Interview with Rising Country Star Harper Grace
Image Courtesy of https://harpergracexo.com/
By John Maggio
Harper Grace, a 21-year-old from McKinny, Texas, is a rising star in the county music industry. She is best-known for her audition for American Idol in 2018, where she made it to the top 50 before being eliminated. After her elimination, she was brought back for the season finale to sing “Yard Sale”, an original piece and performed on the show prior to her elimination. When looking back on the show, Grace said that it helped her “learn who [she was] as an artist” and she made sure she “stayed true” to who she is.
Before her time on American Idol, she first gained national notoriety at the age of 11 when in 2012 she poorly sang the Star-Spangled Banner at a soccer game. Looking back at this performance, she wishes to overcome her past with her upcoming song “Oh Say Can You See”, a song she describes as an autobiography to her younger self, coming out on May 19, 2023.
On American Idol, she showed the world her dream board, a depiction of images and goals that she made soon after her 2012 national anthem rendition. Two of her goals off that dream board, moving to Nashville and auditioning for American Idol, she has achieved.
She makes these boards every year, with short, mid, and long-term goals. Some of the goals Grace has on her board now include to one day headline her own tour, to win a Country Music Association Award, and to perform solo at the Grand Ole Opry, a well-known live country show in Nashville dating back to 1925.
Her discography is very impressive for her young age, especially since she wrote all of them. “Yard Sale” is about selling her boyfriend’s stuff after a breakup with a chorus that can get stuck in your head after just one listen. She got inspired to write it at the age of 15 due to her love of romance movies and her ability for storytelling. Her newest song, “Sparkle”which was released earlier this year, is a song she says is all about her . A Texas girl at heart, she says that hunting with her father inspired her to write this “summer feel song” to let anyone “find the sparkle in their life”.
When looking at the many other great singers in the industry today, she says she wishes to one day sing with Ingrid Andress or Morgan Wallen. While she wishes to one day sing with either of these country stars, her true inspiration is the great Dolly Parton. Grace remembers fondly of her youth when she would dance when her nanna, the only other family member with any musical talent, would play Parton’s “Jolene” on the accordion.
Grace says that she has her Chrstian faith as a “bedrock of her life and career”. Her faith, which she says keeps “joy and love in her life”, has “carried her through the trials of her life and career”. She says that her motto in her life and career is that she “does not platform if it doesn’t have a purpose”, seeing her music career as a way to reflect her true self. She says that “we are all created with talents” given to us by the Creator, with Grace having a gift for storytelling, song writing, and singing.
On Grace’s instagram it is filled with images of friends, fame, and fashion. Due to her love of fashion, she says she is one day hoping to come out with her own fashion or makeup products.
Being from just outside of Dallas, she is a big Cowboys fan, but is growing fond of the Seattle Seahawks and the XFL due to a close friendship (and she says a potential future relationship) with a certain unnamed player.
On July 28, 2023, she will come out with her third song of the year, “Freedom”. This song is not one written by her, but is a song she says “that related to [her]” the moment she heard it.
