Rising Stars: Meet Grace Russell

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Grace Russell, from Hello Darling.

Hi Grace, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Our story began when Patrick Armould and I (Grace Russell) moved to Nashville in 2020 to pursue a songwriting degree from Lipscomb University. We were both making cross-country moves (Armould was moving from Denver, Colorado, and I was moving from Mandeville, Louisiana) during the pandemic to a city where we knew little to no one.

Our first semester of college we ended up in the same ensemble class, where different music students are grouped to essentially form a band and play music together for the semester. We instantly clicked, a friendship formed and then transformed into something more, and the songs started happening along the way. Looking back, it’s so clear how we clung to each other in those early months when the rest of the world felt stuck in a state of uncertain doom, our songs and connection kept us afloat.

We would just write for hours at a time in our school practice rooms, and we created some of our favorite songs to this day, such as “From Me to You” and “American Heart.” Initially, we thought this would be a duo project, but as time passed, it continued to bloom into something bigger and better than I think we could’ve dreamt up. Our drummer, Riley O’Donnell, joined the project in late 2021, and Amber Sawyer, our bassist, joined in 2022.

With them by our side, the project has continued to expand and evolve rapidly. We started going on the road in 2022, taking whatever opportunities were tossed our way, and that has defined what our band is all about: using music as a means to human connection.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I feel like we started off this project with some tough obstacles in our way. Since it was the height of the pandemic and live music wasn’t happening, musicians were quite literally out of a job in many ways; and to look at that and decide this was the right time to start a new project we had many people looking at us like we were crazy.

But we felt like we had something important happening here, so we just tried to use that time of shutdown to our advantage. We crafted a catalog of songs, solely writing for months without sharing it with the world. We explored every nook and cranny as to who we wanted to be as musicians and people in this new project. So by the time we were able to play our first shows, we were already a year and a half into developing Hello Darling, and Patrick and I talked about all the time how that was such a blessing in disguise. Earlier this year was a difficult season for the band and myself especially. We were just wrapping up our summer run of shows at the end of August and getting ready to head back to school for our final year. When we got back to Nashville, it felt like my health just gave out on me completely.

What started as what I thought was a cold and being worn out from being on the road turned into a four-month battle of losing my vocal control and going through rounds of bronchitis, walking pneumonia, asthma attacks, having no voice, all while continuing to play shows to keep this project going. Each show turned into a mental battle; my voice was not complying, and it affected our mojo. I think it made us all realize how we are a puzzle, when one piece is missing we can’t create the intended picture. It also highlighted how we’ve turned into a big family; everyone had each other’s backs, and there was so much love there.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are Hello Darling, a folk-rock project out of Nashville, TN. Drawing inspiration from artists such as The Head and The Heart, The Avett Brothers, and Of Monsters and Men, our songs tell stories of love and loss through three-part harmony, ear-catching melodic movements, and passionate musical delivery. We pride ourselves on polished and dynamic live performances and fostering community through our music.

Patrick and I have always made people the focal point of this project, when we are writing songs we are thinking of what do we feel like people are needing to hear? How can we create a space of reprieve and joy for people amidst the craziness of this world? The most special part of this journey so far has been the people we’ve met along the way. It restores our faith in humanity to see that there are so many gracious, loving, and welcoming people in every city we travel to.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 crisis?
Covid-19 completely changed our life trajectory is so many ways. For starters, I moved to Nashville with no plans of being in a band. I thought I would be solely a songwriter, writing for other artists, and I had been chasing a publishing deal since I was 16. Looking back, I think if the pandemic hadn’t happened, I would still be chasing that path, one that, upon reflection, I do not think was meant for me.

Patrick wasn’t even planning on going to college initially; he was having success touring and playing music on the road, and if the pandemic hadn’t happened, he would’ve never ended up at Lipscomb. I think the Covid-19 Crisis, while devastating in so many ways, taught me so many important lessons, the most obvious one that life rarely goes how we try to force it to be. As a self-proclaimed control freak, the uncertainty that the COVID-19 crisis caused was incredibly unsettling, and it forced me to learn that we really have such little control over this life and how to find the beauty within that notion.

A hugely important lesson both Patrick and I carry with us is how the Covid-19 crisis exposed how precious and fragile humanity really is, and how we are stronger when people stand together. There is so much division in the world, us vs. them, and lack of responsibility for the roles we all play in the collective society that is the human race and I feel like Covid really exposed those issues.

And while we can’t change the story on our own, it created this mindset for us that we needed to create a space for people to join together, even if it’s just for one night or through a song, because those little moments remind us all that we really aren’t that different or separate from one another. We are all humans, designed biologically to enjoy the little noises that is music, and that serves a uniting reminder that we are all in this fight together.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hellodarlingband.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellodarlingband/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellodarlingband/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HelloDarlingBand
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6zdoRap0V4pVBUIa5NKl6t?si=u5i_S1yERyCcVeOuzfabtQ

Image Credits
Isaac MacDonald