Melanie Grace

Category: Lifestyle

  • The First Day of Summer and What It Means to a Songwriter

    The First Day of Summer and What It Means to a Songwriter

    Happy Summer Solstice! The longest day of the year. Maximum daylight. The sun at its most full-of-itself.

    I love this day. Not just because summer is my season — though it absolutely is — but because there’s something about the turning of a season that always makes me reflective. Every season is a chapter. And the first day of a new season feels like a page turn.

    Last summer I was in the thick of writing the Summer State of Mind album, channeling every pool party, every floatie tradition, every “please don’t splash my hair” moment into music. And that album — with songs like Don’t Get My Hair Wet and Floatie Tradition and Sunscreen Rebellion — came directly from living real summer life with real summer joy.

    This summer feels different. More expansive somehow. Like there’s more sky.

    Part of that is the Texas trip still working its way through my system. Part of it is the sheer volume of creative work happening right now — albums in development, a book in progress, a daily blog streak I’m very proud of, and a July release I am dying to tell you all about. (Next month. SO close.)

    But mostly it’s just… gratitude. I get to do this. I get to make music and write words and connect with people through both. That’s not a small thing. That’s actually enormous.

    What does the first day of summer mean to you? Is it a relief, a celebration, a beginning? Tell me in the comments.

    Follow me on streaming and get ready — summer is bringing something really special from me this year. Stay close. 🌞

  • The Thing About Texas (A Songwriter’s Field Notes)

    The Thing About Texas (A Songwriter’s Field Notes)

    I’ve been trying to figure out how to write about the Texas trip in a way that doesn’t sound like a travel blog, because I am not a travel blogger. I’m a songwriter. And the reason this trip matters is because of what it did to the music in my head.

    Texas is BIG. I know everyone says that, but you genuinely do not understand the bigness until you are standing in the middle of it. The sky goes on forever. The roads go on forever. The sunsets — oh my goodness, the sunsets — they look like someone turned up the saturation slider on real life.

    And I kept thinking: there are songs in this.

    Not necessarily songs about Texas. More like… songs that could only have been born in that much quiet, that much space, that much stillness. When you’re in regular life — school pickups, grocery runs, emails, to-do lists — your brain is so full that new ideas can’t find room to come in. The road trip emptied me out a little. And nature abhors a vacuum, so guess what filled back in?

    Songs.

    I have a whole notepad full. Ideas I’m still working through. Some of them will fit albums I already have in development. Some of them might become something completely new. What I know is that I will be processing this trip through music for months, and you’ll hear it eventually even if you can’t see it yet.

    That’s the thing about being a songwriter. Nothing is ever wasted. Every experience, every conversation overheard at a truck stop, every landscape that takes your breath away — it all goes into the bank, and eventually it comes out as a song.

    What in your life has surprised you by becoming creative inspiration? I love hearing these stories. Drop them in the comments.

    Remember to follow me on • SPOTIFY • APPLE MUSIC • AMAZON MUSIC • DEEZER • PANDORA • YOUTUBE and your favorite streaming platform so you catch everything that’s coming. Because a LOT is coming. 🎶

    Sign up for my email list for behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at what’s in the works!

  • Why I Write Every Single Day (And Why You Should Try It Too)

    Why I Write Every Single Day (And Why You Should Try It Too)

    Happy June 11, friends. Let me tell you about a goal I set at the start of 2026 that sounded a little crazy at the time: write a blog post every single day of the year.

    Yep. Every day. 365 posts.

    We are now almost halfway through the year, and I have not missed a day. Not one. Even on the Texas road trip. Even on the days when my brain felt like it was full of static and I had nothing interesting to say. I showed up and I wrote something.

    Why does this matter? Because discipline is the secret ingredient that nobody talks about when they talk about being a creative. Everyone glamorizes inspiration — the lightning bolt moment, the song that writes itself, the melody that appears in a dream. And yes, those moments are real and they are magical. But they don’t pay the bills. They don’t build an audience. They don’t create a body of work.

    Showing up every day does that.

    I’ve been writing songs for years, but 2026 is the year I decided to treat my whole creative life with that same commitment. I set a goal to release an album every month this year — and so far, I’m on track. January through June, check, check, check. (Through It All is one I’m especially proud of — if you haven’t listened, please go do that right now. I’ll wait.)

    The daily blog has been this quiet, steady practice that feeds everything else. It clears my head. It keeps me honest. And it connects me to YOU, which is honestly the whole point.

    So here’s my challenge if you’re feeling stuck creatively: just start writing. Doesn’t have to be a blog. Doesn’t have to be a song. Doesn’t have to be good. Just write something every day for two weeks and see what happens.

    What I know is this — somewhere between Day 1 and Day 14, something unlocks. I promise.

    Drop me a comment and tell me about your own creative goals this year. I love rooting for people.

    Follow me on your streaming platform so you never miss new music, and get on my email list for behind-the-scenes updates straight to your inbox. 🎵

    • SPOTIFY • APPLE MUSIC • AMAZON MUSIC • DEEZER • PANDORA • YOUTUBE

  • Back Home, But My Heart’s Still on the Road

    Back Home, But My Heart’s Still on the Road

    Well, I’m back. Bags unpacked, laundry going, real life fully resuming. But I have to be honest with you — part of me is still somewhere in Texas.

    A person wearing sunglasses smiles for a selfie against a backdrop of a sunny sky filled with fluffy clouds and a green field.

    We just got back from the most incredible family road trip, and I don’t use the word incredible lightly. I’m a Southern California girl through and through, but something about hitting the open road and watching the landscape change around you does something to your soul. Long stretches of highway, weird roadside stops, gas station snacks that you’d never eat at home — it’s honestly one of my favorite versions of life.

    Here’s the thing about being a songwriter that I’ve learned over the years: inspiration doesn’t always come when you’re sitting at your desk with a notebook open and the right playlist going. Sometimes it sneaks up on you at 70 miles per hour with the windows down and your family half-asleep in the back seat. That happened to me more times than I can count on this trip. Ideas, melodies, full lyric lines — just appearing out of nowhere while I was staring at a stretch of Texas sky.

    I’m not ready to spill all the details yet (stay tuned, seriously, because what’s coming is going to surprise you), but I will say this: this trip gave me something I didn’t even know I needed. Rest. Real, honest-to-goodness rest. No deadlines screaming at me. No to-do lists. Just road and family and food and music in my head.

    And music was DEFINITELY in my head. The whole time.

    I’ve got big things coming for the rest of 2026 and I cannot wait to share them with you. But right now, today, I’m just grateful for the road, for my people, and for the fact that creativity doesn’t take a vacation even when I do.

    Have you ever had a trip that just completely refilled you? Tell me about it in the comments — I love knowing I’m not the only one who comes back from vacation with a full notebook and zero groceries in the fridge.

    And if you haven’t already — follow me on • SPOTIFY • APPLE MUSIC • AMAZON MUSIC • DEEZER • PANDORA •YOUTUBE, and wherever you stream so you’ll be the first to know when new music drops. Big things are on the way. 🎶

    Follow me on Instagram and Facebook @TheMelanieGrace and sign up for my email list so you never miss an update!

  • The Maysgiving Table Is Now Available

    The Maysgiving Table Is Now Available

    Seven years ago, I set a table in May and decided to call it Thanksgiving.

    Today, I get to tell you that it is a book.

    A woman appears surprised or concerned while standing in a kitchen with various items on the counter and a QR code in the corner promoting a book titled 'The Maysgiving Table' by Melanie Grace.

    The Maysgiving Table is officially available, and I am still a little overwhelmed by what it means to say that. This tradition has lived in my kitchen, around my table, in my family’s memory for seven years. And now it gets to live in your hands.

    The book is part cookbook and part memoir. It holds the recipes that have anchored Maysgiving from the beginning alongside the stories that made them mean something. It is for the home cook who wants something beautiful to gather around. It is for anyone who has ever wanted to build a tradition but did not know where to start. It is for the person who believes that gratitude is worth a whole meal and not just a quick thought before dinner.

    The Maysgiving Table is available in three formats:

    Hardcover for the kitchen shelf, for the person who loves a beautiful book in their hands.

    Paperback for the practical cook who wants something that can be opened flat next to the stove.

    Kindle for the reader who wants to take it everywhere or search a recipe in the middle of cooking.

    Get The Maysgiving Table on Amazon: Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle

    If you have been following along for this whole series, thank you. You already know what Maysgiving means to me. You know the cranberry sauce story and the stuffing and the Gratitude Pie and all of it. Now you can bring it to your own table.

    And if this is your first time here: welcome. There is always room at the Maysgiving table. The book is a great place to pull up a chair.

    Here is to May. Here is to the table. Here is to deciding that today is worth celebrating.

    I hope to see you at Maysgiving.

    Order The Maysgiving Table today on Amazon