Local boy making waves with his music

By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record

He’s only 17-years-old, but Selkirk native Goody Grace might just be Selkirk’s fastest rising star.

Grace has made a name for himself in recent years, and hit the peak of his musical career last Tuesday when he opened for Australian singer Cody Simpson at a sold-out show in Toronto.

Grace is signed with Bananabeat Records, a Los Angeles label, founded by American producer and singer-songwriter Cisco Adler.

Signing with Bananabeat last year launched the beginning of a new path for Grace, who already had been working as an independent artist for several years.    

Grace had used YouTube as his medium for his work prior to his signing with the label, and used to upload covers and music videos to the site, but that all changed when he signed with Bananabeat last year.

“I got in contact with Cisco Adler and signed a record deal, and since then we’ve just been working on all of my new stuff,” Grace said.

Grace feels signing with the label was his ‘big break’ into the industry.

“Because I had no real style before. I just loved playing guitar and writing songs,” he said.

Grace grew-up in Selkirk and remembers playing the guitar when he was as young as five.

He’s had a love for music his whole life and was already writing several songs when he was 11.

He attended Grade 10 at the Comp for a year and then made a decision to continue school remotely the year after before drifting off to the States to work with Bananabeat.

KAYLA BAKER / KAYLASHEAPHOTO.COM

“For the majority of 2014 I was in Los Angeles just working on my music and really perfecting my sound before we start releasing it,” Grace said.

The Selkirk-born boy said his family wasn’t reluctant in allowing him to go to L.A.

“Always supportive of everything,” he said.

Grace doesn’t have any of the material he crafted in Los Angeles released yet, but hinted some of the songs could be out in the near future. 

“I’ve been producing a lot of music videos and stuff so we’re just getting really everything lined up,” Grace said.

And Grace does have a sneak preview of “West Side,” a song he wrote and produced by Adler that’s up online on SoundCloud.

Grace’s plan for the future is simple, he says.

“My goals are just to release music and have it go over well.”

Grace will be 18 in June and would like to move to the States to further perfect his work.

“I eventually do want to relocate to Los Angeles and work more there and stuff,” Grace said.

“I’m very excited for the future and for everything that’s to come.”

 -- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition April 16 2015 p.3