Watch the podcast with Delyn Grey here: https://youtu.be/STPWTB_6W8g
After listening to Delyn Grey's music and watching her videos, there was no doubt she was following in the footsteps of some of the great women rockers. I first thought of Pat Benatar. Then I thought of Nancy Wilson of Heart, and Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders — all bands from the 1970's. After tracing this history I realized one very important thing — Delyn has her own, very different style. She's still crafting what that style is. But it is her own.
Currently, her music, as with all young musicians making a name for themselves, includes a few covers. But, when you listen to her original music, you can hear the evolution of her style. When she picks up the guitar, everything changes. She becomes more animated and her videos are more about the performance. And it is in her performances that hold the secret to her success.
For example, once she started getting some notice for her music people started to respond. Such as a car dealership let them use a Ford F150 for a video shoot. Once she started taking playing the guitar seriously her onstage persona began to take shape. This was when people started to notice. And when she is on stage she takes control of it.
She loves what she is doing. She can't imagine little else. With dreams of playing big venues all over the world. However, she does not live in the clouds. She has her feet planted firmly on the ground and knows about the work that is ahead of her. Part of this foundation is surrounding herself with creative people and supportive people. Most importantly, her dad is her drummer and her biggest fan.
The realization that consistency is the not-so-secret formula to her work and how to determine what success means. The mentality she has adopted is the same as with any athlete or farmer. Just pick yourself up and keep on working. It is no surprise this is the theme behind her song “Get On Up.” It is this faith in herself that is refreshing. That and her hard rocking guitar playing.
Her older videos shows her producing very artistically beautiful black and white videos. Videos with a narrative. Videos with a story to tell. Now she lets her guitar help with telling her story.
A big Kurt Cobain fan, his music influenced her on many levels.
Her father has always been a major influence on her career. He told her to allow herself to begin by writing crap, but to refine it. She realized that her music will never be what it really could be in these early stages. The two of them write and produce all the music together.
Her father’s influence is not something that can be quantified. She says he is her biggest asset, and her biggest cheerleader. She qualifies that her mother is also 100 percent supportive, but her dad has been the one with the best advice. Mainly that is to never give up on her dream. Advice she still lives by. When I hear this about her parents I have to think, how can she fail when she has parents who encourage her this way.
It is in her nature to be the best she can be. The hardest part is to give yourself permission to make mistakes. And, to realize the best work comes from rewriting. It is a learned skill to let yourself fail; to not make everything “gold” as she says. This is how she allows herself the room to grow. Room she admits to needing right now.
Surprisingly, she finds motivation in unusual places. Getting a lot of mileage out of bad comments, she always reads all the hater comments because she knows it helps to get the word out there. Maybe jokingly, she says she responds to haters for helping her get more exposure. But, there seems to be a part of her that find motivation there as well.
Not someone to sit around and wait for something to happen — she is always working. She is spending a lot of time in her garage (the studio) making music. In fact, she plans on releasing an EP sometime soon — late September or early October. With nearly ten years of writing music under he belt she is ready to put it all into something tangible.
At 24 she knows she has room to grow. She’s happy because she is growing — and sees progress as so much a part of what is happening now. During our interview she jokes about having to figure out her life on the spot. But there is one thing that seems obvious to this writer — she is on the right path. How does anyone know they are on the right path?
To quote The Lets from our last podcast interview, “If you don’t see the path you’re on, you’re probably on the right one.” Delyn Grey is busy, writing and playing music, getting ready to do an EP, looking forward to the next live show. Busy enough to realize she is having fun with what she is doing.
So, she says, this must be the right path.
