Nashville’s new guitar hero and her band, the Hodge Podge, performed “Tell Me Why U Do That”
Sure, making one’s late-night television debut is nice, but you really know you made it when you hear your name announced in the dulcet tones of Jeff Goldblum.
Nashville’s new guitar hero, the 18-year-old Grace Bowers, performed with her band, the Hodge Podge, on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night, roaring through a funky version of her song “Tell Me Why U Do That.” It was a fun, breezy performance — the track appears on Bowers and the Hodge Podge’s new album Wine on Venus — that helped illustrate why there’s so much buzz around Nashville by way of the California musician.
Playing her Gibson SG, slung over her shoulder with a strap that read “Vote,” Bowers cut a stoic figure, the cool, quiet complement to the Hodge Podge’s smoldering singer Esther Okai-Teteh.
Bowers and the band released their debut LP, Wine on Venus, produced by Brothers Osborne guitarist John Osborne, last week. She’ll compete for Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2024 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards next month in Nashville.
Since first turning up on the scene last year, Bowers has seen her star rise via various onstage appearances: She played 2023’s Newport Folk Festival, jammed with Lainey Wilson at Nashville’s New Year’s Eve bash in December, and headlined her own benefit concert for gun violence at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl this summer. On Tuesday night, she’ll play an album release show at the Desert 5 Spot in Los Angeles and will open dates for Gary Clark Jr. and the Red Clay Strays in September.
And now she’s heard Goldblum — one of Kimmel’s guest hosts while the comedian takes the summer off — introduce her in his own idiosyncratic way.