Grace is an editor for the Tulane Hullabaloo. 

Grace Gardner has done it. In her debut single out Oct. 22, “Radio Silence,” she combines bright pop instrumentals with pointed lyricism to create an anthem for a relationship at the end of the line. 

Despite this being her first single, this is not her first venture into music and songwriting — Gardner has been writing songs since fifth grade. This flow of creativity hasn’t been constant. Before “Radio Silence,” Gardner battled a year’s worth of writer’s block. 

Gardner found inspiration in devastation. After being “ghosted by someone who was really important to me, and I couldn’t at that time figure out why,” she went on to write and produce the song over the course of seven hours. From that session, the first version of “Radio Silence” was born. 

Since then, “Radio Silence” has undergone seven evolutions from its first draft. She worked with Nathan Kinchen to produce the later versions, and teamed up with Steven Kinchen on guitar and Nelson Capote on bass, to bring the single to life rather than using “a crappy microphone that I’d taken from my mom that she got from work [and] software instrument drums.” 

The latest version of the song takes inspiration from many sources, namely Dayglow’s song “False Direction.” Gardner looks up to Dayglow, a 22-year-old University of Texas at Austin student, because he “makes just my dream seem a lot more attainable … I saw him at House of Blues last week so I’m like, ahh! I can do that!” 

Other artists such as Maude Latour, Maggie Rogers, Kacey Musgraves, Phoebe Bridgers, Annie DiRusso, Lizzy McAlpine, Olivia Rodrigo and Lucy Dacus are also inspirations for Gardner. 

This project is only the beginning for Grace Gardner. She has several songs currently in production, and upon deep diving her Notes app found “11 fully written songs” that could make their way into her debut album. 

She’s also planning on playing at open mics around the city at places like the Neutral Ground Coffee House, Another Bar on Freret Street and The Labyrinth. Gardner said she will be hosting “backyard shows,” dates and location TBD. 

To keep up with her music, release dates, shows and all things Grace Gardner, follow her Instagram and TikTok, @gracegardnermusic.