Local singer-songwriter and dentist Grace Francois has her debut headline concert on Friday.
Local singer-songwriter and dentist Grace Francois has her debut headline concert on Friday.
Pursuing one childhood dream is tough enough. How about two?
That is the reality for Grace Francois, or the “singing dentist”.
The Havelock North local is walking a delicate balance with her two loves of science and music.
“Ever since I can remember, I dreamed of being in the performingarts space, and normally that was as a singer,” Francois said.
“But also, I always wanted to be a doctor – I remember saying to people when they asked me, when I was 5 years old, that I was going to be a singer and a doctor."
Tonight at 5.30pm, she will have her debut headline show at Decibel Wines, performing unreleased music.
Grace Francois says her two passions keep her balanced.
“I’m getting to showcase a lot of unreleased material and my new country music and it’s the first show I’ve done where it’s all my own music – it’s very exciting.”
Francois released her debut single Change in March last year but the concert represents a change in her music journey.
“I’ve recently transitioned into country music, Change is not really a traditional country song. It’s definitely more of a pop song, sort of acoustic pop... All my favourite artists are country music singers, my voice really suits it, and I also think my songwriting.
“It just feels like a really obvious choice – it seems to be what’s best received as well and what I enjoy doing the most.”
In her dentistry, Francois has recently been published in the Journal of Oral Rehabilitation.
She says her two passions help her to stay level.
“They seem to work very symbiotically – they build to each other and make each other easier, because music creates a lot of balance for my dentistry and dentistry is the other scientific side of me.
“I love being a dentist, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else, but it’s really nice to have that creative outlet as well.”
She credits her dental and music mentors for supporting her to live out both dreams.
“Dr Natalie Stent – I reached out to her to see if there was any work available over my [university] break, and ended up being her dental assistant because her assistant had booked leave for the exact time that I was back and that enabled me to release my first song, if I hadn’t have had all the musical drive, I wouldn’t have created the professional relationship as well with my dentistry.
“I was helped a lot by my mentor in music at the time who helped me co-write the song and record it, her name is Abby Wolfe, and that was really helpful to have such a supportive environment.”
Francois said she is excited for what awaits her as the year continues.
