Grace Givertz: “Papa”

A banjo-driven single from one of Boston’s favorite folk-country balladeers. It’s Grace Givertz, one of our 2023 BMAde Betterz nominees. She’s a balladeer in headlights on this song, an ode to the lessons learned from her father. Whether or not those lessons have taught enough to meet our present moment of social and cultural catastrophe, Givertz can’t say. And neither can the listener. But the singer-songwriter captures and communicates the heft of emotional perplexity to create a shared musical space in which we remember we’re not alone with our troubles however fragmented and absurd the world might seem.
Stream, share, buy to your heart’s content.
There’s no more experiment in “experimentalism” — who cares?
Intricate Mouse Work put on their lab coats at Midway Cafe.
Collected Works: all the reviews from The New Colossus Fest 2025.