DT: MARCH 10, 2022

FM: KELLY WALSH, MITCH SCHNEIDER/ SRO PR

MACKENZIE GRANT
DEBUTS LYRIC VIDEO FOR FOURTH SINGLE
“ALL OF THIS”
TAKEN FROM HER SOPHOMORE ALBUM
‘WONDER WORLD’

DUE MARCH 18
VIA BLACKBIRD RECORD LABEL
PRE-SAVE “ALL OF THIS HERE

Nashville-based singer, songwriter and musician MacKenzie Grant has shared a fourth track, “All of This,” from her from her upcoming March 18 album WONDER WORLD via Blackbird Record Label. The song “offers a message of authenticity and self-acceptance,” describes Cowgirl Magazine who premiered its lyric video yesterday, March 9. Watch the lyric video streaming below and pre-save “All Of This, which will be available digitally Friday, March 11,” HERE.

“This song is about owning your stuff and accepting where you may have fallen short with others and yourself,” divulges MacKenzie. “Becoming comfortable with the darker, less flattering aspects of myself helped me to cope with and have patience and compassion for the darkness we have been facing globally in terms of racial, economic, political, and environmental events. I think taking responsibility for our own mistakes or personal areas of deficit is the first step in building the empathy we need to create a more just, equitable, and compassionate world. If we can embrace the dark and the light in ourselves, maybe we can collectively face the darker places in our society with more empathy and hope. In order to grow and change, we can’t just own the wins, we have to own all of it.”

WONDER WORLD marks MacKenzie’s return to music after a 15-year hiatus during which time she worked as a school counselor in a high-poverty and high-trauma preschool. Her experiences during this time influenced her writing for the album, covering deeply personal themes such as self-reckoning, feminine empowerment and overcoming negative mindsets. A further sense of intimacy is heard across the album as she utilizes her classically trained musical background to provide keys and organ in addition to her compelling vocals. Additional accompaniment is provided by Josh Kaler on pedal steel guitar on various tracks.

MacKenzie has previously shared two original tracks–“Putting Down Some Things” premiered via Americana Highways and “Little Girl”—as well as a cover of Joni Mitchell’s timeless single “Borderline” which Americana UK praised stating, “Grant’s version of the song is beautiful; the exquisite melody is delivered in her clear, pure voice.” WONDER WORLD was further complimented by Music Connection, who reviewed the album in their March issue, for its “cache of touching and well-crafted tunes” while proclaiming that “the album is about truth telling and shedding personal conflict with hypnotic, compelling and dreamy sonic landscapes.”

Pre-save WONDER WORLD now at https://smithmusic.ffm.to/662582257922.

For more information on MacKenzie Grant, please visit:
WEBSITE | IG | FB | TWITTER

PR ASSETS: www.sropr.com/portfolio/mackenzie-grant

###

For press inquiries, please contact:
SRO PR
Kelly Walsh – kwalsh@sropr.com
Mitch Schneider – mschneider@sropr.com

DT: FEBRUARY 24, 2022

FM: KELLY WALSH, MITCH SCHNEIDER/ SRO PR

NASHVILLE-BASED SINGER/SONGWRITER/PIANIST
MACKENZIE GRANT
DEBUTS INTIMATE NEW SINGLE/MUSIC VIDEO
“LITTLE GIRL”
IN ADVANCE OF FEBRUARY 25 RELEASE

SOPHOMORE ALBUM
‘WONDER WORLD’
DUE MARCH 18
VIA BLACKBIRD RECORD LABEL
PRE-SAVE “LITTLE GIRL” VIDEO HERE

“A little too tall
A little too thin
A little too scared to look within
Well, I don’t blame you”
—MacKenzie Grant, “Little Girl”

“I wrote this song as a message to my younger self,” says Nashville-based singer, songwriter and musician MacKenzie Grant about “Little Girl,” the third single from her upcoming album WONDER WORLD due out March 18.Ahead of the track’s release this Friday, February 25 (pre-save it here), MacKenzie has today (2/24) premiered the intimate music video for “Little Girl” via YouTube HERE. It was filmed at her home and the beautiful Ellington Agriculture Center in Nashville, by her 13-year-old son Bram who co-directed it with her. Read a Q&A with MacKenzie on “Little Girl” and its music video below.

After taking a 15-year hiatus from the music industry–during which time MacKenzie worked as a school counselor in a high-poverty and high-trauma preschool–she has returned with her transformative sophomore effort WONDER WORLD via BlackBird Record Label. Produced and engineered by Phil Dubnick, the self-penned album highlights MACKENZIE’s classically trained background featuring her on vocals and piano while featuring accompaniment from Josh Kaler on pedal steel guitar on various tracks. Its lyrics stem from her experience working as a counselor covering deep themes such as self-reckoning, feminine empowerment and overcoming negative mindsets.

MacKenzie debuted the album’s first single “Putting Down Some Things” in January via Americana Highways which wrote: “Grant’s songwriting is informed by witnessing a wave of these elements of the human experience, and the gentle easiness of her vocals helps to soothe the soul.” This was followed by her sharing a cover of Joni Mitchell’s timeless single “Borderline” earlier this month which Americana UK praised stating, “Grant’s version of the song is beautiful; the exquisite melody is delivered in her clear, pure voice.” Elsewhere, in an album review in the March issue of Music Connection, Eric Harabedian praises the “cache of touching and well-crafted tunes. The album is about truth telling and shedding personal conflict (‘Memo To My Sister’ and ‘Little Girl’) with hypnotic, compelling and dreamy sonic landscapes. ‘Turn the Other Way’ explores the end of a relationship, with a rhythmically dense and jazzy lilt. ‘Coffee and Wine’ and the uplifting ‘Putting Down Some Things’ are emotionally charged and lyrically astute.”

Pre-save WONDER WORLD in advance of its March 18 release here:
https://smithmusic.ffm.to/662582257922

Credit: Bram Fairhead

MacKenzie Grant Q&A

There is a looming undertone to the lyrics that alludes to overcoming trauma or abuse with lines such as “You know that nothing bad lasts for very long” and “Cause the darkness is so deep, And so killing, And the devil takes your hand, And you go willing, And he f*cked up so bad, That you are coming undone.” Can you elaborate on the intention behind these lyrics?

MacKenzie: “I wrote this song as a message to my younger self. When I became a parent, I was able to see myself as a child with more compassion. I experienced abuse throughout my childhood that I internalized as me being deserving of, that it was happening because I was inherently not any good. As a parent, I was able to see through having my own children that no child is deserving of those circumstances. But most children take responsibility and ultimately blame themselves.”

Throughout the song you are speaking to “Little Girl” and trying to portray wisdom for the future. The lyrics repeat the question “what are you running from?”. If the ‘little girl’ could respond, what do you think she would say?

MacKenzie: “I actually started running at a young age. I would leave my house and just run for a while. At the time it was to get away from what was happening and to feel like I had some power to escape for a while. So, I started physically running to get away from emotional pain pretty early on. But then as an adult, I was running psychologically from pain for years. I left relationships, friendships, etc. when I felt my past pain catching up with me. I felt so responsible for my abuse that I would end things or walk away because I ultimately didn’t believe I was deserving of them.”

How do you feel this song will resonate with those that suffered trauma in their childhood?

MacKenzie: “There is a loneliness and isolation to abuse. When you are experiencing it, there is shame around being the abused. Most people blame themselves and don’t reach out for help because they are embarrassed that it’s even happening. Understanding the difficulty and stigma around being open about what survivors experience, often times hidden from everyone else, is really important. Many of us have had to keep secrets and hold on to that responsibility when we never should have. Letting others know that you can get to the other side of it, understand more clearly what happened, and forgive yourself for how that abuse has affected your life and your choices is something I wanted to share with others. I think it helps to connect people experiencing that isolation that comes from childhood abuse.”

Noting your past experience as a grief counselor working with children in high poverty & trauma areas, can you share how that may have influenced or inspired this song?

MacKenzie: “I have always felt a strong connection to the most vulnerable people in our society, children being at the top of that list. I was a child with a lot of privilege who experienced a lot of trauma. The children I worked with had in many ways so many more obstacles and disadvantages that I often didn’t see my experience as even in the same ballpark. But trauma is trauma. It was really in working with these kids that I started to see my experiences as just as valid and needing of processing as theirs.”

Where was the video filmed and who directed it?

MacKenzie:“The outdoor shots were filmed at the Ellington Agriculture Center in Nashville, close to where I live. My son, Bram, who was 13 at the time, did the filming and co-directed it with me.”

Why do you feel the footage of you walking in this rural location illuminates the song’s emotional heart?

MacKenzie: “The landscape of the park was perfect in that with it being winter, the trees almost look like skeletons. It is a very quiet, contemplative, and healing place. That experience of being in such a raw, beautiful, isolated and stripped-down place is much like the emotional experience of living with and honoring the experience of abuse.”

For more information on MacKenzie Grant, please visit:
WEBSITE | IG | FB | TWITTER

PR ASSETS: www.sropr.com/portfolio/mackenzie-grant

###

For press inquiries, please contact:
SRO PR
Kelly Walsh – kwalsh@sropr.com
Mitch Schneider – mschneider@sropr.com

DT: JANUARY 6, 2022

FM: KELLY WALSH, MITCH SCHNEIDER/ SRO PR

MACKENZIE GRANT
–NASHVILLE SINGER, SONGWRITER AND MUSICIAN–
RETURNS AFTER 15 YEARS WITH NEW ALBUM
‘WONDER WORLD’
DUE MARCH 18 VIA
BLACKBIRD RECORD LABEL

SHARES VIDEO TODAY FOR THE ALBUM’S MOTIVATIONAL FIRST SINGLE
“PUTTING DOWN SOME THINGS”
OUT THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 7

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Photo Credit: Ashley Hylbert

Nashville-based singer, songwriter and classically trained pianist MACKENZIE GRANT has returned to music after a 15-year break with the upcoming release of her sophomore full-length album WONDER WORLD due March 18 via BlackBird Record Label. Produced and engineered by Phil Dubnick, the album was inspired by GRANT’s time away from music working as a school counserlor in a high-poverty and high-trauma preschool covering themes suchs as self-reckoning, feminine empowerment and overcoming negative mindsets.

WONDER WORLD features songs written by MACKENZIE plus a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Borderline.” The album’s first single is “Putting Down Some Things,” the video for which was premiered yesterday by Americana Highways. Beautifully written and sung by MACKENZIE, the song is a moving and infectious country song about self-renewal which Americana Highways praised, stating that “Grant’s songwriting is informed by witnessing a wave of these elements of the human experience, and the gentle easiness of her vocals helps to soothe the soul.” Watch the music video streaming below or HERE.

“Putting Down Some Things” will be released digitally this Friday, January 7 and can be pre-saved at this link: https://linktr.ee/mackenziegrantmusic.

“As a former counselor, I worked with children affected by poverty, marginalization, domestic violence, generational trauma–all things that were not their fault or theirs to carry as innocents,” shares GRANT. “I tried to foster resilience and self-compassion in them. When I took a break from this work, I found I was crippled by many of the mindsets they lived with on a daily basis: shame, self-blame, fear, criticism, etc. I knew I had to give the same allowance and self-compassion to myself that I had encouraged in them.”

She continues to share the meaning behind the track, stating that “‘Putting Down Some Things’ is born of the idea that the way so many of us treat ourselves, the mental self-degradation, is ultimately just our brain trying to stay safe and protected. But that’s the big lie; that we have to beat ourselves up in order to find motivation and growth. I had to start putting down that self-criticism because it no longer worked. We’re all connected in our suffering and with the events of the past couple of years, we’ve experienced it exponentially. But for most of us it’s our own inner voice doing the most damage. It’s accepting ourselves and giving our suffering compassion that is needed to heal us, individually and collectively.”

As a naturally gifted musician, GRANT has been writing and singing for as long as she can remember. A native of Syracuse, New York, and the daughter of two classically trained musicians, she effortlessly blends the clarity of her singing voice with the raw emotion in her lyrics. After three years at the University of Michigan, she transferred to Berklee in Boston, where she received positive feedback on her songwriting from her professors and peers alike. GRANT relocated to Nashville in 2000 after visiting the city with friends on spring break and discovering that it immediately felt like home.

Just before moving, she’d made an independent album that attracted the attention of a hit songwriter in Nashville, who invited her to write and record together if she ever came to town. That connection helped open the doors to the city’s songwriting community, as she developed an audience through playing writers rounds and releasing the 2006 album, The Laundry Room Glamour Hour. Around this same time, she also married and started a family, but gradually she became disillusioned with the music industry and her first marriage ended.

Now remarried and raising three children (a high schooler, a middle schooler, and a preschooler), she is once again using music as a way to connect with others and herself.

For more information on MacKenzie Grant, please visit:
WEBSITE | IG | FB | TWITTER

###

For press inquiries, please contact:
SRO PR
Kelly Walsh – kwalsh@sropr.com
Mitch Schneider – mschneider@sropr.com