She may have the disarming beauty and down-to-earth charm of the girl next door, but you don’t mess with Grace Weber. She’s a force to be reckoned with…

The Milwaukee native, who now lives in Brooklyn, has sung on the famed “Showtime at the Apollo” in Harlem, at the Kennedy Center, The Ella Awards, and on The Today Show.  She was recognized at young age by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and their core program YoungArts, naming her a National Winner in Popular Voice and a Presidential Scholar in the Arts.  Grace has even graced the Oprah Winfrey Show, handpicked by Oprah herself from hundreds of thousands of entrants in a national video to perform on the program.

In the short time since the self-release of her debut album Hope & Heart, Weber has garnered not only a sizable fan base, even outside of her native Milwaukee where she remains at headlining status, but from coast to coast. The album’s release in late September clinched a sustained top ten spot on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts, reaching #8, coinciding with a triumphant performance at the Official French Commemoration of 9/11 in Paris, Grace having been the only New York pop singer asked to take part, entertaining the likes of dignitaries from all over Europe, as well as the Mayor of Paris and the French Ambassador to the United States.

Now Weber takes it global, not with a worldwide tour (yet), but through the good graces of Starbucks, who will be adding Hope & Heart track, “Baby Come Down,” to the well-placed playlist of their roughly 10,000 well-trafficked locations all over the Big Blue Marble on January 3rd for the remainder of that month.
Press has also been taking notice, Billboard giving her “Artist To Watch” status, American Songwriter posting her heartfelt cover of Warren Zevon’s “Reconsider Me,” and Power Popaholic saying of Hope & Heart, “… this Milwaukee native has a terrific voice… the bouncy guitar of “Stay of Leave” will win you over. The poignant and soulful approach to “Leave the Light On” will keep you transfixed — and then it lights up with “Hitchhiker.”

Grace’s formative experience in music came when she was 10 years old, joining the Inner City Youth Gospel Choir in Milwaukee, where she performed regularly at churches and revivals around the city. Over time, she’s deftly melded those early roots in soul and gospel with a modern pop sensibility of such artists as Adele, Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles to forge a musical identity of her very own. In describing her output, Grace says, “I think we borrow from a few different genres, including pop, old school singer/songwriter and jazz. The core my music always comes back to a modern version of ‘soul,” in that I try to tell stories through my lyrics that I hope can touch people, and I always try to sing from an honest place.”

You can find dates supporting the Winter and Spring “Hope & Heart Tour” at www.graceweber.com/gigs.  Grace will be performing on NPR’S Mountain Stage on Feb. 12th along with Ben Lee, Marc Broussard, and Fountains of Wayne and she’ll be opening for Colin Hay at Turner Hall in Milwaukee, WI on March 8th.

Check out www.graceweber.com for music, videos, photos, tour dates and a free download from “Hope & Heart.”