SOUTH BRISTOL, Maine — Strolling through the small village of South Bristol, Haley Graves waved to a few people who drove by, local folks she has known all her life. It’s a little fishing town where she sold cookies outside her parent's house as a kid, and where she rode bikes, and went to school.
It's also where Haley first learned to play guitar, the instrument that has accompanied her into the high-volume music scene in Seattle, Washington.
Haley, who recently turned 22, said she has found an audience in Seattle for her brand of pop-punk music.
“Pop-punk takes the elements of pop music—melodically and lyrically it will be more poppy—[but] kind of has more of a punk vibe to it,” she explained.
Haley said she typically performs a half-dozen times a month, including festivals, clubs, and opening concerts with better-known performers.
“I went to bed one day and woke up and saw my photo on the front of the Seattle Times. It was insane,” Haley said of her rise from a totally unknown newcomer to a recognized name in the city’s very active world of music.
She works at her craft, taking movement classes, practicing on-stage dance moves as well as working with producers to record some of her own songs. It’s a far cry from Haley’s younger days, practicing guitar in her room in South Bristol.
“I knew I always wanted to perform, that was my big thing. I always wanted to perform, be on stage, but didn’t know how."
“I also liked attention, too,” she laughed during an interview.
Then she became more serious.
“But I always liked the idea of just being musical. That was a big thing and I’m grateful I had parents who could support that.”
Their support led Haley to leave Maine and head to the West Coast at a young age to find her musical future.
“I think figuring myself out was a big part of moving to Seattle. I'm like, a totally different person from two years ago when I was 19. I feel more confident, more at ease. And feel I have so much love and self-respect for myself that I never had before.”
Haley said she found a niche of fans in the Black and LGBTQ+ communities who follow her music, and that has also helped instill confidence as a performer.
“I have a song called 'Pop Punk Princess,' and I wrote it because I was very interested in a girl,” she explained. Haley worked with a producer to develop a particular sound for the song, then record it.
The song clearly has been heard, as Haley discovered while playing at a concert.
“And I played 'Pop Punk Princess' during my set and remember seeing two or three girls, fans of local music, singing along to 'Pop Punk Princess.' And I remember watching them, thinking, 'Oh my God, you know the words to my song?'"
Haley said she hopes to become nationally known in time.
Do they know about her Maine origin in Seattle?
“There’s been a few people that have, a few say, 'You give me a California vibe, where are you from?' And I say, 'Maine,' they say, 'Maine, across the country?' I say, 'Yeah, from a small town, South Bristol, Maine.' They say, 'How many people are there?' I say, '800.'”
Her music, she hopes, will continue gaining a following far bigger than her hometown.