Artist Spotlight with Grace Frances

There is a striking honesty to Grace Frances's music. She isn't interested in pretending that faith means life suddenly becomes simple, or that becoming a Christian means leaving every difficult emotion at the door. Her songs are concerned with the messier territory of regret, temptation, difficult relationships, self-forgiveness, and the slow process of becoming someone new.

That perspective is at the heart of her debut album, Clothed With Dignity. Recorded in just five weeks, the album captures an extraordinary period of transformation in Frances's life, both spiritually and creatively.

Frances's own path to faith was far from straightforward. Raised Catholic but searching for something deeper, she spent time exploring astrology and New Age practices before eventually beginning to question the direction her life was taking. Her subsequent discovery of Christianity changed not only her understanding of faith, but the way she viewed herself, her relationships and her purpose.

That transformation inevitably found its way into her songwriting.

On Clothed With Dignity, Frances doesn't shy away from the parts of her story that might be uncomfortable to share. Having entered the studio with poems, faith and very little in the way of conventional storytelling experience, she has emerged with a debut alum and is now turning her attention to a second.

Along the way, she's discovering how her eclectic musical influences, her Christian faith and her experiences can coexist in the same creative space.

We spoke with Grace about the spiritual journey behind her music, the vulnerability of putting her past into songs, redefining empowerment through faith, learning to write songs in the studio, and what comes next now that she has discovered that music may be far more than simply a creative outlet.

Your journey into Christianity involved a great deal of searching and questioning. Was there a particular moment when you realized you weren't simply exploring faith anymore, but were genuinely ready to surrender your life to God?

When I moved to Georgia, I was growing in my personal relationship with God, but I was also seeing an astrologer who did tarot card readings for me. After two months of living there, I started feeling a deeper desire to attend church and seek God. Around that time, I came across a testimony on YouTube from a former astrologist who spoke about the spiritual reality and hidden dangers of New Age practices and astrology. Watching that video - and another one like it - was a turning point. I gave up everything that took me away from God and fully surrendered my life to Him.

You’ve spoken about being a “lost young woman in Miami” and feeling that the world was telling you to go one way while your heart was telling you to go another. What did that period of your life teach you about listening to your own inner voice, and ultimately to God?

It taught me that the people I was following were just as lost as I was—it was truly the blind leading the blind. That realization gave me a fire to become who I was meant to be, regardless of my environment. People will always have opinions on how I dress, how I behave, or my purity, but at the end of the day, it’s just noise. I’ve learned that when you seek God's will above all else and tune into His voice alone, He will always lead you down the right path. You might not see it in the moment, but looking back, you realize He has never failed you.

“Clothed With Dignity” asks God to help you forgive the person you used to be. That is an incredibly vulnerable thing to put into a song. What was it like hearing those words back once they had been recorded?

I actually considered removing that line because of the sheer vulnerability and the fear of how people might interpret it. But after praying about it, I knew God wanted me to keep the lyrics exactly as they were. I realized it had the potential to bring healing to other women who were carrying that exact same quiet weight.

You’ve said that you don't want to force your songs into being positive or glamorize difficult experiences. Do you think Christian music sometimes struggles with being honest about pain, and what do you hope your own songwriting can contribute to that conversation?

Yes, I do think Christian music can sometimes fall into the trap of skipping straight to the "happy ending." Life with God isn't a constant high—it includes long seasons of healing and suffering. When we don’t acknowledge what full surrender truly entails, it can make people who are struggling feel isolated or ashamed for not being "joyful" enough. I hope my songwriting inspires others to be completely transparent with God, showing that faith doesn't mean ignoring the pain—it means carrying the honest truth of that pain directly to Him.

What does it mean to you to be a woman of faith in a culture that often defines female empowerment very differently?

Culture often tells women that empowerment comes from self-reliance, building your own empire, and behaving in a masculine way. To me, true empowerment is found in complete surrender to God, leaning into a femininity aligned with His design, and anchoring my identity in who He says I am. It means stepping away from the pressure to prove myself or conform to a mold that leaves me spiritually empty. Walking in His design brings a quiet strength, a guarded heart, genuine peace and fulfillment that the world's definition of power can never replicate.

Your songs draw from very real experiences, including destructive patterns, emotional exhaustion, regret, and the struggle to forgive yourself. Is there a song you've written that was particularly difficult to finish because it required you to confront something you would rather have left behind?

There is a song on my album called “You Weren’t Good for Me” about a family relationship God called me to let go of because it was hindering my spiritual growth. Writing, recording, and listening back to that track was incredibly heavy because the wound was still so fresh. I dearly loved this person and wanted them in my life, but I ultimately had to surrender to the will of God

You recorded your debut album in just five weeks. Did the speed of the process capture something spontaneous about this particular season of your life, or were there moments when you wished you had more time to process what you were creating?

The pace forced me to let go of control. When you don't have time to obsess over every detail, you have to lean heavily on discernment—trusting that whatever comes out in that moment is exactly what you were meant to create.

Your musical influences range from Michael Bublé and Toby Keith to Depeche Mode, Mac Miller, and Kanye West. How do those seemingly different influences find their way into the music you are making now?

Lately, I've been drawing heavy inspiration from Toby Keith and Kanye West while writing my second album. I recently wrote a track called “Here’s To The Ones” after talking to my cousin, Carl, who serves in the Army. He opened up about how many soldiers are quietly fighting intense emotional battles, isolation, and mental health crises. I drew on Toby Keith’s storytelling style to write a patriotic anthem honoring both fallen soldiers and those still fighting. Musically and lyrically, I’ve also been inspired by Kanye West’s earliest albums - specifically his fearless honesty and sharp cultural observations.

There is a recurring idea throughout your music that we are not defined by our worst moments. Having experienced such a significant personal transformation yourself, what would you say to someone who believes they have gone too far or made too many mistakes for God to redeem their story?

I honestly can’t recognize the woman I was before God saved me. He healed me and is shaping me into someone I never imagined I could become, but always felt called to be. There is nothing too hard for God, and Scripture is filled with stories of Him transforming broken people to do incredible things. In my own life, I’ve seen Him use me to reach people I thought were completely unreachable. Surrender your story to Him and watch what He does—I dare you.

Now that you've experienced the huge leap from someone who loved writing music to becoming a recording artist, what do you think Grace Frances the songwriter is beginning to understand that she didn't know when she started this journey?

How to actually structure a song! When I first walked into the studio, I brought nothing but poems and faith. I didn’t know how to write a standard song structure, and I wasn’t a trained vocalist. But my producer, Eddy Beethoven and I made it work. I learned an incredible amount through the process, and I’m taking all of those tools directly into crafting this next album.

Listen to Grace Frances's latest single "Clothed With Dignity":

Connect with Grace Frances on her Website