Tracé Newton

Hi Jack! What a great project! 

My story:

I’ve been a fan since just after high school. What began as casual enjoyment of the music would become a mild obsession as I’ve grown older. To say DMB has saved my life would be an understatement. I’ve struggled with suicidal ideation for so much of my life, I don’t know of a time when it wasn’t part of my day in some way. While it’s been many years since I made an attempt to take my own life, it will always be the demon lurking in the darkest shadows of my brain. 

If those thoughts are the demons, DMB is the demon slayer! As a fan, and member of the DMB community at large, the question of favorite song comes up often. While it can be hard to pick any one song from their catalog, Grey St has been the song I turn to and lean on the most. It runs through my veins and speaks to my soul on so many levels. Each verse feels like it was written and is sung about me personally. I know I am not alone in that feeling. It’s a song that speaks to many of us and you can feel that standing in a crowd at a show when we all scream that we feel like kicking out all the windows and setting fire to this life. It’s a song that has helped me climb out of depression and remember to make my dreams as real as anything, more times than I can count. 

The music of DMB has echoed through so many moments of my life. From deciding to follow my heart with my career of pet sitting, to taking the chance and moving to Las Vegas in 2017 to start my life with my boyfriend, who became my husband in 2018. Of course the music would find its way into our wedding vows and would be our first dance song. That year would also bring my first trip to the Gorge, as we decided to make the Gorge our honeymoon destination. Now we return each year to celebrate our anniversary. As the Gorge is known for its magic, that magic continues each year with new friends. One group of friends in particular have become our crew. We are the Pineapple Grassy Knoll Crew, and this year is the 4th year we are setting up inside the venue for swag swapping. Something I never could have imagined 7 years ago when we made our first trip. 

My husband loves this trip each year, he says it’s the one place he gets to see me be freely myself. Without anxiety (I also have agoraphobia and general anxiety), I step into that space and I know I am safe. I am surrounded by people who get it, and for those 3 nights I can let the depression and anxiety slip away while I soak up the love that fills the Gorge from, DMB fans. 

That’s at least most of my story. I hope you have loads of participants for your project and that it’s a huge success! 

Thank you for reading,

Tracé Newton