Grant Smith is a small town blues singer and current service member in the US Army.
Q:When you decide it’s time to make a new record, is that more exciting or stressful?
Ans: Always exciting, I kinda get the shakes until I can hop in the studio and get it taken care of. You can tell I’ve written a new song when I’m rocking and shaking at the keys.
Q:What is your favorite song to sing live?
Ans: Of my own, I love singing Drug. As a cover, House of the Rising sun is one of the most real songs out there.
Q: Which famous musicians do you admire? Why?
Ans: I’m a big fan of Ed Sheeran because of the way he just went for it. He left the house at sixteen and chased his dreams. It was a big reason for me leaving Oklahoma for LA, singing on the streets and in
shady little open mics. If you practice your craft through performance, you perfect the sound.
Q: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town?
Ans: When I moved to Los Angeles, I would ride the bus three hours to sing and play outside of Disneyland for five hours or so each day. Those days, I was hot, hungry, tired, but gave some of my best performances. I was essentially screaming and begging for spare change in the best way I knew how.
Q: How do you handle mistakes during a performance?
Ans: I make so many, anyone does, but you keep moving forward. My common bad habit is burping during performances. I don’t know why it happens to me so often haha, I just let it out in the back of my throats and keep singing.
Q: Do you get nervous before a performance or a competition?
Ans: I’d say I get excited but rarely nervous. Mistakes will be made, sometimes you just have a bad show – you have to go perform and love what you do. I adore making people happy. Singing my heart out, helping the audience feel what I’m singing, I just have to open myself up to them. I open my heart and what happens, happens.
Q: What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous?
Ans: Trust yourself. Trust your practice. Be prepared to mess up. The shows you REALLY mess up are some of the most memorable, but they help you move forward as a musician and performer.
Q: How often and for how long do you practice?
Ans: Since I’ve joined the Army, my practice time has been cut severely. Each weekend I sing and write for about seven hours each day.
Q: What do you practice – exercises, new tunes, hard tunes, etc.?
Ans: Anything that I feel. Songs that are impossible to sing quietly. I sing what comes out. Some days I just sing what I’m feeling for hours, I may not even rhyme. Haha I’m a blues singer, I sing what my heart tells me to.
Q: How do you balance your music with other obligations – mate, children, job?
Ans: The Army is a 24/7 job, but I’ll never lose sight of my music. If you love something – you make time.
Thanks for taking time out of your day:)
Thank you!!
