My recent encounter with Baker Grace at a WFNM showcase night at Hotel Ziggy was my third time catching her set (all via WFNM). Interestingly, five years have passed since I first came across Grace via an online WFNM set in 2020. Time flies by rather quickly. My first live set was in 2022 at the, unfortunately, now defunct Black Rose. I will say somethings always stay the same. As a photographer, I have a Notes from Vivace Rule, which is if a musician looks directly into my camera lens I will post the photo on Instagram (with the caveat being that I've taken a decent photo of the look). She gave me the look in 2022 and then come 2025 she gave me the look again.
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| Baker Grace at Hotel Ziggy |
She opened the set with "Wrong Kind Of People". It is a song about her teen years when she was signed to a record label. "Always looking for the wrong kind of people. To show me the way." It is a wonderful introduction to her breezy pop sound. The lyrics can be viewed in a negative light, but it is such a cheery pop tune that I have the feeling that it is really a song about determination to learn from missteps and push forward. I recently saw the band The Palms (I've followed that band since their Terraplane Sun days) and they have a similar themed song called "Push Off".
That interpretation of "Wrong Kind of People" got a positive checkmark later in then set. Her song "It Ends With Me" is about "not repeating old patterns and making different choices." Her unreleased song "Internet Eyes" is about social media and was the first time she sang it live.
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| Baker Grace at Hotel Ziggy |
"Butterflies" came out in 2024, five years after "Wrong Kind Of People". She mentioned that it was her "first happy song I wrote and I felt like I had nothing figured out, but I just had this sense of peace that I would figure it out . . . " Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounded to me like it was a sequel to "Wrong Kind Of People" and is therefore about finally ending an unfruitful relationship with her record label. It isn't her most streamed song on Spotify, but I love it so who cares what all those Spotify users think (wait a second, I'm one of those users). The song has the most carefully placed piano chords (were heard via tracks) that give the song a chill jazzy undercurrent. I think she's done some re-arranging of the song since releasing it. The live version included a final flute like sound that sent the song flying off like a butterfly.
Moving on at my own speedWalking towards a better me
Filling my cup to the top
Just like I should
Top it off, I did notice that she has a butterfly tattoo.
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| Baker Grace at Hotel Ziggy |
Side note: she left her cell phone on the Ziggy Hotel stage floor. I noticed that the next singer up removed it and put it on a circular drink table. I noticed Grace searching her belongings a few minutes later and knew she was trying to find her phone. I picked it up and tried to get her attention. A friend grabbed it from me and handed it to her. Hopefully, no one thought I was trying to steal it.
Setlist: Wrong Kind Of People, Butterflies, It Ends With Me, How You Feeling Right Now?, Internet Eyes, Not So Sweet.
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