Grace Semler Baldridge

Grace Semler Baldridge (born 12 November 1990) is an American musician and media host. They release music as Semler.

Grace Semler Baldridge
Born (1990-11-12) November 12, 1990
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, United States
EducationElon University
Occupation
  • Musician
  • Media host
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Capel

Biography

Baldridge's father is a priest in the Episcopal Church.[1] They spent their early life in Delaware but their family moved to Waterloo, Belgium when they were in third grade, .[2] They returned to the US to attend Elon University.[3]

Baldridge is queer. They met their future wife Elizabeth Capel during their time at Elon University. The two married in August 2018 in an Episcopalian ceremony, and the couples' wedding was featured in an episode of the Refinery29 series World Wide Wed.[3][2][4] Their Twitter post giving coming out advice to themself as a teenager attracted national attention.[2]

As of 2021, Grace and Lizzie Baldridge live in Los Angeles, California.[2][5] They describe themselves as "a faithfully skeptical Christian".[5]

Baldridge is genderqueer and non-binary, and has stated that "all pronouns are totally fine".[6]

Music

Baldridge writes and records music as Semler. The name was chosen both because of the name's links to her maternal family history and because they prefer their music to be experienced from a gender-neutral viewpoint.[7][8]

In February 2021 they released an EP, Preacher's Kid, about being a queer Christian, which they recorded at home and promoted themselves.[9] Shortly after release it reached the top of the iTunes Christian chart, supplanting Lauren Daigle's Look Up Child.[7][10][9][5] Michel Martin interviewed Baldridge about Preacher's Kid for NPR in March 2021, discussing their faith and music and playing single 'Jesus from Texas'.[11] The album earned support from some figures in the Christian music industry including Kevin Max, Trey Pearson, Derek Webb, Josh Lovelace and Lecrae.[8]

Their second EP, titled Late Bloomer, was released on October 22, 2021. Like its predecessor, it reached first place on the iTunes Christian charts, once again displacing Lauren Daigle's Look Up Child.[12]

Media presenting

Baldridge has been a regular guest host of The Young Turks, and co-hosted the former TYT Network show Pop Trigger.[13] She created and hosts the TYT-associated YouTube series Murder with Friends,[14] which was nominated for Best Non-Fiction Series in the 7th Streamy Awards in 2017.[15]

In 2020, Baldridge hosted a documentary series entitled 'State of Grace' on being LGBTQ and Christian, produced by Refinery29. The first episode, "The Life Threatening Dangers Of Gay Conversion Therapy", was nominated at the 31st GLAAD Media Awards for the Outstanding Digital Journalism - Multimedia award.[1]

References
  1. Masters, Jeffrey (20 February 2020). "A New Docuseries Explores What It Means to Be Queer and Christian". Advocate.
  2. Pelletiere, Nicole (22 August 2018). "This woman's coming-out advice to her younger self will have you in tears". ABC News.
  3. Wong, Curtis M. (8 October 2017). "Beautiful Surprise Road Trip Proposal Has Extra Special Meaning For This Couple". Huffington Post.
  4. Rojas Weiss, Sabrina (20 December 2018). "This Lesbian Couple's Wedding Revolved Around Religion". Refinery29.
  5. McFarlan Miller, Emily (12 February 2021). "An openly queer artist just had the No. 1 Christian album on iTunes". Washington Post.
  6. Grace & Elizabeth Baldridge (November 18, 2020). "Episode 8: Pronouns & Coming Out". Under Our Roof (Podcast). Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  7. Huckabee, Tyler (9 February 2021). "Semler's 'Preacher's Kid' Has Hit The Top Spot On The ITunes Christian And Gospel Charts". Relevant.
  8. Atencio, Mitchell (22 February 2021). "Grace Semler Baldridge is bringing queer stories to Christian music". Sojourners.
  9. Kuruvilla, Carol (11 February 2021). "This Queer Christian's Album Challenges The Contemporary Christian Music Industry". HuffPost.
  10. "Semler gives Queer Christianity a voice with Preacher's Kid". The Brock Press. 9 February 2021.
  11. Martin, Michel; Watters, Gemma. "Semler, With 'Preacher's Kid,' Writes Music Of Faith For A Real World".
  12. Semler (25 Oct 2021). "WE DID IT AGAIN!..." Twitter. Retrieved 5 Nov 2021.
  13. "Grace Baldridge". TYT Network.
  14. "Murder With Friends". IMDB.
  15. "7th Annual Nominees & Winners". Streamys.
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