STRIPLV TRENDING #213 IT-GIRL - 

GRACE BOWERS

Grace Bowers was baptized by rock’ n’ roll music. 

She cut her teeth on sweat-soaked stages 

inside dive bars and found fellowship 

in the divine playing of B.B. King. 

She once studied six-string scripture, 

written by Slash and Leslie West, for 

hours daily, mastering her favorite 

riffs on a ’61 cherry-finished Gibson SG.

As an up-and-comer in Nashville, 

Dolly Parton recruited her for a 

network television special, and Tyler Childers 

requested that she join him on stage. 

She’s played with a who’s-who of 

three-chord storytellers and guitar-pickin’ 

torchbearers – Lainey Wilson, 

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and 

Susan Tedeschi, to name a few.

And she’s not yet old enough to graduate 

high school. Phenom? Wunderkind? Prodigy? 

No matter what label Bowers may be given, 

she’s just a teenager who’s putting her faith 

in rock ‘n’ roll, one song at a time.

“It’s a cool thing,” Bowers said. “It blows people’s 

minds that I’m a 17-year-old girl playing guitar. 

And as much as I hate being labeled as that, it’s true.”

But Bowers isn’t just a sought-after 17-year-old 

guitarist storming jam sessions with her Gibson 

and a gold-blonde mop of shoulder-length curls. 

She’s a bandleader and songwriter preparing to 

leave her mark on some of the biggest stages in music. 

Her debut album, “Wine On Venus,” produced by 

ace guitarist and songwriter John Osborne 

(of hitmaking country group Brothers Osborne), 

came out on August 9th.

Listeners get a first taste of the album on the lead 

single and standout number, “Tell Me Why U Do That,” 

where Bowers and her band, affectionately called 

The Hodge Podge, deliver a throwback, feel-good 

tune jam-packed with funk grooves, soul-inspired 

melodies, and a stop-you-in-your-tracks guitar solo. 

It’s the type of song that dares listeners not to 

stand up and sing along.

Bowers co-wrote “Tell Me Why U Do That” alongside 

Osborne and his singer-songwriter wife Lucie Silvas, 

plus Nashville artist-songwriters Meg Mcree 

and Ben Chapman.

“Tell Me Why U Do That” and the rest of 

“Wine On Venus” showcase Bowers’ journey 

from a teenager who live-streamed bedroom 

practice sessions on Reddit, sometimes to 

20,000+ viewers, no less, to a bona fide 

album-maker with more than 200,000 followers 

on Instagram. She picked up the acoustic guitar 

as a nine-year-old obsessed with “cheesy” hair 

metal videos. A few years later, her fandom 

progressed to blues music after she stumbled 

across B.B. King while shuffling through 

radio stations in her mom’s car. The proverbial 

floodgates opened, leading her to discover 

essential blues artists Mississippi John Hurt, 

T. Bone Walker, and others.

A native of Northern California, Bowers and 

her family relocated to Nashville two-and-a-half 

years ago, weeks before her first year of high 

school (Bowers now studies online). Not yet old enough 

to drive, she grew her audience on social media, 

becoming a Gibson-endorsed artist by age 14.

She found her way to performing live, taking her 

skills to dive bars and pay-at-the-door rock 

clubs before graduating to guest spots at 

Newport Folk Festival, Nashville’s Big Bash 

New Year’s Eve concert, and her fundraising 

gig for victims of the city’s Covenant School 

shooting in 2023, among others.

How did one teenager cover so much musical 

ground in such a short time? “Lots of practice,” 

she said. “Lots of cutting teeth. Lots of not 

saying ‘no’ to people when I should’ve. Just being 

stubborn and persistent. I have worked my ass off 

to make this happen. Just hard work.”

On the album, Bowers and The Hodge Podge 

graduate from traditional rock and blues influence 

to sounds inspired by Parliament-Funkadelic and 

Sly and the Family Stone, she said. The group takes 

its name from a mixed bag of players that Bowers 

would invite to share the stage with on a given 

night. Despite now being a solidified group, 

the name stuck. The Hodge Podge includes vocalist 

Esther Okai-Tetteh, bassist Eric Fortaleza, drummer 

Brandon Combs, guitarist Prince Parker, and keyboard 

player Joshua Blaylock.

Bowers co-wrote most of “Wine On Venus” in 

songwriting circles, a creative exercise that 

took her “a hot second” to comfortably navigate. 

But listeners wouldn’t know a first-timer was 

behind much of “Wine On Venus”; that’s clear on 

“Holding On To Something,” a savvy and confident 

number anchored by a riff Bowers began toying 

with years ago, she said. The song features a slow-building 

solo that culminates with harmonized playing and a 

high-flying howl from Okai-Tetteh.

“I never forgot that riff, and I was jamming on it one 

day with a friend of mine. We were writing some lyrics 

to it, and we called over Esther,” she said. 

“This was the first time we had ever written [together]. 

It turned out to be that song.”

“Wine On Venus” features a cover of Sly and the Family 

Stone’s “Dance To The Music” that takes on a Hodge Podge twist.

This year, Bowers and the band take “Wine On Venus” on the 

road for a run of dream-making festival shows, including 

slots at BottleRock Napa Valley, Bristol Rhythm & 

Roots Reunion, Bourbon & Beyond, and Pilgrimage Music 

& Cultural Festival, among others.

But a booked schedule doesn’t mean Bowers isn’t already 

thinking about the next project. Like most people who 

believe in something, she wants to discover where this 

rock ‘n’ roll journey leads her.

“I love it,” she said. “Seeing where I can go with it, 

I still have so much to learn.”