Jan. 23, 2018

Released by Columbia Records on November 3, 2017, the album, Just the Beginning debuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart at No.22. American singer-songwriter Grace VanderWaal released many singles from the album, promoting the album with live appearances, and her sold-out Just the Beginning tour which began on November 5, 2017.

The album was produced by Ido Zmishlany, Tim Sommers, Sean Douglas, Greg Wells, Gregg Wattenberg, Derek Fuhrmann, Mike Adubato and Michelle Heyaca. While VanderWaal began working on the album, she wanted the album to be “more produced… really the same sound… [but] less acoustic than previous songs.”

“This is definitely my more “I don’t care” album, like I don’t know what anyone else thinks about it. I’m still really the same sound, because I can’t really change my style or else it will feel forced, and I always think that definitely shows through.” says VanderWaal on her recent album.

The album sound has elements of her iconic ukulele, mixed with piano, guitar, and drums. The lyrics to her songs are very personal and mixed with the background instrumental and her deep and powerful voice, makes the album sound strong and exciting.

13-year-old Grace VanderWaal was born in Kansas and raised in Rockland County, New York. She claimed the $1,000,000 prize for winner on America’s Got Talent and a headline of a show in Las Vegas. She parted the money by donating some to charity, then buying two tree houses, one for her sister and one for herself.

“I love it when people refer to me as a singer-songwriter. I get flutters in my stomach, because they say, “This is Grace VanderWaal, singer-songwriter,” not “This is Grace VanderWaal, winner of America’s Got Talent.” I’m so proud of that, it’s such a big chapter of my life. But it’s nice to kind of not be known as just that.”