Gillian Grassie is wandering the world, harp-sack on her back

By Erica Phillips
Published: July 20th, 2009 | 7:00am

There are pros and cons to playing a cumbersome Celtic folk instrument like the pedal harp, but 23-year-old Gillian Grassie takes them in stride — she’s been through a lot with this curvy, wooden companion.

From the age of 12, Grassie studied Celtic harp and voice intently, letting her love and ambition carry her all the way to festivals in the “old country” — Edinburgh, Scotland to be precise. There, she attended performances by some of her favorite harpist heroes, brazenly joining them on stage as a spunky teenager from the States.

But she didn’t stop there. While she was in high school, Grassie’s parents separated about the same time she discovered Ani DiFranco (sound familiar?). Like the ground-breaker she is, Grassie took her angst and her harp to Switzerland for a year, and started writing folk music that would win over local hearts upon her return to home, sweet Philadelphia.

Eager to start her music career, Grassie finished high school a year early and started gigging — landing her first show at the suburban Philly singer-songwriter haven, the Point. She attended nearby Bryn Mawr College (again, polishing off her degree in three short years), and continued charming and surprising audiences around the Northeast with her lively curls, spirited giggle, and folk-pop ballads “about one-night stands.”

For an instrument that is largely seen as orchestral, calling to mind formal settings and religious traditions, this has been new territory for the artist and her fans. “There’s a set of pre-conceptions, and there’s also a propriety that’s associated with the harp,” Grassie explains. “When you see harpist-singer-songwriters like Joanna Newsom or myself … bringing these things into smoky little clubs, it is a little bit of a shock.”

Earlier this year, Grassie’s uncommon music and her award-winning songwriting (not to mention her success in booking all her own shows and publicity, her broad and supportive network of musicians in Philadelphia, and her international experiences) caught the attention of the prestigious Watson Foundation. Grassie’s 2008 proposal, entitled “Artist 2.0: The Impact Of New Technology On Independent Music” was granted by the foundation, and she is set to commence on a 12-month, round-the-world research trip at the end of July.

During the year, her work will encompass both performance and first-hand research, interviewing and playing with musicians in Germany, France, India, China, Japan, and Indonesia. Using her own career experience to-date as a guide, Grassie will examine the effects of recording and promotional technology on independent music around the world, looking particularly at non-Western music and seeking out traditions that are at risk of being “left behind.”

“I kind of feel like I won the lottery,” she declares. “I can put together a tour that’s prioritized around where I’m gonna find cool musicians and people to work with instead of where I’m going to make the most money, which is unbelievably liberating.”

Grassie has certainly set herself quite a task — how (we were certainly wondering) will she possibly transport her harp to six different countries in 12 months? As we could have expected, Grassie has already thought the entire thing through in agonizing detail. Clothes will be packed in with her harp and the backpack, all inside a larger, fiberglass, airplane-safe container. Upon arrival (each of the six times), the shatter-proof contraption will be stored, the harp slipped into the backpack, the clothes zipped up in a duffle, and her laptop tucked snugly under her arm. Amazing.

The logistics are a no-brainer for this one. And if she’s true to her word, Grassie has promised a West Coast tour upon her return to the States, plus a full-length album by next fall. If she’s true to form, it’ll be sooner — stay tuned.

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