Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Gracie Ray has released her debut EP, Nighthawk today via BMG. The five-song EP finds Gracie imparting raw honesty upon lively pop soundscapes and R&B grooves. Lyrically, her music is incredibly honest, telling stories with the candor of a late-night chat between lifelong friends, sparing no detail or emotion as she examines the ups and downs of love and life.
In an interview last month, Gracie Ray touched on the EP, stating, “I wanted it to capture my inner world in its rawest possible form. I’m drawn to art that doesn’t seek to be perfect but seeks to tell the truth, so that’s what I tried to do.”
Gracie was literally born into music. Her grandfather just so happens to be two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® inductee David Crosby of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Surrounded by instruments and equipment at home, Gracie picked up a microphone at eight-years-old and learned songwriting by watching her father James Raymond, an accomplished musician himself, and grandfather. She learned piano and guitar before immersing herself in musical theater during high school.
After a year at DePaul University, Gracie transferred to the New School in New York City, studying film and gender studies. At the same time, she often backed Chloe Chaidez of Kitten live in addition to performing solo around the city. Upon graduating, she returned to the West Coast daydreaming of music, listening to everyone from SZA, Jacob Collier, Frank Ocean, and Remi Wolf to Sade, Dolly Parton, and Kacey Musgraves.