Anna Graceman

Anna Graceman is a young American singer-songwriter and pianist whose self-penned songs and music have gained attention at home and abroad.^[1][2] Her style of music incorporates elements of folk, soul and rock. As of 2014 she has written and performed over 60 of her own published songs;^[3] releasing her debut album on September 25, 2012.^[4][5] In 2009, at the age of 9 years old, Graceman made several appearances on American national television^[6][7] including the The Ellen DeGeneres Show (October 7, 2009) and performed her song "Paradise".^[8] Later in 2011, at the age of 11, she gained wider popularity with her performances in the sixth season of the America's Got Talent competition.^[9] In 2013, she performed 43 shows at The Palazzo Theater in The Venetian Hotel and Resort for eight weeks. Her performances there brought her critical acclaim.^[10] Graceman has a substantial Internet presence. Collectively, her YouTube views exceed 150 million views. Her America's Got Talent audition video alone has over 35 million views as of December 23, 2013.^[11] In 2014, Anna Graceman stated that she had moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue her songwriting and work with the musicians there.^[12]

Early life

Anna Graceman was born in Juneau, Alaska, to a stay-at-home mother, who played classical music to her before she was born. At three months old, Anna Graceman's parents started displaying flashcards for her to read and gain word association. This sparked the love of writing music. By the time she was 18 months old, she had memorized the lyrics of many classical and modern tunes. At the age of two, Graceman was not afraid of singing in front of crowds.^[13] When she was four, she could play the piano fluently. At the age of 6 years old she wrote her first song, "So I Cried".^[14] Graceman states that her family was poor while growing up in Alaska. The mini-van that her mother drove didn't have a working radio or CD player in it, so her mother would sing to her while they were driving. Driving time meant singing time.^[15][16]

Singer-songwriter

From the age of 6 to 14, Graceman had reportedly written and performed over sixty of her own songs and released an album in 2012.^[17] She writes both the lyrics and the melodies for all of her songs,^[18] and typically only sings and performs her own material. Nearly all of her known songs have been released by her on her YouTube^[19] and Soundcloud channels. Her Soundcloud channel appears the most complete, with rare and early versions available.^[20][21][22]

In April 2013, the International Songwriting Competition announced that Graceman had been announced as one of their finalists. The judges include such notable songwriters as Tom Waits, Jeff Beck, Bernie Taupin and Mark Foster^[23]

Notable appearances and performances

October 7, 2009 (age 9) – Ellen: Graceman appeared on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show and performed an original song she wrote called "Paradise".^[24] DeGeneres praised her performance.^[25] Graceman said that her family had been putting videos up on YouTube since April 2008. She uploaded "Paradise" in August 2009. Someone at YouTube took notice of the video, and decided to feature her among a small group of child musicians. After watching Graceman's "Paradise" video, DeGeneres invited her to sing it on the show.^[26] (Graceman said it was great fun and a great experience.) During that episode, DeGeneres invited her back to meet Taylor Swift on a subsequent show.^[27]

April 20, 2010 (age 10) – 36th Alaska Folk Festival: Graceman performed at the annual festival along with other folk and bluegrass bands. A local reviewer stated, "There were several sets where the young and gifted stole the show, making me realize I was watching Juneau's version of "Who's Got Talent" – particularly when 10-year-old Anna Graceman sang all her original songs."^[28]

Summer, 2011 (age 11) – America's Got Talent Season Six: At her audition, Graceman performed "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys while accompanying herself on the keyboard. She received a standing ovation from Howie Mandel, Piers Morgan, and Sharon Osborne, the show's three judges.^[29] Her audition video went viral on the Internet and caught the attention of the mainstream press.^[30][31][32] The video garnered over 28 million views on YouTube, the most of any America's Got Talent audition video.^[33] In the Vegas round, Graceman performed "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele, again playing the keyboard. In the quarterfinals, she performed "What a Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong). The judges' unanimous acclaim reflected the votes she gained, qualifying her for the semi-finals.^[34][35] Her self-accompanied performance of "Home Sweet Home" (Mötley Crüe) earned her another standing ovation from the judges, and a spot in the Top 10.^{[36][37][38][39][40]} As the competition was becoming tougher and the judges expected more, Graceman went with something different for that round; her song was "True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper), but for the first time on the show, she performed without the keyboard.^[41][42][43] It didn't quite pay off, as she fell short of making the finals.

October 28–30, 2011 (age 11) – Caesars Palace Colosseum: Graceman participated in America's Got Talent Live along with other season six favorites, including Landon Swank, Team iLuminate, and winner Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.^[44] At the request of Caesars Palace, she returned to the Colosseum for the following New Year's Eve concert.^[45]

October 11, 2012 (age 12) – The Great American Music Hall: Graceman opened for Grammy-nominated group The Lumineers as part of the INgrooves Fontana ten-year anniversary at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Other notable acts included Caveman, Little Hurricane and The Crystal Method.^[46]

February 25, 2013 (age 13) – Palazzo-Venetian Theater Residency: Graceman performed at the Palazzo Theatre in the Venetian for seven weeks (43 shows).^[47][48] Famed reporter Robin Leach saw and wrote:

An unexpected teenage star was born Monday when ... Anna Graceman, just 13, stole the show! The triple-threat talent hails from the wilds of Alaska, but she sings well enough to rival Alicia Keys. She also plays piano as grand as Sir Elton John and writes songs as gifted as Adele and her idol, Taylor Swift. Incredibly, it’s her second starring spot on The Strip. As an 11-year-old on Season 6 of the top-rated NBC series, Anna was part of the touring version when it stopped for two nights at Caesars Palace in 2011. Her debut album was released last year. It was an incredible performance Monday night. It won her wild applause and a standing ovation. The pint-sized charmer is one giant talent and here now for seven weeks. I know she will one day return to The Strip headlining in her own right.^[49][50]

August 28, 2014 (age 14) – Inaugural YouTube Music Night in Los Angeles: Graceman performed at the first YouTube Music Night in Los Angeles. The event was held at the studios in the YoutubeSpaceLA facilities.^[51][52]

October 29, 2014 (age 14) – Inaugural YouTube Music Night in Nashville, Tennessee: Graceman performed at the first YouTube Music Night in Nashville, Tennessee. The event was held at the Pinewood Social Event Center in downtown Nashville.^[53][54]

Another Girl records

Anna Graceman records for her own independent label, Another Girl Records. The label has a world-wide distribution deal through INgrooves Fontana.^[55][56]

Graceman (Band)

Anna Graceman announced the creation of the band called Graceman. ^[57] The band's style of music incorporates elements of folk, soul and rock. Anna Graceman leads the trio. Their original melodies are accompanied by the soulful tone of Anna's voice and her acoustic piano accompaniment. Allie Graceman on rhythm guitar and Landon Graceman on drums. ^[58]

Eponymous album and other releases

September 25, 2012 (age 12) – Anna Graceman: Graceman's eponymous album was released and consisted of ten songs: "Showtime" (her first single, released two months earlier), "Crazy World", "You're a Mystery", "Change Is Coming", "Superstar", "Can We Figure It Out?", "The Only One", "That's Who I Am", "Whispers", and "Lexi's Lullaby".^[59] The album was produced primarily by Will Hollis (music director for The Eagles and Shania Twain). The track "Superstar" was produced by Grammy-award-winning Darius Harrison aka Deezle.^[60][61]

Notable musicians Anna Graceman has worked with

Disney

In 2012, Disney approached Graceman and requested the right to non-exclusively license her early original YouTube videos. They can be found in the video section of Disney's website.^[76]

YouTube

Graceman first started uploading her original music to YouTube on April 30, 2008.^[77] Her total number of unique views on YouTube surpassed 100 million as of May 1, 2014. As of February 27, 2015, she has 119,846 subscribers and 35,319,836 views on her primary YouTube channel.^[78]

Producer

Since the beginning of 2014, Graceman has produced nearly all of her released music. These include "Speak to Me", "Living in Denial", "High Places", "Already Fallin", "IDK", "Miles Away", "Poison", "Never Meant to Me", "Leap of Faith", and "Blink".^[79] Some of the selected musicians she has used in the production of her songs include Chuck Sabo,^[80] Brent Mason, Randy Hope-Taylor, John Hobbs, Jim Horn, Glenn Worf, Bobby Terry and Eddie Bayers^[81][82][83]

Musical influences

Graceman credits Carole King, Alicia Keys, Adele, Taylor Swift, Motown, and The Beatles as her main inspirations.^[84][85]

Studio albums

All currently released music by Anna Graceman

References

External links

• Official Website
• Official SoundCloud Channel