LILY GRACE

Music Row Freakshow’s ‘Freak’n Fridaze’

Friday June 23, 2023

@ The Local in Nashville, TN

(Review By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

There are so many different options to choose from for a live music experience in Nashville on a Friday night, but there’s only one place that fully embodies the spirit of their memorable slogan to “Come A Stranger…Leave A Local.”

The Local Nashville, situated on the vibrant West End side of town, holds true to the age-old notion that a stranger is just someone you haven’t met yet as great food, cold drinks, and incredible original music brings everyone together – no matter where you’re from - as one big happy family of Nashvillians. 

The very popular Music Row Freakshow has become a must see for discovering the strongest emerging talent on the songwriting scene, just as the incredible independent music outlet Radio Sobro has. It makes sense then that with Terri Jo Box (the freakshow’s founder) out of town this week, Radio Sobro stepped in to take over for her in front of a packed house who were ready for a Friday night good time. 

An international flare spread throughout the night with Australia’s Lily Grace, who now calls Nashville home, setting the pace during the opening round of music.

"I got to Nashville about 4 months ago and I’m absolutely loving it," excitedly told Lily with a smile on her face while referring to her recent move to town. “I came to Nashville for the first time in June last year and my high school gave me off 7 weeks, so I was trying to cram as much as I could into this little time bracket. I booked about 50 songwriting sessions, had 20 meetings, and it felt like I was doing everything I could to follow the dreams and so I wrote a song about it,” she introduced as she opened with her current single "Follow My Road," igniting the crowd with its driving tempo and the carefreeness wrapped into her voice as she optimistically sang through lyrics of throwing caution to the wind and trusting the path to take you where you need to be…one positive step at a time.

"Take A Little Time" then worked to showcase a completely different side of her arsenal, slowing things down to a simple strum through an addictive melody that saw her pouring her voice into a lyric that grabbed strongly from the storytelling attribute of country music’s ideals as she impressively moved her vocal through its registers, sliding into higher placements while expertly hushing at all the right moments to enhance the power of each word through the unravelling love story that followed the twists and turns of young love from first crushing to eventual break-up.

Striking back into the irresistibly catchy with "Maybe So," Lily’s ultra-modern pop country flare shined brightly as she pumped through the all too frequent scenario of unexpectedly catching feelings and playfully lusting within them, intriguingly running her voice up each melody line to lace an addictive groove that kept everyone shoulder dancing along with her.

“This last one is for anyone who has ever been told their relationship isn’t going to work out because they’re too young … and it’s about betting on it when no one else does,” she enthusiastically spoke as she closed out the opening round with the radio-ready, mid-tempo "Bet on Us," stamping all her distinctive feels into one three-minute piece, leaving a strong signature impression on the crowd while aptly introducing who she is as all-around singer, songwriter, and on the verge artist.

FULL SET LIST
1) Follow My Road
2) Take A Little Time
3) Maybe So
4) Bet On Us

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