Grayson Russell

No different than going, hey, you're about to spend boot camp and then two and a half months on a Navy destroyer with Tom Hanks and get nominated for an Oscar.

Yeah, so we were on either the fake ship or the real one.

So we were on the, we were, I'd never worked on a gimbal before, is what they call it, which is this

Hydraulic motor with the set built on top of it about 20 feet in the air and it moves under you And so we had the fake ship and then we had the actual ship which is the USS Kidd which is docked on the Mississippi in Baton Rouge And a lot of people a lot of people ask Most of the time because they know they're traveling do me as well.

You know, which one do you you know if you had to pick one?

which one and why and For me

There's not another occupation where I can wear gear made to fight the Nazis in World War II.

Made in 1941 for World War II.

Yell at and get yelled at by Tom Hanks.

Surrounded by 70-something extras jumping and screaming and getting shot at.

And put myself through school so my folks don't have to.

There's not another job on the planet that I can do that.

But also...

I am not in my real life a signalman second class on the side of the USS Kidd fighting Nazis.

And when I'm doing film, I get to tell somebody else's story.

When I'm doing music, it's mine.

And I get to be me, and this is how I am and how I act.

And these are the stories and lives and cautionary tales that I've led.

When I started putting together this record,

Even though I have done music my entire life, and I'll get to, by the grace of God, open for my ninth Grammy winner this year.