The Miracle of Mira Grimm
15 Year Old Prodigy on the Fast Track to Bigger Things
She’s 15 years old and you can find yourself astonished because Mira can drop your jaw in one tune.
Every now and then someone comes along who makes you look at things differently. Mira is such a person. When it comes to music and artistic thinking – just plain thinking – Mira Grimm is a person without limits. Where many say “can’t” Mira declares “Let’s!” It was only a few weeks ago when I was in her audience listening to her introduce her next, freshly-written tune. She introduced her song, lyrically on behalf of a ghost looking back at their own life – that led them to this point of their own existence.
Wow.
15 years old and already thinking about ideas at the size of this.
What’s more, as many of my seasoned music pals will attest, she is doing the work. Well on her way and ahead of schedule on the whole 10,000 hours concept. Way ahead of her time.
The rest of the time, she remains charmingly a 15-year old. When we see each other she starts dancing in place and starts saying things like, “Yay!” or starts singing playful impromptu expressions. Always an episode of joy.
As far as her music goes, she’s already playing a lot. Clubs, festivals. She fronts a rock/blues trio, and was a scholarship recipient from the Blues Ignition program this past year, which exists under the umbrella of the NY state Blues Festival. She constantly tackles new material, seemingly from any genre just because she’s curious. She tries new musical things with the same nonchalance as a person sampling hor-d’oeuvres at a culinary social. “Hey check that out, Let’s try this.”
I have yet to hear Mira use the word, “can’t.”
And everybody can learn a lot from that.
Meet my good friend, Mira Grimm.
Chuck Schiele: When did you start playing music, and how did you start?
Mira Grimm: I was always interested in music ever since I was little. I remember I used to figure out how to play nursery rhymes on my little toy piano, and I’ve always had a natural sense of rhythm. I was around 7 when I got my first guitar, I saved up and bought it with the money I got during the holidays. However, I never really took it seriously until I was around 10. I first met my guitar teacher Jason Kessler at an art festival downtown. I remember I was so inspired and intrigued with what he was doing so I stood there and watched him play for a while, and on a break I asked “can I play your guitar” and he said “Sure!” I was so excited, I strummed some chords and hummed a little melody. He mentioned he taught classical guitar lessons and I begged my mom to sign me up.
CS: How might you define your music? The styles you play?
MG: I would say my music is a wide variety of pop, rock, blues, Americana, folk, indie, and alternative. Sometimes all in the same song!
CS: You are very ambitious. You’re playing a lot of shows.
MG: Yea, actually a lot of the shows were shows I didn’t even book. People came to me and I just accepted them. I’ve met a ton of people at open mics and I’ve had so many opportunities because of the networking I’ve been doing.
CS: Tell us about your cool band.
MG: Well, I met my drummer Joey Trovato at an open mic and soon after I was playing bass and singing in a local blues band called “Modern Mudd” with him. I played with Joey in Modern Mudd for about 6 months which gave me a lot of experience fronting a band. I then moved on to focus on my solo career but I always knew Joey had potential, he’s a great drummer. Over the summer I was blessed with the opportunity to be a part of Blues Ignition which was put together by the NYS Blues Festival committee. There, I met my guitarist/bassist Anthony Vasquez. Anthony picks up things so quickly and he’s very coachable. Me, Anthony, and Joey practiced every day the week before the NYS Blues Festival and we got really tight. We gelled good together and I knew from then on, I had my band. Although all of us are under 18, people have told us that we play like we’re way older and I’m grateful that I’m able to play with kids that match my energy.
CS: …And you’ve been recording too.
MG: I’ve been lucky enough to have a mentor like John (JB) Brown, who I met at an open mic night at the night drop when I was around 13. He wanted to help me get started, so I started recording my original songs at his studio called “The Dungeon Studios” and he’s given me more than recordings, he’s given me knowledge and support that I didn’t know I needed. Since then I’ve recorded over 12 original songs, and I’m working on getting them mixed and finalized at “Subcat Studios.’’ I plan to have a CD release party at The Maplewood for my birthday on December 9th.
CS: The thing about you that most catches my attention is your writing. Tell us how writing works for you.
MG: It works in a lot of ways, sometimes I just need to explain how I’m feeling at the moment so I grab my guitar and start messing around with chords and melodies that sound like how I feel. Often my melodies are happy accidents that I turn into songs. I feel like my lyrics are like art sometimes; you have to look into it to see the true meaning. I also think of music a lot like therapy, my writing has gotten me through so much and I hope I can help other people with it too. I believe that music can explain things that words can’t.
CS: I can see you developing pretty darn rapidly. How do you go about learning?
MG: Right now the way I’m learning is from trial and error and watching people play. I soak up information, my mom says I’m like a sponge when it comes to music and I’m a really good listener. I haven’t had a guitar teacher for a couple years but I’ve been taking voice lessons with Nancy Kelly and it’s helped me improve a lot. Also the support from the music community has always motivated me to keep going.
CS: What was it like being a part of the Blues ignition program?
MG: It was really cool! I think everyone in the band learned a lot from Todd Fitzsimmons and it was fun to hear all the cool stories he had about famous people he met being in the music scene. Edgar Pagan also taught me some stuff on bass and helped all of us out with dynamics and rhythm. I’m so grateful that I was able to play on the same stage Buddy Guy and Samantha Fish were on. And being on such a big stage made me so happy, I had fun.
CS: So, like…you wanna be a professional musician when you grow up?
MG: Yea, my goal is to help people with my music because helping people helps me. I also want to go on tour at some point and play a bunch of blues festivals because going on tour has always been my dream.
CS: What’s coming for your music in your near future?
MG: I just got my band “Mira Grimm and The Reapers” up and running and I’m hoping that will go somewhere…as for solo stuff, I’m still working on my CD with all my original songs on it, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear it!
CS: Tell the nice music lovers out there how we can all stay in touch with you and your music.
MG: You can follow me on:
Instagram: @miragrimm_
Facebook: @Mira Grimm
YouTube: @MiraMusic!
CS: Thank you so much for this interview my friend. As always, I love chatting and visiting with you.
MG: Thank you for the opportunity!
Chuck Schiele
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