Prince to get lifetime achievement Grammy. Here's what his Canadian guitarist says working with him was like
Donna Grantis, guitarist for Prince and 3rdeyegirl, shares thoughts and insights on entertainment legend
Prince's musical legacy is an inspiration to many. The iconic artist, known for hits like Purple Rain, Kiss and Little Red Corvette, is remembered as a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, as well as a mysterious and unconventional pop culture figure.
To Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis, he was also a bandmate and friend.
Almost nine years after his death, Prince is being honoured on Grammy weekend with a lifetime achievement award. In anticipation of the event, Grantis sat down with The National's Ian Hanomansing to discuss what it was like to work with the idiosyncratic rock star.
A dream come true
In 2012, Grantis was working as a solo artist and session musician in Toronto, when Prince came across a couple of videos of her on YouTube.
According to Grantis, there were two videos that caught his attention. One was the performance of an original tune called Elektra at a PRS Guitars event in Stevensville, Md.
The other was a video from Toronto's Orbit Room of Grantis playing Billy Cobham's jazz fusion song Stratus — a tune that Prince used to play at parties.
WATCH | The Donna Grantis Electric Band plays Stratus at the Orbit Room in Toronto in 2012:
A graduate of McGill's music program, Grantis had been studying Prince's music for years, so it was a shock when she received an email from Prince collaborator Joshua Welton, asking if she'd like to come to jam at Paisley Park, Prince's famed home in Minnesota.
"He said, 'Hey, would you like to visit Paisley Park and jam with Prince and his band?"' she recalled. "I didn't know if it was real or not, because it was my dream to play with him."
Welton soon followed up with a phone call, and Grantis was given a short list of songs to learn and booked on a one-way flight to Minnesota.
When she arrived, Grantis was introduced to her future bandmates, Hannah Welton and Eda Nielsen. Soon after, Prince walked in.
"I was so excited," she said. "We introduced ourselves and then very quickly just started playing. You know, the sound of two electric guitars is incredible and for that other guitarist to have been Prince was just mind-blowing."
After the initial jam, nobody sent Grantis home and she continued to jam daily with the band. But it wasn't until the four musicians appeared together on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that she realized she was officially in the band Prince and 3rdeyegirl.
WATCH | Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis tells The National's Ian Hanomansing about being invited to jam with Prince and walking into Paisley Park for the first time:
Recording with Prince
Grantis contributed more than just her talents as a guitar player to Prince's legacy. She also ended up writing with him.
At one rehearsal, Prince asked Grantis to teach the band her composition of Elektra. She did, and Prince then offered a few ideas for the arrangement and a name change.
"He said, 'What do you think about if we call it Plectrumelectrum?'" Grantis recounted. "I was like, 'Cool, that's a cool name.'"
It not only became a new "cool name" for the song — it ended up being the title track to the Prince and 3rdeyegirl album, released in 2014.
WATCH | Toronto guitarist Donna Grantis plays a clip from the song that became the title track for the Prince and 3rdeyegirl album, Plectrumelectrum:
The process of recording Plectrumelectrum was a mix of straight live-off-the-floor takes recorded in different locations around Paisley Park, with some overdubs.
"Sometimes we recorded in the studio, sometimes we just set up in a basketball court without any sound barriers or anything like that," she said.
Grantis said Prince was always a professional artist with a tireless work ethic. They would play together for many hours a day, six days a week. According to Grantis, Prince was an expert at getting the best out of those around him.
"The bar was high," she said. "And, of course, you know, the expectation was to go beyond our potential."
WATCH | Toronto guitarist Donna Grantis talks to The National's Ian Hanomansing about recording with Prince at all hours of the day and night:
Playing live with Prince
Grantis says that Prince always kept the band on their toes, rarely adhering to a setlist and changing up songs on the fly.
On one particular night at the Sony Centre in Grantis's hometown of Toronto, the frontman caught her off guard. They were playing one of Prince's signature songs, Purple Rain. When it came time for the iconic solo, which Prince always played, he signalled to Grantis to take it.
"It was a total surprise," said Grantis. "I felt like that was a really special moment. And you know, I consider that to be a gift to have had the chance to play that for a hometown audience."
WATCH | Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis tells The National's Ian Hanomansing about Prince surprising her in Toronto by giving her the nod to take the solo on his iconic song, Purple Rain:
Learning from Prince
As a fan, friend and bandmate, Grantis learned a lot from Prince. He taught her about playing with conviction, as well as specifics about how to handle an electric guitar.
The band would also sit around and have discussions on heavy topics, such as religion and spirituality. Prince is known to be a religious man, but Grantis said the conversations were all very open and welcoming.
"There was a difference in views and in opinions," she said. "But we all talked for hours and really listened to each other, and those were really special conversations."
It was during one of those chats that Prince said something that inspired her current project. He asked the band: "What if we could use music to teach?"
With Prince's question in mind, Grantis embarked on an audio project that combines her concern for the climate crisis and her musical abilities. In an upcoming release called humanNATURE, she is using statements by climate leaders, setting them to newly composed music.
"And I've been learning a lot, talking to ocean scientists and activists," she said. "My goal is to add a musical frequency to their words."
Thoughts on Prince's legacy
Nearly nine years after Prince's death from a fentanyl overdose, Grantis says she still isn't comfortable talking about the circumstances of his passing, or any details about how she reacted on first hearing the news. She would rather discuss his life and his musical legacy.
"His legacy is in the music," she said. "I can't pick a favourite song or a favourite album, because I think they're all so special. But it truly is, it's a gift, you know, that he has left us. And in celebrating his life and legacy, I would say: listen to all of it."
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