New single ‘P.C.H.’ from sun-soaked folk pop duo McGrane & Wallace
Imagine two close friends living directly across the street from each other for years and never realizing that they both possessed a hidden talent.
DD McGrane is a native Angelino born and raised in the heart of the San Fernando Valley. She grew up with a father who would load up his kids every day after work for a drive to Zuma. The beach was his favorite place and it soon became DD’s favorite place, too. A true California girl.
DD picked up the guitar after being inspired by watching her mother play at home. She attended UCLA, started a teaching career and when the demands of everyday life became too great, her guitar and her songs were put away and forgotten.
CJ Wallace comes from a small Midwestern town with the proverbial single stop light on Main Street. Surrounded by her sisters, they laughed, sang and danced to entertain each other. It was a great place to be a kid, but CJ knew from an early age that she wouldn’t be staying.
Classically trained in all the theatrical arts, CJ left college with an BFA and an agenda to get to California. Upon arrival in Los Angeles, needing food and shelter, she quickly fell into a career in the medical field. Her creative past slowly and surely faded into the background.
And so their days rolled by…
McGrane & Wallace are a genre’-bending, newly formed, SoCal duo incorporating an eclectic range of influences from rock, pop and Americana to an occasional hint of jazz with retro stylings. DD likes to say that their voices blend like peanut butter and honey; her natural, warm alto complimented by CJ’s clear, bright harmonies.
But with their musical dreams long hidden and sleeping, how did they ever become a duo? Here’s their unlikely origin story:
Marriage, motherhood and many years later, DD began to feel a familiar, creative itch. Despite her full and busy life, something intangible was missing and the urge to pick up her guitar was reignited. When she did, “The songs just came pouring out!”
During the pandemic lockdown, DD was hard at work creating new music and finding opportunities to get in front of a crowd. She was slated to perform some original songs at a gig one evening via Zoom. Minutes before DD was scheduled to go on, a freak power failure occurred on her side of the street while the power on CJ’s side of the street was mysteriously unaffected. DD was quickly set up in CJ’s living room and the performance went off without a hitch.
While listening to the solid melodies and catchy hooks, CJ began to imagine all the beautiful, harmonic possibilities. She spontaneously blurted out an offer to perform with DD, and without knowing if CJ could actually sing, DD accepted.
Out of a random convergence of circumstances, McGrane & Wallace was formed. Both are convinced it was all designed by the Fates.
“P.C.H.” is a wistful nod to California Culture and the laid-back, golden haze of an endless summer. Featuring lovely, ear-pleasing harmonies, lush, layered guitars and a cool, Laurel Canyon vibe, this fresh debut single invokes nostalgia for simpler times when sunshine and optimism seemed to be everywhere and the future stretched before us like the iconic and limitless Pacific Coast Highway.
On a deeper note, “P.C.H.” contains a cautionary tale reminding us to be fully immersed in the present because the past is ephemeral and can never be recaptured.
As the song goes, “you can’t take it back”, but DD and CJ firmly believe that it’s never too late for a reboot and a second chance at your dreams.
