Semler (musician)

Last updated

Semler
Born
Grace Semler Baldridge

(1990-11-12) November 12, 1990 (age 33)
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, U.S.
Education Elon University
Occupations
  • Musician
  • Media host
Spouse
Elizabeth Baldridge
​
(m. 2018)​
Musical career
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Website semlermusic.com

Grace Semler Baldridge (born November 12, 1990), known by the stage name Semler, is an American host and alt-Christian singer-songwriter. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

Baldridge's father is a priest in the Episcopal Church. [4] They spent their early life in Delaware but their family moved to Waterloo, Belgium, when they were in third grade. [5] They returned to the US to attend Elon University. [6]

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 couple's wedding was featured in an episode of the Refinery29 series World Wide Wed. [6] [5] [7] Their Twitter post giving coming out advice to themselves as a teenager attracted national attention. [5] As of 2021, Baldridge and Capel live in Los Angeles, California. [5] [8]

Baldridge is genderqueer and non-binary, and has stated that "all pronouns are totally fine". [9] [10]

Music

Baldridge writes and records music as Semler. The name was chosen because of both the name's links to their maternal family history and they prefer their music to be experienced from a gender-neutral viewpoint. [11] [12]

In February 2021, they released an EP, Preacher's Kid, about being a queer Christian, which they recorded at home and promoted themselves. [13] Shortly after release, it reached the top of the iTunes Christian chart, supplanting Lauren Daigle's Look Up Child . [11] [14] [13] [8] Michel Martin interviewed Baldridge about Preacher's Kid for NPR in March 2021, discussing their faith and music and playing the single "Jesus from Texas". [15] The album earned support from several figures in the Christian music industry, including Kevin Max, Trey Pearson, Derek Webb, Josh Lovelace. [12]

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. [16]

Their third EP, titled Stages of a Breakdown, was released on April 13, 2022.

They toured with Katie Pruitt in 2021, [17] and Relient K in 2022. [18]

Media presenting

Baldridge has been a regular guest host of The Young Turks , and co-hosted the former TYT Network show Pop Trigger. [19] They created and hosted the TYT-associated YouTube series Murder with Friends, [20] which was nominated for Best Non-Fiction Series in the 7th Streamy Awards in 2017. [21]

In 2020, Baldridge hosted a documentary series entitled State of Grace, which covered 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. [4]

Discography

Albums

EPs

Related Research Articles

<i>The Young Turks</i> American online news show

The Young Turks (TYT) is an American progressive news commentary show live streamed on social media platforms YouTube and Twitch. It additionally appears on selected television channels. TYT serves as the flagship program of the TYT Network, a multi-channel network of associated web series focusing on news and current events. TYT covers American politics, wars and conflicts in the Middle East, sports, and a vast majority of other topics. The program was created by Cenk Uygur, Ben Mankiewicz and Dave Koller. Uygur is Turkish-American and named the program after the Young Turks movement of the 20th century. Currently co-hosted by Uygur and Ana Kasparian, it is also often accompanied by various other in-studio contributors. The Young Turks began as a radio program that premiered on February 14, 2002, on Sirius Satellite Radio before launching a web series component in 2005 on YouTube, and then later Twitch; at some point it was also carried on Air America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Relient K</span> American alternative rock band

Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio, by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman during their third year in high school and time at Malone University. The band is named after guitarist Hoopes' automobile, a Plymouth Reliant K car, with the spelling intentionally altered to avoid trademark infringement over the Reliant name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Relient K discography</span>

The discography of Relient K, an American Christian rock band, mainly consists of nine studio albums, ten EPs, including two Christmas albums, twenty one singles, and four compilation albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay icon</span> Public figure highly regarded and beloved by the LGBT community

A gay icon is a public figure who is regarded as a cultural icon by members of the LGBT community. Such figures usually have a devoted LGBT fanbase and act as allies to the LGBT community, often through their work, or they have been "openly appreciative of their gay fanbase". Many gay icons also have a camp aesthetic style, which is part of their appeal to LGBT individuals.

Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the Billboard Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs chart, by incorporating data from the sales of downloads, streaming data, and airplay across all monitored radio stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streamy Awards</span> Excellence in online video production

The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are an awards show presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and writing. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented takes place in Los Angeles, California. They were the first ever awards show dedicated entirely to web series.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+(LGBTQ+)music is music that focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities as a product of the broad gay liberation movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Helbig</span> American YouTuber and actress (born 1985)

Grace Anne Helbig is an American comedian, actress, and internet personality. She is the co-creator and co-host of the podcast This Might Get Weird (2018–present) alongside frequent collaborator Mamrie Hart and is the voice of Cindy Bear in the Max animated series Jellystone! (2021–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Daigle</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1991)

Lauren Ashley Daigle is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. After being signed to the label Centricity Music, she released her debut album, How Can It Be, in 2015. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and produced three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Christian Airplay chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flula Borg</span> German actor, comedian, and musician (born 1982)

Flula Borg is a German actor, comedian, and musician. Borg's acting career includes roles in feature films, including Pitch Perfect 2 and The Suicide Squad, as well as in a number of television shows, including Curb Your Enthusiasm,The Good Place, Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin, and The Rookie. He has made multiple appearances on Conan and has participated in a number of other collaborations with Conan O'Brien.

<i>How Can It Be</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Lauren Daigle

How Can It Be is the debut studio album by American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter Lauren Daigle. The album was released on April 14, 2015, through Centricity Music. LifeWay Christian Bookstore was permitted to release the album on April 11, 2015. The lead single from the album, "How Can It Be", was released on July 8, 2014. A deluxe edition of the album was released on May 6, 2016.

<i>Air for Free</i> 2016 studio album by Relient K

Air for Free is the eighth studio album by Relient K, released on July 22, 2016, through Mono vs Stereo. The album's lead single, "Bummin'", was released on April 13, 2016. It is the first album since Five Score and Seven Years Ago (2007) to feature drummer Dave Douglas, though he is not credited as an official member. It also features the return of producer Mark Lee Townsend following his absence on Collapsible Lung (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Daigle discography</span> Cataloguing of published recordings by Lauren Daigle

The discography of American Christian music artist Lauren Daigle consists of four studio albums, one extended play (EP), twenty three singles, and thirteen other charted songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Say</span> 2018 single by Lauren Daigle

"You Say" is a song by American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter Lauren Daigle. It is the lead single from her third studio album, Look Up Child. Written by Daigle alongside producers Paul Mabury and Jason Ingram, it was released as a single on July 13, 2018. It reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, her first entry on the chart. It also reached the top ten in Belgium. It is also Daigle's third No. 1 on the Hot Christian Songs chart. The song debuted at No. 22 on the Christian Airplay chart, becoming the best start for a non-holiday song by a solo female artist in over eight years, since Francesca Battistelli's "Beautiful, Beautiful" debuted at No. 21 on March 20, 2010. The song has spent 132 weeks at No. 1 on Hot Christian Songs, breaking the record for the most weeks spent at No. 1 by a song on any chart.

<i>Look Up Child</i> 2018 studio album by Lauren Daigle

Look Up Child is the third studio album by American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter Lauren Daigle. It was released on September 7, 2018, through Centricity Music. The album received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 2019 Grammy Awards. It was nominated for Top Christian Album at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. The album has spent 44 weeks at No. 1 on the Christian Albums chart, the longest reign of the 2010s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Look Up Child (song)</span> 2019 single by Lauren Daigle

"Look Up Child" is the second single by American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter Lauren Daigle for her third studio album of the same name. The song peaked at No. 3 on the US Hot Christian Songs chart, becoming her twelfth top ten single, and making her the woman with the most top tens on the chart. The song is played in a D major key, and 91 beats per minute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hasan Piker</span> American political commentator (born 1991)

Hasan Doğan Piker, also known as HasanAbi, is a Turkish-American online streamer, YouTuber, and left-wing political commentator.

<i>Preachers Kid</i> (EP) EP by Semler

Preacher's Kid is a 2021 extended play released by Semler that focuses on being a Queer Christian. In February 2021, it was the top Christian album on the iTunes charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beloved Arise</span> Christian nonprofit

Beloved Arise is a national nonprofit based in Seattle whose mission is to celebrate and empower LGBT youth of faith from various religious traditions. The multi-faith organization develops resources, youth programs, and communities that empower youth to embrace both their faith and their queer identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre</span> Community resource centre in Dublin

Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre is a community centre and café for LGBTQ+ people on Capel Street in Dublin, Ireland. It was preceded by the Hirschfeld Centre, the first gay and lesbian community centre in Ireland. It provides a range of services and facilities including HIV testing, a theatre, cafe and Ireland's only queer library. Outhouse's advocacy priorities are poverty, homelessness, and the safety of the LGBTQ+ community, and aims to develop a new advocacy casework support service. In 2016, 35,000 people visited the centre.

References

  1. ↑ Miller, Emily McFarlan (February 10, 2021). "LGBTQ singer-songwriter 'GameStops' Christian music with No. 1 Christian album on iTunes". Religion News Service . Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  2. ↑ Rude, Mey (March 23, 2022). "Chart-Topping Christian Artist, Semler, Wants You to Say 'Gay Rights'". Out . Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  3. ↑ Steinkopf-Frank, Hannah (June 8, 2022). "Queer Christian Artists Keep The Faith: How LGBTQ+ Musicians Are Redefining Praise Music". The Grammys . Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Masters, Jeffrey (February 20, 2020). "A New Docuseries Explores What It Means to Be Queer and Christian". The Advocate .
  5. 1 2 3 4 Pelletiere, Nicole (August 22, 2018). "This woman's coming-out advice to her younger self will have you in tears". ABC News.
  6. 1 2 Wong, Curtis M. (October 8, 2017). "Beautiful Surprise Road Trip Proposal Has Extra Special Meaning For This Couple". HuffPost .
  7. ↑ Rojas Weiss, Sabrina (December 20, 2018). "This Lesbian Couple's Wedding Revolved Around Religion". Refinery29 .
  8. 1 2 McFarlan Miller, Emily (February 12, 2021). "An openly queer artist just had the No. 1 Christian album on iTunes". Washington Post .
  9. ↑ Grace & Elizabeth Baldridge (November 18, 2020). "Episode 8: Pronouns & Coming Out". Under Our Roof (Podcast). Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Semler (@semlerrrr)". TikTok. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  11. 1 2 Huckabee, Tyler (February 9, 2021). "Semler's 'Preacher's Kid' Has Hit The Top Spot On The ITunes Christian And Gospel Charts". Relevant .
  12. 1 2 Atencio, Mitchell (February 22, 2021). "Grace Semler Baldridge is bringing queer stories to Christian music". Sojourners .
  13. 1 2 Kuruvilla, Carol (February 11, 2021). "This Queer Christian's Album Challenges The Contemporary Christian Music Industry". HuffPost .
  14. ↑ "Semler gives Queer Christianity a voice with Preacher's Kid". The Brock Press. February 9, 2021. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  15. ↑ Martin, Michel; Watters, Gemma. "Semler, With 'Preacher's Kid,' Writes Music Of Faith For A Real World". NPR .
  16. ↑ Semler (October 25, 2021). "WE DID IT AGAIN!..." Twitter. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  17. ↑ Hudak, Joseph (October 5, 2021). "Katie Pruitt, a Gay Nashville Songwriter, Reckons With Her Catholicism in New Podcast". Yahoo. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  18. ↑ Jackson, Jesse T. (January 6, 2022). "LGBTQ Artist Semler Joining Christian Band Relient K's Upcoming Tour". ChurchLeaders. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Grace Baldridge". TYT Network.
  20. ↑ "Murder With Friends". IMDB.
  21. ↑ "7th Annual Nominees & Winners". Streamys.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.