Grace Campbell’s new single “Hold Me Still” doesn’t just open a door, it cracks something open in the listener. The track drifts between vulnerability and defiance, a quiet storm of self‑interrogation, longing, and the fragile hope of finding solid ground after too many nights spent in the dark. To capture that emotional rawness, Campbell teamed up with producer, mixer, and engineer Jimmy Hoyson, a six‑time Grammy winner and the chief engineer at Pittsburgh’s The Vault Recording Studio. Hoyson’s fingerprints are all over the modern music canon: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael Jackson, Lou Reed, The Goo Goo Dolls, Iggy Pop, Green Day, B.B. King — yet here he helps Campbell carve out something intimate, spectral, and startlingly alive.

“Hold Me Still” is the first glimpse of a larger body of work on the horizon, a forthcoming album that promises to wander through shadow and light with the same unflinching honesty. As Campbell steps into this new chapter, she’s not just releasing songs; she’s revealing the map of a mind in motion, searching, circling, and refusing to stay frozen.

Here’s what she had to say about the new single and the process.

BB: Hold Me Still” opens with that haunting image of being ‘frozen in water, a dark abyss.’ What moment or feeling in your life first sparked that line?

GC: I wanted Hold Me Still to connect with listeners in a lonely place. That moment when the party is over, and there’s still ringing in your ears, but no one else is around but you. I wouldn’t say that any one moment sparked that line, but rather an accumulation of moments where I wasn’t sad or hurting, I just wished I wasn’t alone. 

BB: There’s a tension in the song between feeling stuck and still searching. How do you personally navigate that push‑and‑pull between fear and hope?

GC: I navigate that feeling a lot as a developing artist. I am constantly feeling inadequate or that I am not doing enough, asking myself: What more could I do? Why isn’t this working right now? Finding a middle ground with my artistry has really been key and played into the writing of Hold Me Still. Growth, change, development–these things aren’t always linear or even noticeable. We don’t SEE grass grow, we only notice it after. I have been learning to lean into that mindset with my music and life.  

BB: The refrain ‘sometimes I wonder if I’m stuck like this’ feels brutally honest. Was it difficult to let that vulnerability live so plainly in the lyrics?

GC: Not at all. That’s a really important part of my music as a whole, not just this single. I like to give a voice to those feelings we don’t really let out. Whether it’s child-like love or if it’s the fear of being stuck. I want listeners to have an opportunity to let those feelings sit in a place and be heard, even when we have a hard time confronting them ourselves. 

BB: The chorus paints this beautiful vision of a house filled with love and laughter. What does “home” mean to you in the context of this song?

GC: I want everyone who listens to this song to get what they need out of it, but for me personally, that moment was about creating a family with the person I was meant to. It’s a song about true love! In that context, “home” is the family that I want to build. Love, laughter, and “joy forever after”–it’s a love story that’s not told yet. 

BB: There’s a longing in the line ‘Hold me still’—not to be rescued, but to be grounded. Who or what in your life gives you that sense of stillness?

GC: As cheesy as this sounds (and you’ll see this motif throughout my songwriting)…a cup of coffee! When I wrote that hook, I envisioned holding a warm cup of coffee on the back porch looking out over the mountains. A purely West Virginia feeling to me. That picture gives me stillness and peace where I’m happy to just be me, by myself, waiting and preparing for whatever comes next. 

BB: You describe feeling like ‘a ghost inside my mind.’ How much of this song came from wrestling with your own inner shadows?

GC: A lot of it! It’s a feeling that I try not to be ashamed of. There’s a certain sense of guilt that comes with this particular loneliness that I tried to capture in Hold Me Still. I am loved, I have incredible friends, a wonderful family, but that persistent nagging feeling of: When is it my turn? Doesn’t go away. There’s a lot of inner struggle prevalent in both the lyrics and the instrumental of this one.

BB: The song touches on faking fine and hiding in the dark. How do you balance being an artist who shares deeply with being a person who still needs privacy?

GC: To be entirely honest, I don’t think that I do balance it. My music wholly encompasses who I am, and what you see/hear is what you get. I (along with all other artists) take on the joyful challenge of creating new things from scratch and sharing that with others is a part of my joy. 

BB: This track was produced by six‑time Grammy winner Jimmy Hoyson at The Vault Recording in Pittsburgh. What did Jimmy bring out of you that surprised you?

GC: Jimmy brought out a fire not only in me but my entire team of musicians that day. He told us incredible stories about working with artists and producers like Green Day, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Rick Rubin (among many others). I felt like working with him brought the ceiling down, meaning that he made it feel like the world of musical legends wasn’t really all that far away. You bring a bunch of West Virginia artists into a room and make them feel like they can be rockstars…what you get is pretty magical. 

BB: How did the atmosphere at The Vault shape the sound or emotional tone of “Hold Me Still”?

GC: The Vault is incredible. Bob McCutcheon who owns and operates the studio has created a space that is equal parts state-of-the-art technology and vintage, all with an overarching love for music at all levels. The other producers on staff including Rob Deaner, Dave Hillis, and Greg Gordon bring decades of expertise and fun to the space. Also, they’re all really nice guys!

BB: Jimmy has worked with so many iconic artists—what was it like to bring such an intimate, vulnerable song into a room with someone of his caliber?

GC: Jimmy was the perfect producer for this song. He knew exactly the direction I wanted it to go. Powerful, yet intimate, rock and roll, yet soft. He carefully listened to my instructions and sonic goals and communicated with the team to really add the last layer of sparkle this song needed. Going in, I worried that I was going to get intimidated by his long, long resume. In reality everyone in the room came prepared and excited for the music, and that made all the difference.

BB: “Hold Me Still” feels both delicate and expansive. Is this the emotional blueprint for the rest of the album, or is it just one facet of a bigger story?

GC: Hold Me Still opens the book of the story I am preparing to tell.  

BB: You repeat the phrase ‘a thousand times / a thousand lives’—it feels almost mythic. Does the album explore that idea of searching across different versions of yourself?

GC: Absolutely. My music is an extension of myself, and the upcoming record is going to continue exploring these moments that sometimes we don’t want to even acknowledge in ourselves. The desire to be free from judgment, trying to forgive but still being angry, choosing one path in life over another. All of these will be topics in the album the music will explore, and I am excited to share where this next path will lead me. 

BB: You’ve said there are more songs on the way. What emotional territory are you stepping into next?

GC: The original title of this next record was going to be “Things I Wanted To Say, But Didn’t.” I don’t know if there’s necessarily one emotion that will capture it all, but I want the record as a whole to send messages to the listener. The main question in my mind while writing the new material was “why did I leave that unsaid?” 

BB: If “Hold Me Still” is the invitation, what do you hope listeners will be ready to walk into as the album unfolds?

GC: I want listeners to (alongside me) confront the parts of ourselves we try to shove away. The things we’re still angry about, what still hurts us, what still makes us smile, what brings us peace. Old wounds and old memories that we’ve either had to tuck away to keep on going or what we’re still holding onto as hope. I really want the next record to feel like letting old scars heal and old memories fade in order to work towards a future unburdened by the past. I was very reflective in Hold Me Still and in the upcoming track list to try and accomplish that message. Not in a desire to appear morally upright, but just to confront that everybody has some baggage and it’s time to let those heavy weights go.  Uncover what is “There Beneath” to build a better tomorrow. 

Thank you so much for listening to the music!

Listen to “Hold Me Still” on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple.

Follow Grace Campbell on Facebook and Instagram.

You can also follow Grace’s upcoming Kickstarter which will go live March 27, 2026.