{"id":3663,"date":"2018-05-09T14:38:55","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T20:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/?p=3663"},"modified":"2018-05-09T14:38:55","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T20:38:55","slug":"kristen-graingers-musical-compass-points-true-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/kristen-graingers-musical-compass-points-true-north\/","title":{"rendered":"Kristen Grainger\u2019s Musical Compass Points True North"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_3664\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3664\" class=\"wp-image-3664 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kristen-Grainger-photo-credit-Eric-Frommer-Photography.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"915\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kristen-Grainger-photo-credit-Eric-Frommer-Photography.jpg 960w, https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kristen-Grainger-photo-credit-Eric-Frommer-Photography-480x458.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 960px, 100vw\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3664\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kristen Grainger photo credit Eric Frommer Photography<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As her band, True North\u2019s website states, \u201cKristen Grainger, (vocals, ukulele) is the voice of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.truenorthband.com\">True North<\/a>. Her songwriting has received national recognition \u2014 \u201cBe Here Now\u201d was named Song of the Year, folk category, for the 2015 IMEA Awards; she placed second at the 2015 <a href=\"http:\/\/merlefest.org\/chris-austin-songwriting-contest\/\">MerleFest Songwriting Contest<\/a>; and she was one of ten finalists in the 2014 Telluride Troubadour songwriting contest, performing solo in front of 10,000 \u2018Festivarians.\u2019 \u00a0Kristen and Dan Wetzel\u2019s song, \u201cMountain Boy\u201d was featured on the European World Bluegrass Festival\u2019s compilation CD released in 2008. The duo also was chosen from more than 800 entries to perform two originals, \u201cLimbo\u201d and \u201cDoris Dean,\u201d in the finals at the Kerrville New Folk Songwriters\u2019 Contest. Their song \u201cHard Place to Suffer (And That Really Gets Me Down)\u201d won the 2010 Wintergrass Song Contest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>All those accolades are very impressive, indeed. What is more impressive is that Kristen was accomplishing all this while also working as the Communications Director of Katherine \u201cKate\u201d Brown, the Governor or Oregon, and she has also served as Willamette University\u2019s Vice President since 2002. Grainger seems very comfortable in the role as a communicator \u2014 which any good songwriter should be. She\u2019s not just the voice of True North; she\u2019s also one half of the songwriting duo that she and her husband, Dan Wetzel form together.<\/p>\n<p>We posed a few questions to Grainger; about what inspires her writing and when she realized she wanted to write music, her passion for folk music, the uniqueness of her writing style, the state of the music scene where she lives in Oregon, and more. Her answers are delightfully candid, interesting, and refreshingly humble.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"One-Way Ticket\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zIABiDAXNfc?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Wildflower! Arts &amp; Music Festival: What was it that made you decide to enter the Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest, and how did you hear about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grainger: <\/strong>A well-written song is a powerful thing. There are a handful of national contests \u2014 Telluride, MerleFest, Kerrville, Wildflower! \u2014 that have earned the respect of artists and audiences by bringing new songs and songwriters to the world\u2019s attention; people like me, scribbling lyrics on the backs of envelopes, strumming away in dim little rooms after work. When my band, True North released a new album in January, a couple of people suggested my songs might be a good fit for Wildflower!; I am thrilled they were right.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WAMFest: When did you start out as a singer\/songwriter, and has music always something you were passionate about?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grainger: <\/strong>Music feels as fundamental and natural to me as breathing. I have been singing since I could talk, and I play various instruments, mostly self-taught. I don\u2019t remember learning how to sing harmony; it feels like something I have always been able to do. That said, I grew up in a family that valued achievement, particularly in science and athletics. They didn\u2019t take my musical affinity or talent very seriously, so I didn\u2019t either. I wrote poetry, short fiction, essays, toyed with journalism, but no songs. For years, it was just this thing inside of me, hovering, waiting.<\/p>\n<p>There are early bloomers, and there are late bloomers, and then there are those buds that never do anything, they just rot, closed up tight, right on the vine. With no real musical community around me and a demanding job in politics, I was in danger of becoming one of those non-bloomers when I met Dan Wetzel. Dan\u2019s a very talented singer-songwriter who had been touring solo. He had heard me sing a few times and liked my voice, wanted to collaborate. I wrote and performed my first original song for him when I was 36 years old. Over time, our worlds combined, creating plenty of space for me to write and perform original music with him.\u00a0 I continue to be astonished at the response to my music; it makes me wonder why I would want to do anything else.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/P43ZaedYcqU\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/P43ZaedYcqU<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>WAMFest: What was it that drew you towards writing and performing acoustic folk music?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grainger: <\/strong>To paraphrase John Lee Hooker, &#8220;It\u2019s in me, and it\u2019s got to come out.\u201d Once I got out of my own way, that is.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WAMFest: What is it that separates your music from others in your genre? What makes it special for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grainger: <\/strong>I like the challenge of turning a story into a song and doing it deftly. Irony is one of my favorite tools, and I\u2019m a sucker for deadpan last lines.<\/p>\n<p>I love how people respond to my music \u2013 it brings them together, it makes them think, it moves them. I can see it happen from the stage, person by person. There are people at every show who come to the merchandise table at the break and buy a copy of every single album we have ever made. And when I hear a complete stranger singing along with one of my songs, word for word, well, there is just no better feeling than that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WAMFest:<\/strong> <strong>Who would you point towards as your musical inspiration?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grainger: <\/strong>In terms of whose song craft I admire, there are so many, but let\u2019s start with Rickie Lee Jones, Patty Griffin, John Prine, Gillian Welch, Brandi Carlile, Tom Waits, and Hayes Carrl. My husband, Dan Wetzel, is hugely inspirational in all aspects of crafting songs.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3665\" src=\"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kristen-Grainger-Part-Circus-Cover.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kristen-Grainger-Part-Circus-Cover.jpg 500w, https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kristen-Grainger-Part-Circus-Cover-480x480.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 500px, 100vw\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>WAMFest: What is it for you that makes a specific subject worthy of writing a song about?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grainger: <\/strong>For me, songwriting is like making a piecrust &#8211; if you handle the dough too much, the crust becomes tough and inedible. You have to piece it together gently, with a light touch, if you want it to turn out. That\u2019s how I feel about a songwriting. It can\u2019t be forced, over-thought. When I feel that start to happen, I put it aside.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of subject matter, I like the idea of snapshots \u2013 capturing the extraordinary aspects of ordinary life. But there has to be a story, and the story has to move me. I like songs that take the listener on a journey, that transform them in some small way over the course of 3-4 minutes. Story songs are a good way to do that.<br \/>\n<strong>WAMFest: How would you describe the music scene where you live, and are they supportive of local artists and original, independent writers and performers?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grainger: <\/strong>Oregon loves Americana, bluegrass, and folk music. There is a strong artists\u2019 network and community with a lot of collaboration and support for each other\u2019s work. We \u2014 my band, True North \u2014 have a strong following in the Pacific Northwest and sell out venues from 80 to 800 seats. We even have the auspicious honor of counting the Oregon Governor and First Gentleman among our biggest fans.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WAMFest:<\/strong> <strong>Where do you see yourself and your group\u2019s music in three to five years from now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grainger: <\/strong>Know anybody at \u201cLive from Here\u201d with Chris Thile? Seriously, I\u2019d be happy with lots more chances to play for audiences who love this music \u2014 as long as the seats are nailed down and no one ever interrupts a song to say, \u201cNumber 63, your pizza is ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3666\" src=\"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kristen-Grainger-219x306.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"219\" height=\"306\" \/>WAMFest:<\/strong> <strong>If your entry is chosen as winner, what will you do to celebrate?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grainger: <\/strong>A victory dance, duh.<\/p>\n<p>Kristen Grainger will compete in the Al Johnson Performing Songwriter Contest on Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 11:30 a.m. on the United Healthcare Singer Songwriter Stage in the Eisemann Center. Kristen will additionally perform on Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 8:00 p.m. on the CityLine Stage at the 26<sup>th<\/sup> Wildflower! Arts &amp; Music Festival. Tickets available <a href=\"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\">www.wildflowerfestival.com<\/a> and more information about the contest: <a href=\"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/songwriter-contest\/\">https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/songwriter-contest\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Website: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.truenorthband.com\/about-true-north-kristen-grainger\/\">www.truenorthband.com\/about-true-north-kristen-grainger\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Facebook:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kristen.grainger.77\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kristen.grainger.77<\/a><\/p>\n<p>YouTube:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCuNpXI4UvrODrPiPqfIv3KA\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCuNpXI4UvrODrPiPqfIv3KA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As her band, True North\u2019s website states, \u201cKristen Grainger, (vocals, ukulele) is the voice of True North. Her songwriting has received national recognition \u2014 \u201cBe Here Now\u201d was named Song of the Year, folk category, for the 2015 IMEA Awards; she placed second at the 2015 MerleFest Songwriting Contest; and she was one of ten [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":39,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,21,22],"tags":[881,958,945,957,563,939,54,955,944,953,947,948,943,952,950,862,949,938,942,30,941,159,956,424,31,946,940,635,29,954,951],"class_list":["post-3663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-al-johnson-performing-songwriter-contest","category-blog","category-entertainment","tag-al-johnson-performing-songwriter-contest","tag-americana","tag-brandi-carlile","tag-chris-thile","tag-cityline","tag-dan-wetzel","tag-eisemann-center","tag-eric-frommer","tag-gillian-welch","tag-governor-of-oregon","tag-hayes-carrl","tag-john-lee-hooker","tag-john-prine","tag-katherine-kate-brown","tag-kerrville","tag-kristen-grainger","tag-merlefest","tag-part-circus-part-rodeo","tag-patty-griffin","tag-richardson","tag-rickie-lee-jones","tag-songwriter","tag-songwriting-contest","tag-telluride","tag-texas","tag-tom-waits","tag-true-north-band","tag-united-healthcare","tag-wildflower-arts-music-festival","tag-willamette-university","tag-wintergrass-song-contest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildflowerfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}