Here at The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay branch of The Odyssey we try to promote articles about local pieces relevant to Green bay and the Brown County area. I recently had the unique opportunity to interview with the local band Haley Grace and The Rebels’ lead singer, Haley Grace. Haley was very professional and down-to-Earth with her responses, and had a notable passion for her work in the music industry.
I met with Haley after classes one afternoon, and below are some edited excerpts of our conversation that followed:
Liz: “On your website, I noticed the announcement about the band’s name change-what prompted that decision?”
Haley: “Well, there’s us rebel grace and then there’s another Rebel Grace band in the Milwaukee area-since we play shows in that area it was decided it would be better to change the name”
Liz: “How did you get into singing?”
Haley: “When I was nine years old my mom took me to Nashville for the first time and, she introduced me to her songwriting friends and I met some of her friends-and ill have to show you. And then we kept going to Nashville every summer. and I actually have my own album from three years ago. My band now isn’t what it was during high school. I started playing the drums when I was 7.
Liz: “Can you explain why you enjoy performing, and songwriting?”
Haley: “Ever since I’ve been like really young, it developed into a passion, I found out I could sing, write and play music and it all sort of piggy backed onto each other. I realized I was good at it, and I liked doing it. Doing something I love.”
Liz: “How have you evolved, as a band and with your style?”
Haley: “Well, it started because my lead guitar player was in an established male lead band, when we started a female lead band with me-he had a lot of connections for shows. Then as a band really all we had to do was learn forty songs, which is like seventy songs now (for a four hour gig). I thought we should be a variety band, versus a strictly country band. I call my mom my “momager”, because she played a huge role in getting us gigs and people started to kind of hear about us. This really helped us, as a band, to have a really developed portfolio-on top of having the website which we set up last year. By this point we really developed, like in the being known sense, by playing in bigger shows. Big shows being we opened for Chris Young in Racine-and there was over like 2000 people there, which I would consider pretty big, same deal with Summerfest and Country USA.”
Liz: “That’s a huge deal! I’m sure you had the opportunity to meet a few famous names, what music celebrities inspire you?”
Haley: “Inspiration, well I am honestly a huge fan of Taylor swift-not a fan girl, but in the sense that she is one of the best writers and business oriented person in the music industry-she’s phenomenal. I don’t think there will ever be another Taylor swift.”
Liz: “What are your current music goals? As a creator, as a band?”
Haley: “We set the goal to go to the studio to record, and have a CD-which we’re going to do actually on Tuesday. The name change is another thing, come January 1st. We just wanna keep getting out there and playing as many shows as possible, getting re-invited to other festivals, maybe even new festivals. As an artist my ultimate goal is to transfer to a University in Tennessee with a solid music program, because as an artist you want something to fall back on, and I would really love to have a job in the music industry.”
Liz: “What would you describe your band’s genre as?”
Haley: “I would say mostly country, but we also mix in some 80‘s rock, some pop.”
Liz: “What are some of the difficulties you’ve experienced as a band member and fulltime student?”
Haley: “There really haven’t been many issues. It was harder when I was in high school-especially on a Friday and I would have practice ‘til late in the evening and then I had to get ready for a show. But now it’s not as bad because I just play on the weekends and college is more chill for my schedule.”
Liz: “Overall, what kind of impression do you aim to make on an audience when you perform?”
Haley: “I’m actually really glad you asked that question, it’s a good one. Okay, when I perform, I don’t care how many people there are, hundreds or five, I will still put on the same show, I want people to want to see us again versus other bands because I want us to stand out. I make sure I’m always “on” and I’ll take my microphone off and go dance with the audience, because it’s a business and you have to promote your business-and you have to energetic and friendly. I mean you want people to tell their friends and want to come see you again”
You can find more information about the band Rebel Grace at their updated website: http://www.rebelgraceband.com/ and their page on Facebook
You can also find lead singer Haley on: Twitter & Instagram
