“Her weapon of choice is, in fact, 45 years older than she is”: The unstoppable rise of Grace Bowers

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2024 Year in Review: The teenager's meteoric success continues unabated as her frightening maturity yields magic from her trusty Gibson SG

Grace Bowers
(Image credit: David McClister)

2024 Year in Review: There’s no shortage of young guitar talents making their mark on the world, but it feels like Grace Bowers sits at the forefront of the revolution.

The 18-year-old Nashville prodigy released her debut album, Wine on Venus (recorded with her band, the Hodge Podge), in August and established herself as a force to be reckoned with, building a dedicated following, thanks to her well-rounded skill set and sense of musical maturity.

She landed her Gibson endorsement at the tender age of 14, though her main weapon of choice is, in fact, 45 years older than she is. “I have a 1961 Gibson SG that was gifted to me,” she told us at the beginning of the year.

“It’s my absolute favorite – all original with P-90 pickups. I play it on almost everything and I’m very connected to it. I’ve been pairing it with a Fender Reverb and a sparse pedalboard including a Grindstone Audio Solutions Nightshade overdrive, an Echoplex tape delay and a wah. That’s it!”

Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge – Tell Me Why U Do That - YouTube Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge – Tell Me Why U Do That - YouTube
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Amit Sharma
Amit Sharma

Amit has been writing for titles like Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Guitar World for over a decade and counts Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and Jeff Beck among his primary influences as a guitar player. He's worked for magazines like Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Prog, Record Collector, Planet Rock, Rhythm and Bass Player, as well as newspapers like Metro and The Independent, interviewing everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page, and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally. As a session guitarist, he's played alongside members of Judas Priest and Uriah Heep in London ensemble Metalworks, as well as handled lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Faces) and Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, G3).

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