Improvisational Dogma

Grace Weber’s favorite part of being a musician is live performance. She grew up singing in church in Wisconsin and was on Showtime at the Apollo as a teenager. “Gospel music has this raw and intensely emotional quality that I love witnessing and expressing in live music,” she says. “In those churches, I had no fear of revealing myself because being raw was welcomed. The sharing of the live art experience, and the risky and vulnerable attempt to create a uniquely communal moment that will never happen again is the reason I sing.” Her soulful, bold, rootsy, evocative sounds can be heard on The Refinery, which she wrote over the last two years. “I love the freedom of creating in the moment and being present enough onstage that every note you sing has an intention behind it,” Weber says. The process also included painting, journaling and improvising, “which allow me to reveal the inner workings of who I am, what I notice and the struggles I’ve gone through to find myself. I am most creative when I just let myself take a breath and listen.” Amy Jacques