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Salem folk band singer finishes strong in national songwriting competition

Kristen Grainger and Dan Wetzel, the core members of folk and bluegrass quartet Kristen Grainger & True North, have had plenty of time to rehearse at home since the Covid-19 outbreak. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)

Kristen Grainger likens songwriting to making a pie crust – don’t handle it too much or it’ll turn out wrong.

The title track of her band’s most recent album, “Ghost Tattoo,” came out easily, she said.

“I knew exactly what I wanted to say,” she said. “I just play with these unbelievable great pickers and they just really brought it to life.”

It also won the Salem musician second place at the annual USA Songwriting Competition and first place in the folk genre. The win came with $11,000 in cash and merchandise.

The song, titled “Keep the River on the Right,” is about finding a way through the ups and downs in life.

Grainger’s husband, Dan Wetzel, would hear his dad use that phrase when they’d go hunting or fishing in case he lost sight of him.

The couple formed the bluegrass band True North in 2005 and later morphed into performing a blend of folk and Americana as they started writing their own music.

Grainger was late to songwriting although she has played in bands since she was 15.

“I didn’t feel like I had anything to share until I had a little more water under the bridge,” she said.

She started writing songs in her early 30s and wrote “The long tearful goodbye” as she was going through a rough time.

Since that first song, Grainger has won several songwriting contests from MerleFest in North Carolina to Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado.

Earlier this year, True North recorded its most recent album in Sunriver. Grainger quit her job as in communications Willamette University to pursue music full time. Then the pandemic hit.

“The hard thing for musicians is there’s a lot of free time but you’re not making any money,” she said. “If you don’t produce new music, it’s hard to get booked.”

Grainger said the upside is that she’s been able to work on new music.

Asked what band she would liken her sound to, she said “I’ve only heard this one time but the best description was the love child of Alison Krauss & Union Station and John Prine.”

Have a tip? Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected].

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