Grace’s Lighthearted Into The Wide Open Sky Enlists the Help of the Cowboy Country Legends to Confront their Country Western Demons (Nashville, TN) May 4 2015 – Singer-songwriter Grace Adele and her Grand Band have completed a brand new album featuring members from the legendary Country Western group Riders in the Sky. “I’m not that serious of a person,” Grace Adele explains, “Sometimes my songs can be more serious than not, but I wanted the chance to just sings songs that are entertaining and uplifting.” Where many singer-songwriters face the temptation of navel-gazing, writing deeply personal songs for the sake of conquering their own demons, Grace has always sought to entertain outwardly. So when she wanted to learn the dance rhythms of jazz, swing and country western music on the guitar, it was easy to find inspiration in her local Nashville music scene. There she sought out Ranger Doug, commander-in-chief of the legendary country western group Riders in the Sky, who she approached about lessons one night during a show at the Station Inn. Ranger Doug turned her down with a better offer – explaining that though he didn’t give lessons, Grace and co-songwriter Keenan Wade were welcome to come over to his home, aptly dubbed “Harmony Ranch,” to jam with him anytime. They happily accepted. Meanwhile, while binge listening to satirical Country Music Hall of Famers Homer and Jethro, Grace and Keenan began to write and collect a set of songs different from anything they had done before. Their previously folky, down-to-earth approach to songwriting all of a sudden had a peppy backbeat and, as Grace applied what she had been learning from Ranger Doug, the songs began to take on a distinct country western vibe. “The set of songs we used on this album is really funny because the set of songs don’t sound like the song we normally do,” laughs Keenan. “Grace’s music is usually more songwriter-based and more folky and a lot more complex. It’s not really this swing-y upbeat material.” Though she loved the new approach, Grace still felt like the resulting set of songs was missing something vital. It was on the song “Wrong Day” that she realized the exact sound that the album was missing. So, she sent this simple text message to Ranger Doug one afternoon: Would you and members of Riders in the Sky be interested in playing on my new album? In short, Ranger Doug said yes. Grace and Keenan both grew up admiring classic music – classic country, jazz, the Tin Pan Alley songwriters – and those early styles reflect so much of what the two stand for. Their songwriting is uplifting, heroic and simple, but hearken back to the time of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, an interest the duo shares with the Riders and a torch the Riders in the Sky carried from equally legendary Sons of the Pioneers. “Ranger Doug and I were talking about Western Movies and how he tries to keep on the sunnier side of westerns,” reflects Keenan, “They’re heartwarming to watch, especially the Gene Autry because he stands for this character who is doing good no matter what. There’s no ulterior motive – they’re inherently good and heroic.” The simple, unprocessed authenticity became the common thread for the group as they entered the recording studio. With the help of engineer Phil Harris and his PH Balanced Recordings Studio plus the vintage ribbon microphone that was used in RCA’s Studio B in the 50s, Grace, Keenan, Ranger Doug, Too Slim, and Woody Paul recorded the album live, all around the one microphone in what Grace described as, “even better than I could have ever imagined.” “They just have those classic 3-part harmonies that’s almost like the Jordanaires,” says Keenan, “and you don’t hear that anymore! That harmony was what we imagined and what we needed - that classic sound.” The resulting album is infused with a “Patsy Cline meets Ray Price meets Riders in the Sky” feel, with fresh originals and a surprising cover of the classic Hank Thompson song “Too In Love.” For the band, the album and their friendship with members of the Riders in the Sky was a surprising process of coming full circle. In 2011, a younger incarnation of the Grand Band competed in a bluegrass band competition in East Hartford, CT in an attempt to determine if they truly were a bluegrass band. The judges ultimately told them, “You all sound like Riders in the Sky, what are you doing at a bluegrass festival?” It wasn’t until this album, nearly three years later, Grace and band finally found the sound they had all along. “Yeah we got 4th place out of 5 bands. So it was the best fail ever!” laughs Grace. Into The Wide Open Sky is an album for everyone – music written to be entertaining and enjoyable. Keenan adds with a chuckle, “I guess this is what it looks like when you fight your country western demons.”