In Grace Enger's Neighborhood
In New York City’s vibrant East Village, Grace Enger sits in her apartment bedroom playing guitar and experimenting with new melodies, just as her family did during holidays when she was growing up. Enger was introduced to music in elementary school when she started musical theater, and she continued to write and play songs throughout high school. Enger now attends NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
At NYU, Enger connected with fellow songwriters and students David Alexander and Sadie Jean. One of the songs they recorded together, “WYD Now,” went viral on TikTok and earned them notoriety within the music industry. Enger’s growing popularity led her to visit Los Angeles to write for other artists such as Stephen Dawes, Bebe Stockwell and Lyn Lapid – all while continuing to work on her own music.
Image courtesy of Bridget Craig
Enger describes her music taste as “a combination of pop, folk, soul and rock.” Her most recent release was a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “River” and she cites the legend — whom she calls “one of the greats” — as an inspiration for her music. “I discovered Joni’s music later in my life, but it feels like she’s been with me all along. She is such an incredible singer, lyricist and guitar player. I am so inspired by how she can make mundane things so profound.”
“I discovered Joni’s music later in my life, but it feels like she’s been with me all along.”
Enger is inspired by musicians her parents introduced her to, including the Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, The Beatles, Fiona Apple, Stevie Wonder, U2, The Who and even Bruce Springsteen.
In August 2023, Enger released her EP, Well Here We Are. “It wasn’t even intentional,” she says. “It was the combination of a year and a half of writing and producing songs until I was like, ‘yea I think I want this to be an EP.’”
Image courtesy of Dylan Ng
The album includes seven tracks, including Enger’s favorite song to perform “Me to You.” Enger says, “hearing people screaming it back to me is so much fun.” “The Neighborhood,” the artist’s most popular song, was produced first, accumulating over 2.5 million streams on Spotify.
“Everything about WHWA was built around that song – my fans call themselves ‘neighbors’ now because of it,” says Enger.
Enger wrote “Bad Guy” first and “imytn” last on the record, and explains her songwriting process further, saying, “I write largely about my life in order to process things I’ve experienced. I find interesting chords and start humming and fill in the blanks with words that feel relevant to what I want to talk about.” Enger goes on, “It was definitely very challenging: getting every song and visual to a point where I could stand behind it no matter what. But, eventually, I got there and I’m so happy and proud [of] it being my first piece of music out in the world – forever.”
Enger, on touring, says it is “one of my favorite parts of my job, if I can even call it that.” Enger recently opened for Maisie Peters on The Good Witch tour across the United States.
“Touring with Maisie was honestly life-changing. I grew into my confidence as a performer so much, and watching how hard she works and seeing it pay off was so inspiring,” she says. Enger had meet and greet opportunities with fans across the country during the tour, and merchandise was available for purchase, notably including a t-shirt that read, “I was one of Grace Enger’s first 10,000 fans!” While her fan base continues to grow, she says it’s incredibly fulfilling to “meet [the] people on the other side of these songs” that have been impacted by her music.
Now that The Good Witch Tour is in Enger’s rearview mirror, there’s a new one coming up. The Bewitched tour with Laufey — who recently won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the Grammys — will feature Enger as an opener, along with Adam Melchor and the Wasia Project. Enger will begin her leg of the tour on April 8 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, BC, and end on April 22 at Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA.
Enger says, “I’m so excited to go on tour with Laufey because I’m excited to show my music to an audience that may not seek out my music on their own.”
Image courtesy of Samantha Monendo
In addition to touring, Enger says there is a lot of new music coming soon: “I think, recently, I’ve been locking into the sound I want to chase for the next project, which is so inspiring and feels amazing. I can’t wait to share it, and I think it’s some of the best music I’ve ever made.”
Heavy traveling, songwriting and performing is coming up for Enger and fans — or rather, “neighbors” — are excited to see what she has in the works. Enger listeners are presumably biting their nails as they continue to press for new releases in her Instagram comments. Until the day she does drop more music, the fans will be waiting in her corner, and Enger will definitely be keeping friendly with the neighborhood as she continues moving forward in her career.