Gracie McGraw chatted about her forthcoming “I Will Probably Cry” concerts in New York.
She is a performer with over 13 years of theatre experience. She is the oldest daughter of country artists Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. “I’m mostly an actor and a performer who sings for theatre,” she said.
New York shows
McGraw will be making her New York solo debut on July 21 and July 30 at Chelsea Table & Stage in New York City. Both of these concerts will feature several surprise guests. “I am really excited, they are going to be fun,” she admitted. “My friend Calum Francis is singing with me on the first night, and my friend Justin Sargent is singing with me on the second night, it’s going to be great.”
In her show “I Will Probably Cry,” McGraw will take the audience on a journey through her love life, featuring theater songs and hits from the ‘70s that speak to different aspects of relationships. The band will be led by music director Jacob Yates. “I’m a big crier,” she admitted.
“I cry all the time, so I thought it would be funny and relatable. A lot of the songs are about love essentially, and different forms of relationships. The fact that I will be doing this show on my own is also going to be emotional. With these shows, I want to get people into my brain.”
“I hope people see me as a performer and as a human being and an individual. I hope they see where my heart comes from, and see what makes me emotional, happy, sad, or mad,” she elaborated.
Cover songs
McGraw revealed that she will be doing a cover of Liz Phair’s “Why Can’t I?” for her first show, and she will be switching it up to Todd Rundgren’s “Can We Still Be Friends” for her second show.
She noted that she will also be doing cover songs by such artists as Kim Wilde and MUNA. “I just love MUNA so much that I would love to do one of their songs,” she said.
The digital age
On being a part of the digital age, McGraw said, “It’s interesting. It’s hard to combat not being on social media. I only have one form of social media, and that’s Instagram, and to be honest, that’s enough for me because I am probably on it too much. If I am on anything else, I will probably get stressed out.”
“I really try to be as authentic as possible and honest how I am feeling, whether I am depressed, or when I am open and honest about body image issues. That is the only way I would be able to survive the Internet, simply by being myself,” she added.
‘Here Tonight’ with Tim McGraw
She recalled being a part of the duet “Here Tonight” with her father Tim McGraw. “That was a fun song, my dad asked me to do that with him, and that was right before I went to college, so I feel that was kind of emotional for him,” she said. “Every time I hear it, I get excited.”
On the title of the current chapter of her life, McGraw said, “I Will Probably Cry.” “Honestly, that’s the title, which is also the title of my show,” she said. “If I were to ever write a memoir, it would be called ‘Memoirs of a Gracie’, which is so funny and dumb but I love it.”
Dream duet choices in music
McGraw listed Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, and the late singer-songwriter Nick Drake from the ’70s. “I’ve always wanted to play Better [Midler] in something, that would be a lot of fun,” she said.
Success
On her definition of the word success, she said, “Success, to me, is continuing to lead down a path where I feel happy and comfortable, and being surrounded by my friends. Also, doing what I love until I don’t want to do it anymore.”
To learn more about Gracie McGraw, follow her on Instagram.
