Grace Theisen (pronounced “Tyson”) is a queer Americana artist originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating from Hope College in 2014 with a double major in Gender Studies and Psychology, Grace moved to Nashville, TN from 2015-2018 to run her nonprofit, Songs Against Slavery, full-time. Their mission was to raise awareness and fight sex trafficking in the U.S. through benefit concerts. They ended up raising over $375,000 to aid in the fight. In that time, she opened for Emmylou Harris, played the infamous Bluebird Cafe, participated in songwriter rounds at The Listening Room and opened for Matthew Perryman Jones at The Nashville City Winery.
In 2019, Grace moved back to Kalamazoo to pursue music full-time. Since then she has created quite the buzz. Grace won Cari Cole’s Best New Artist of 2021 and was named “Artist To Watch” by Michigan’s Local Spins media outlet in January of 2022. In March of 2022, she released her 3rd EP, Dance With The Shadows. From that EP, the Down To The River Official Music Video won Best Americana Video & The Audience Choice Award at the 2022 Michigan Music Video Awards. Behind the Rain was picked up by one of Spotify's official playlists, Home At Last. She was also named by Revue Magazine as one of the “Top 10 Bands Heating Up The Summer.”
Grace kicked off 2023 with a splash making her debut performance at the 2023 WYCE Jammie Awards. Grace was nominated for several awards including artist of the year. Her Master of Fire music video was nominated as a finalist in the Toronto Women's Film Fest and was shown at the 2023 Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival. Last summer she and her band played several huge Michigan venues and festivals including: Kalamazoo Pride, Frederik Meijer Gardens, Local Spins Fest, Bliss, Buttermilk Jamboree, Dunesville and Earthwork Harvest Gathering Music Festival. This year Grace will play Hoxeyville and Mile of Music.
In the beginning of June 2023, Grace came out on her social media as queer alongside the release of her newest single, Honey’s Dripping. She wrote Honey’s Dripping about her journey of falling in love with a woman. She also released a music video to go along with the song that features LGBTQIA+ dancers.
Her most recent single, Ghost Town, is out now. She is also 1/3 of the band, The Rebel Eves, an empowering Americana girlband featuring herself and 2 other Michigan natives, Katie Pederson and Jilian Linklater.