Catching Up With Grace Askew

Grace Askew is one of our favorite hometown artists. We love watching her grow as a songwriter and performer and just know it’s going to be so much fun to say, “We knew her when…” after she blows up to be a huge star!

We asked her to update on what’s been going on with her since she recorded Ardent Presents: Grace Askew right here at Ardent Studios!

1. What’s the latest news??

I’ve been just hittin the road as much as possible since mid-August and as of October 3rd, have embarked on yet another solo tour…this time I’m REALLY solo…as in it’s just me, my guitar, and the open road. The first solo tour consisted of a 3-week circuit that took me as far West as Eureka Springs, AR, as far North as Chicago, as far East as Asheville, NC and as far South as Atlanta, GA. This second go round is what you could really call more of a research project or inspiration..a chance to refresh my mind with new people, stories and experiences and thus far it’s taken me tumblin throughout Texas to some very unexpected situations. I’m planning on an eventual move to Austin…but for now, I think I’d just prefer to roam there until money gets straightened out.

2. What has been the biggest thing to happen to you in 2009?

In February I released yet another EP with Pete Matthews at Ardent, this time with my own band and it’s come to represent – for the first time – a piece of work that I can truly say is pointing my studio sound in the right direction. Pete has a true knack for instilling a very modern finesse to music without completely drowning out the songs. Other than the new EP, I’d just say that the whole experience of throwing myself out onto the road these past couple of months has been one wild creature to try and tame…but I cannot ask for a better experience to help me deepen & mature my songwriting process.

3. What are your recording plans?

I certainly hope to cut another album soon, since I’ve accumulated so many new originals from the recent excursions. But this time..I’m aiming to go for a more raw, solo acoustic approach. It’s been a dream to cut an album in some random warehouse or abandoned church (guerilla style), to give it that really haunting kind of “Tom Waits junkyard ” feel.. lots of atmosphere to surround the stories and enhance them.

4. What’s the best music event you have attended?

Hmm…damn, that’s not fair…can’t answer that quite well. But I must say that anything that Keith Sykes puts on is always on hell of a thrown down and gets incredibly talented songwriters in one room.

5. Name some albums you have been listening to this year and why you like them

I adore Tom Waits right now. Lately I’ve gotten really attached to Mule Variations and Bone Machine. Something about that raw, gristle-and-bones approach to his songwriting I find myself really attracted to…possibly because it’s so opposite of the world I was raised in. His music shows me how to find the beauty in the mess and how to write with a more quirky sense of poetry on the more morbid, darker subjects of life. Other than ole Tom…I’m a huge fan of a band I crashed with in Muncie, Indiana called The Bonesetters…they are going to explode one of these days. Phenominal! My top driving tunes have come to include Gillian Welch, Bon Iver, Karen Dalton, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and Sam Baker..all stuff that’s perfect for those rolling country back roads and Texas ghost towns.

6. Do you prefer recording or touring? Why?

Hands down, driving has become the best tool to really get the creative juices flowing. I’m a very visual person..as I’m sure a majority of songwriters are…and the places/signs/people flying by outside my window for a seven-hour straight drive is enough to really get my mind spinning with lyrics and stories. Thank the Lord (or Apple) for the Voice recorder on iPhones. And apparently front porch swings really suit my approach as well….maybe it’s just something to do with the swinging motion..?? hah..

7. Is there a particular method you have for composing a song? Where do you feel most comfortable writing music?

At this point in my life, I can’t get enough of being out on a tour. That’s where all of the new songs will be geared towards…an album on my first experiences of the open road…what it forces you to leave behind and all that comes back with you. I suppose I’ve always idealized this lifestyle and I’m very blessed to have parents that will allow their own daughter to just hit the road alone in such a strange, crazed world…but man did they learn how to text message as soon I said goodbye…

7. What is the most memorable experience you’ve had on tour?

My second night in Austin, TX I got in touch with an old friend from Catholic grade school who was a student at UT and living in a co-op. So I show up to a late-night party and everyone was huddled around, passing a bag of Franzia chanting “drink the wine! drink the wine!”…to say the least…we weren’t quite coherent by the end of that hour. So the next day I find myself prostrated on an uncovered musty mattress and no clue where I was…until I opened the door in front of me to find my old friend butt naked painting a trippy mural on the wall and singing to himself. I awkwardly cleared my throat, he jolted up in suprise/embarrasment and said “umm..so..you know this is a clothing-optional co-op right…?” I simply laughed, said “apparently….I didn’t get that memo..thanks for, um, letting me crash” and stumbled out the back door [ trying my best to avoid any more akward nudity encounters].

8. How was your experience recording at Ardent Studios?

Ardent has been so great to me and it’s all because Pete Matthews has always carried such a strong belief in what I was doing and where my music was headed. I cannot imagine where I’d be with my career if he hadn’t taken to heart the tip-off from Jennifer Lee to give my music a listen and ever since that first meeting -right next door at the Blue Monkey – I’ve learned more within just those 2 years of cutting there than I ever learned sitting in a classroom…it’s a truly invaluable experience. Plus, the Ardent staff always felt like one big family and it made the whole process a very comfortable thing to step into when I was first getting started with Pete…even though, I must say, that first late-night session for the “Wasted Lipstick EP” was still quite a surreal experience. ha. I was pertty damn green.