved and broken. Even if I loved them,

they still ended up hurting me and basically…I should’ve known better. In the end, I went in

thinking the song was going to have this sad or heartbroken energy to it, but instead, I

channeled an anger into it that came out way cooler than I originally planned.

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What was your biggest struggle in your music career and how did you overcome it?

I’m in one of my biggest struggles now actually. I’m 32 years old and I’m trying to get back

into music again after Nashville, the pandemic, and what looks to be a heartbreaking music,

industry because nothing is as it used to be. Self-doubt often sinks in because I start to

wonder if it’s too late for me to even try to play music again or if it’s worth finishing my EP.

When I left Orlando in 2017 to move to Nashville, I left a music community where I was

more established and when I came back in 2020, I was going to have to rebuild everything I

lost. Coming back in the middle of the pandemic made that even more difficult with all the

venues closing. I have a constant fear of feeling irrelevant as a musician or that I will

leave this earth not having made an impact with my art or my stories. Those are the demons I

struggle with every day. Eventually, I hope to be at peace with them.

 

What advice would you give to any aspiring musicians? 

It’s okay to feel broken, tired, and lost on your journey. There have been numerous times

throughout my life when I put the guitar down, stopped going to open mic nights, and even

wanted to give up on writing entirely. There was always something inside of me that

drove me back to it and pushed me to keep trying. The only way that I can explain this

feeling is through this philosophy I’ve started to embrace. Music is the language our souls

use to express the thoughts, feelings, and experiences we can’t speak naturally. To do that,

you must remain authentic to yourself. There are also going to be times as an artist when

you don’t feel you fit in or that you’re good enough, but as storytellers we can heal others

and connect to their personal experiences without even knowing it. I don’t know any other

greater superpower than that of a musician’s ability to connect a person to their own self. You

have a beautiful purpose here, so no matter what happens, keep writing and keep creating.

 

What can we look forward to for your music in the future? 

One of my most important goals as an artist has always been to inspire people with

my music. While I would love to finish my EP, that has been a long journey and continues to

be. I think people can expect a new single again in the new year, and I remain hopeful that

there are new and fruitful opportunities on the horizon for me as an artist.