Cecilia Grace

Nashville-recording pop duo, Cecilia Grace, began imprinting their mark 3 years ago at open mics, leaving audiences stunned by their breathtaking harmonies. The duo is best known for their chemistry and the interplay of their vocals that complement each other in harmony, rhythm and tone to seemingly create one melody. 

From the time singer-songwriting sisters, Cecilia (21) and Tessa (17), were born, their parents trained their ears, believing that as long as very young children listen only to good music, they would learn to sing in proper pitch. Thus, show tunes, Church hymns, and their parents’ favorites from the 70s and 80s filled their household of seven every waking moment. Their first formal music lessons were through Kindermusik. As they matured, singing was like breathing and harmonizing was second nature. Being homeschooled allowed them the freedom to sing all day long, without restrictions, to flex their vocal muscles and finetune their sense of sound through acapella choir harmonies in the likes of Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus.

The girls began churning out harmonies just for fun when they were just pre-teens — inspired by sibling groups like the Bee Gees, Wilson-Phillips, Aly and AJ, and the Jonas Brothers. The Cecilia Grace duo’s unusual blending of voices invoke nostalgic vibes from audiences who fondly recall Heart and the Everly Brothers even as their repertoire packs together several hours of their original songs and covers of Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, and many of today’s pop artists.

Cecilia is an award-winning songwriter who began turning her ideas into songs at 12 years old. One of Cecilia’s first compositions won first prize in a contest. She spent her winnings on her first guitar and became a prolific songwriter. She recorded her songs and covers and gained an impressive international following on YouTube. Audiences liken her pure, raw style to the vocals of Alanis Morisette, Avril Lavigne, and Brandie Carlisle.

Tessa is a champion gymnast-turned guitar player, which surprised her family who thought she was more inclined toward sports than music. Her knack for performance before judges made a natural transition into playing before a live audience. Cecilia and Tessa made the rounds of local open mics and got rave reviews. That experience opened the door to playing at other live music gigs in Sacramento, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale, Boston, Baltimore, Washington DC, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and the Philippines.

They are both versatile vocalists. Cecilia, with her powerful lead vocals, was Fox 45 and Z104.3's 2012 Baltimore Idol winner. Various recording artists seek out Cecilia to lend her vocals on their tracks. Tessa’s high, bluesy soprano makes for breathtaking harmony as she rocks hard on her acoustic guitar with her mature and unique style. Her style is dynamic, stunning, and artistic. In her own compositions she breaks rules and gets away with it. Many an experienced guitar player has marveled at Tessa’s guitar playing because of her youth, confidence, power playing, and ability to create a big, full sound — making an audience forget that there is only one instrument and two vocals. She plays hours of original and cover songs at gigs while singing, never stopping to look at the frets to check her precision … never looking at sheet music to recall how to play a song, and taking song requests without checking a book for chords.

Whether you like hits by Justin Timberlake, Ellie Goulding, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, John Mayer, Adele, Jason Mraz, Miranda Lambert, or Florida-Georgia Line you’ll like the “Cecilia-Graced” style, too. Although they most often play as a duo, they also play with their full band.

The Cecilia Grace brand has much greater significance than lead vocalist Cecilia’s name. “St. Cecilia” is the patron saint of music and “Grace” is the gift of musical talent that Cecilia and Tessa feel called to share. It’s no wonder that their fans describe them as sweet, with a spirit that they are drawn to, and with the voices of angels.