Pacific Northwest soul star Grace Love stopped by the KNKX studios in early 2024, promoting her latest EP Work In Protest. During this memorable studio session, Love spoke about the story behind the EP's title and how it also serves as a personal source of motivation.
"Sometimes you have to go against the grain, and sometimes people are protesting what you're doing. Sometimes they are like, 'no, that person doesn't deserve what they need.' Everybody's a work in progress. We all know that, right? We're working to be good people," she said.
Love said she imagined a picket line outside her house, but she still had to get to work. She still had to raise her son.
"So it was just like in the midst of the storm, just continuously pushing myself to keep going forward. No matter what, because people are gonna talk and people are gonna say what they need to say, but that's not your story. And so I wanted to create my own narrative now."
Based in Port Townsend, Washington, Love is as busy as ever. At the time of her studio session, the full-time mother and artist was also finishing graduate school, creating new music, and cultivating community. No stranger to different surroundings, this time, however, Love had to be more patient with her newfound community, but she hit the ground running and cultivated a space for herself and other artists in Port Townsend.
"It's been hard. It's been difficult. It's a small town. It's beautiful," Love said.
"I remember the first time I ever went out there, it was to teach with Centrum, and that was such a cool thing. It was my first big time being a teaching artist. And I was just like, 'oh yeah.' Oh, not the hustle and bustle of the cities, because I've lived in New York City, I've lived in Europe. And so it was just like, really nice to like, chill. And right now I'm working on an artist residency program at Port Townsend."
Creating a home vibe comes naturally to Love and after working with some of her bandmates for almost a decade, her studio session felt more like a Sunday family dinner than an actual recording. It's an experience that's new to Love and her journey of creating community.
"In previous groups, it was just like, No, this is about music. We're just playing music. We're not family, and that doesn't sit well with me. If we're playing together, that's something very intimate. And this is my family," Love explained.
"I trust them to support me in a way, and so community is just about having a space to be vulnerable, and I've gotten to do that with them, and also be direct like, 'this is what I need from you, and you're not giving it to me,' and them not taking it personal, them just knowing that it's coming from a place of love. And I've never in my life thought that this configuration of my band would be such, because this is magic."
With community comes showing up as your full self and Love's artistry is a reflection of her growth. Asked about a previous interview where she emphasized "embracing weirdness" and how her weirdness has allowed her to shape an authentic life and community, Love had this to say:
"Well, I am a Black, queer woman...and I'm neurodivergent. And I got all these little things, all these little tick-y things and stuff that I realized, like, 'Oh, you were just like, masking.' And it got really hard to do that...I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I was born in the South, but I grew up here, and we're a different kind of breed. Being a Black person here, I'm different than a Black person from the South, right? Let yourself unmask and find people that support that and love you in spite of what a whatever society is telling them to do."
