That voice. That bloody, booming voice. You’ll always remember the first time you heard Grace Cummings’ stop-you-in-your-tracks vocals.
Already hailed as an Artist You Need to Know by Rolling Stone, Cummings released Ramona, the album she’d been building towards for a while, last year. Her voice was utterly commanding across 11 diverse tracks, whether she was belting out a rocky number or slipping into a downward ballad.
Cummings’ album resonated with so many receptive listeners, but as she told Rolling Stone last year, she creates music for herself just as much as she does for her fans. “I write a lot of songs to keep myself company or because I’m lonely,” she said. “I want to hold my own hand. I want to feel something in my body. And being able to inhabit a song like that is like jumping into cool water.”
When an artist cares about their own music so viscerally, we hear it, we feel it. It’s what makes Cummings a special performer. —Conor Lochrie
Read an exclusive interview with Grace Cummings below. Check out the full Future of Music 2025 list here.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: How was 2024 for you? What were your biggest achievements and favourite moments?
Grace Cummings: 2024 was a very good year. It’s the year that my third album, Ramona, was released and the year my band and I toured it around the world. My biggest achievement was being able to recognise how resilient I could be when I really needed to be. When ya get thrown in to the deep end, sometimes it’s hard not to get tired of treading water and drowning or ducking and weaving from the sharks.
You can’t build resilience on your own, though. Everybody around me for that album and everything subsequent to it – my family, band, crew, management – helped lead me there. (Meeting with longtime love, Cheryl Waters of KEXP, wasn’t too bad either.)
My favourite moment may have been playing our first Ramona tour show in LA, because we were joined by Jonathan Wilson and Drew Erickson who made the album with me. I love those guys and we were all very pleased and proud of what we’d made together.
Music is an increasingly crowded and competitive field. What’s one thing that makes you stand out from other artists?
The one thing that you can give to the world that it doesn’t already have is you. Your true self. There’s no competition for that.
What’s coming up for you in 2025 and beyond? Any big shows, notable releases?
We’re excited to play Victorian milestone festival, Golden Plains, in early March. Then I’m gonna go and tour with My Morning Jacket for a bit in the US, which I can’t really get my head around ‘cause they’ve been one of my favourite bands for so long and it’s bizarre they even know who I am.
Then I’m gonna play my little arse off and record an album. Beyond 2025, I hope to know myself a little better and let myself be in the world with a little comfort, some regulation, and much joy.
