Today we’d like to introduce you to Gracen Wynn
Hi Gracen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
From a very young age, I knew singing and performing was my passion. When I was a little girl, I would frolic around my backyard singing my favorite songs pretending I was in music videos or on stage arenas. I would sing my heart out, hoping anyone could hear me. In elementary school, some of my teachers would even have me sing for my entire class (and I never backed down, of course). I would mainly sing songs by Ellie Goulding, Gabrielle Aplin, Avril Lavigne, Demi Lovato… The list could go on. I also had a fixation with the show ‘Shake It Up’ on Disney Channel, and I would learn the new dances every week and pair them with my favorite songs (then, unfortunately, make my mom sit through a whole performance). Within all of these moments, I always caught a sliver of my future in music and what that could possibly look like. For the longest time, I didn’t know what I was meant to do with my singing: I was lost. I knew I couldn’t keep singing other peoples’ songs when there was so much I needed to say, but I didn’t know how.
Once I began middle school, my passion for singing was still strong, but things started to fall through the cracks. I struggled heavily with my self-image due to my severe acne, as well as body-image issues. The presence of social media was starting to skyrocket, and I was pretty much glued to my phone 24/7 in constant states of comparison to other girls. In 7th grade, I wanted to start my own YouTube channel to share singing videos, but whenever I would record something and watch it back, I would look at myself with disgust. It was a constant battle between my mind and heart. One of the only things that kept me going was my choir class with my teacher and director, Mary Sadler. She is a light of a woman, and would constantly push me to do my best. Our little choir from the (then) small town of Aubrey, TX was invited to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and that is an experience I will never forget. I eventually moved back to Plano once the bullying at my middle school was starting to get very serious very quickly.
Around my junior year of high school, things started to take a turn for the better. I was becoming more confident in myself due to many life changes, and with that came about my passion for singing again. I uploaded my first singing cover of “you were good to me” by Chelsea Cutler and Jeremy Zucker on September 1, 2019. The response from my friends and random strangers on the internet was overwhelmingly fulfilling and kind: I had never experienced anything like it. It was then that I realized, “Okay, this matters. How can I keep moving?” The following week, I received my first acoustic guitar as a gift for my 18th birthday, and that’s when I knew I was going to make this real.
Fast forward to a little more recently, Fall of 2021 as a sophomore at the University of North Texas. I began starting to take my guitar playing more seriously and paired it with singing my favorite songs. This led to me taking part in musical events on campus (due to COVID restrictions being lifted). Each time I sang, I felt a pull to try my hand at writing my own music. On March 27, 2022, I wrote my first full song called “Grey”. It was one of the most liberating feelings I had ever felt, and though it wasn’t that great of a song, I knew it was just the start of something special to come. As the time went on, writing songs became easier for me.
In June of 2022, I wrote a song that would be one of my most special pieces of work, and my debut single: “Father’s Day.” This song holds an important place in my heart because of the years worth of meaning behind it. Growing up, I never had a dad. I’ve never met him, nor do I know anything about him. Every year, when Father’s Day comes around, I see everyone’s posts about their dads, and though it makes me happy to witness the love that’s shared, a part of me is always envious and filled with resentment because I never experienced the love of a father for my own. Writing this song was a way for me to express some of these feelings and come to terms with what I’ve felt on every Father’s Day since I was little, and for that it brings me a little more peace.
Though I am still new to making my own music, it has been a blast learning how to create new sounds and connecting with like-minded people in different communities around the metroplex and even the world. A goal of mine I still want to achieve is to record in a professional studio (though my bedroom has been pretty awesome)! Some of my favorite genre influences are folk, pop, indie, instrumental, ambient, and EDM. I am currently playing gigs in my local areas and working on new music that I am SO excited to share with the world. There may be something coming in July…. You’ll just have to keep your eyes peeled.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of my biggest struggles in my life has always been comparison. As I mentioned before, I would compare myself a lot to the girls around me or that I would see online. The roots of this still bleed into my musical journey now, which I try to put in check every time I notice it. A quote that has helped me overcome this is “There’s no comparison between the sun and the moon: They shine when it’s their time.” Something that has also helped is constantly reminding myself that we are all on our own personal journeys in this life. It can be easy to forget or disregard the accomplishments we’ve made when someone in front of us doing “better” or doing “more,” but that does not mean what we do and what we’ve done isn’t important, because it completely is. No growth is linear, and we are all trying, which is more than enough.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a singer/songwriter that specializes in music: more specifically singing, playing guitar/piano, and producing. I think I am known most for my singing and songwriting. Something I am most proud of is not giving up on myself when there are many times I could have. During a certain period of my life, there were times that I would look to drugs or hanging around the wrong people to help me cope, but I’ve realized that there is so much more to this life than resorting to things that are damaging. Something that sets me apart from others is that my work is a direct reflection of who I am and the unique experiences I’ve gone through since I was little. Whether that be writing about what it was like to grow up as an only child with a single parent, overcoming bullying and depression, or using drugs and understanding genetic alcoholism… it is all a reflection of what I have been through and why I am still standing strong today.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I like best about our city is the abundance of opportunities for anyone and everyone! I didn’t know how I was going to get into the music scenes of the Dallas area, but with a little research, I quickly realized there are so many community events and concerts to be a part of in any capacity. What I like least about our city is the drivers and traffic, haha.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gracenwynn.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/gracenwynn
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/gracenwynn7
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/GracenWynn
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gracenwynn
Image Credits
Cecelia Elaine
Shelby Danielle Miller
Macy McClish
Anahi Avalos
