By Verbal Adam | OBSERVER Correspondent

One of the great things about Sacramento is that the city is one of the major hubs of the west. At times, it may feel like a small town, but all roads in California lead here. This allows the city to enjoy peak performances by touring artists. In 2022, we saw headliners  SZA, Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross, Nappy Roots, Jazmine Sullivan, Jhene Aiko and dozens of others perform at various venues and events. 

Last month, Grammy winner Macy Gray and her band, the California Jet Club, performed at the Crest Theater. Prior to the show, the R&B legend sat down with The OBSERVER.

Q: I actually want to call you a comedian because I think you have one of the funniest TikToks. The video you did with Fireball was hilarious and the Santa suit and dancing, I love it.

A: Our shows are just fun. We swear, we scream, we jump and dance. You know, we celebrate. We’re just going to have a ball with them, play, you know, classics, of course. And we’re going to be playing songs from the new album, “The Reset,” which is coming out in February. So you’ll get to hear some songs live before you hear them on record, which is always, you know, I always like that when I go to shows and I hear songs I never heard before, you know? I remember when I went to an Outkast show a long time ago, and they played the whole album before it came out. And I was like, “Oh, I had a better day.” You know? So anyway, we’re going to have a better day, which is good. It’s just going to be fun. It’s going to be a nice break from the weather and, you know, everything else going on in the world.

Q: You’ve been doing a lot of nonprofit work. You’ve got the My Good Foundation. And then you also sit on the board of the Oscar Grant Foundation. Can you tell us about what those organizations do?

A: We support families who have lost loved ones due to police violence. So a lot of times you hear on the news, of course, you know, the cases. Everybody knows about Oscar Grant and, of course, George Floyd and and you hear about these families and you hear about these big settlements. But 99% of families who fall victim to police violence don’t get a dime. So we’re here to help people get back on their feet. Our biggest request is therapy, mental health services. So we provide a lot of mental health services for families who have been so devastated but don’t have the means to heal and get help.

Q: I think that’s a great gesture and a great organization. Sacramento, specifically, is very familiar with police violence. Stephon Clark was killed here by the Sacramento Police Department, and even in the last month, a gentleman named Sherrano Stingley died in police custody. That case is ongoing. It’s good that somebody is taking a step up to get people mental health assistance. As you know, in the Black community that’s not something that has been largely available to us. And then it’s not something that we largely embrace due to our generational distrust of the system.

A: Well, I think that’s turning around. I think it’s become this little throwaway phrase, ‘mental health,’ but I think it’s bringing more attention to the fact that everybody needs it. Everybody has emotions. Everybody has trauma that they have to deal with. And, you know, at that point, your color doesn’t matter. My theory on why the whole world is crazy is because nobody can afford therapy. It’s like it’s expensive to keep your head together. So that’s where we come in. And we try to help people as much as we can.

Q: You use your music as a form of your own therapy, a form of expressing yourself. So with your new upcoming album, “The Reset,” what type of emotions are we going to find in there?

A: Of course there’s love stories. There’s the songs about, you know, sex and stuff. But we have a lot of interesting songs. A song called “Alien,” and it’s just about escape. It’s about like, hopefully there’s a better place after we get through with all this, hopefully we get to level up because this is wild. 

And then there’s a song we wrote called “America” that we wrote during 2020 when all that was going on. And there’s some songs just about dance. I tell everybody all I do is give people a break, you know, like out of your day. And then your favorite song comes on the radio. And even if it’s just for 3 minutes you get to go elsewhere, you know what I mean? So that’s what we try to do when we go in the studio is just get everybody, you know, a break. A good break, even. Just chill and listen to music and dance if you want to. With the lyrics that happen to mean something to you, get a good cry, you know what I mean? So I try to do through my music what my music does for me. So for everybody else, you know, that’s the goal.

Q: Yeah, that’s a good way to look at it. I heard you say that you talked to Prince, and he was telling you that your job is not to control how people interpret the music, your job is to create it and get it out there. And that’s something that I feel is very important in art, right?

A: Yeah, that one’s golden.

Q: You may be the first Grammy recipient to ever eat Golden Crisps out of their Grammy.

A: That’s my crutch. I can eat a whole box. It goes like, if I have a bad day, I literally sit and eat a whole box of gold because it’s very sad, but it’s so good. It’s just all sugar. But, yeah, we were just having fun. You know, my friend was like, So what does that Grammy do for you? I was like: I don’t know but it’s an amazing compliment to get a Grammy, to be recognized by people who do what you do. And, I know the Grammys are coming up and it’s definitely changed since I got mine. It’s totally different. So I’m anxious to watch it. And you know, I’ve heard a lot of the records that got nominated.

Q: Any artists in particular you’re rooting for this year at the Grammys?

A: I’m my diplomatic self and so I’m just rooting for everybody. No, actually, there’s some good albums that came out this year. I just think, you know, music has changed so much and now when you come from back in the day like I did, you kind of expect a certain thing or you listen for different things. You know, your taste is a little bit different than it would be if you were, say, 19. So I’m planning room for different things. And then the average – well, not the average person, nobody’s average – but just, you know, like the masses, you know what I mean? Because being a musician, you kind of listen to different things. You listen for different things. Just like you’re a visual artist, so when I look at something, I just see, “Oh, that’s so cool.” When you look at it, you see the details, you know how it was made, you know what I mean? You want to know who did it and all that other stuff. So, you know, it is different for me.

Q: I understand completely and I can appreciate that.

A: Thank you, sweetheart. You are so cute by the way, and I’ll see you all in Sacramento. We’re going to have a ball.

THE SHOW

Backstage Macy Gray is preparing for the first of three wardrobe changes, her band members are eating in the Empress Tavern, the restaurant attached to the theater. A line has already formed out the door as fans begin to file in.

The theater itself, modeled after the grand opera houses of old, has a brilliant display of blue and gold light along the ceiling. On the stage the instruments of the band and a digital display faces the crowd. People of all ages and backgrounds are in attendance, all eager to hear the signature raspy voice that defined a decade. 

The lights go down and the band members take their places on stage. Macy Gray peeks at the crowd through a curtain, and they are at a fever pitch. She takes the stage to thunderous applause. The performance over the next two hours included laughs, dancing, strangers hugging each other and a feeling that everything was okay. At one point during the performance the entire audience sings “I Try” to her.

Macy Gray and the California Jet Club delivered an amazing feel good performance that will be long remembered. We sat down briefly with Gray following the show.

Q: You just brought down the house here in Sacramento. It was a very feel-good performance. Itis as if you just came off the treadmill and are like, ready to go.

A: I am! I feel good. We had a good night, you know? It’s just like anything else we have. We have great nights, and then we have nights. So tonight it was a good one. I’m glad we did that in Sacramento. It was a good show. We had a good time. It was a good crowd. You know, I try to tell people it’s a conversation like I get up and do my thing, but if the crowd’s not involved and you’re just having a one-way conversation, you know, people get bored.

Q:  You left the stage to a standing ovation. Brought the house down. I witnessed it and still can’t wrap my head around what I saw. Where do you pull that kind of energy from?

A: I’ll be honest with you. Before the show, I said my prayers and I said, I ask God if I can be nothing, like empty me out and fill me up, you know, so I can just be a vessel, like the messenger. You know, if left to my own devices, you would be like … I don’t think it’d be that good.

Q: Yeah, you just, you make it. Yeah. And then what people take from that is what they take from it. Do you have a joy in making it? Like, is it fun for you to sit down and create a new song?

A: Yeah, I’m having a ball. You know, that’s another prayer I had. I remember when I first started, I never wanted to be jaded because I met an artist. I won’t say the name, and she was like, miserable. And she’s “I hate this” and “I hate that.” And I remember saying, “Please don’t ever let me end up like her, even though she’s a legend.” I won’t say who, but I just never wanted to be unhappy doing this, you know, because it’s really the only thing I do well. So if I wouldn’t have joy in this, then I think it’d be – life would suck, you know?

Q: I’m looking forward to “The Reset,” which should be coming out on Valentine’s Day and in the Valentine’s Day gift baskets. Anything you want to tell Sacramento?

A: You all are the best fans ever. We had a ball here tonight. Thank you all for having us around.

MORE PHOTOS

MORE PHOTOS

Performance Photo OF Grammy award-winning artist Macy Gray performs during a recent concert at Sacramento’s Crest Theater. Verbal Adam, OBSERVER