Prince’s musical legacy is an inspiration for many. The iconic artist, known for successes as Purple rain, kiss and Little Red Corvette, It is remembered as a virtuoso multi -standardist, as well as a mysterious and unconventional pop culture figure.
For Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis, she was also a band and friend.
Almost nine years after his death, Prince is being honored on the weekend of Grammy with an award for life for life. In the forecast of the event, Grantis sat down with The nationals Ian Hanomansing Discuss what it was like to work with the idiosyncratic rock star.
A dream come true
In 2012, Gontis worked as a soloist and session musician in Toronto, when Prince met a couple of videos of her on YouTube.
According to Gontis, there were two videos that caught their attention. One was the performance of an original melody called Elektra In a PRS guitar event in Stevensville, MD.
The other was a video of the Toronto de Gontis orbit room playing Billy Cobham’s jazz song Stratum – A melody that Prince used to play at parties.
Look | Donna Grantis’s electric band touches Stratus in Toronto orbit room in 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3laag4nxhy
Graduated from the McGill music program, Gontis had been studying Prince’s music for years, so it was a shock when he received an email from Prince Joshua Welton’s collaborator, asking him if he would like to come to Jam to Park Paisley, the famous Prince’s house at Prince’s house. Minnesota.
“He said: ‘Hey, would you like to visit Paisley Park and Jam with Prince and his band?” He recalled. “I didn’t know if it was real or not, because it was my dream to play with him.”
Welton soon continued with a phone call, and Grantis received a brief list of songs to learn and reserved on a first leg to Minnesota.
When he arrived, Gontis was presented to his future bandmates, Hannah Welton and Eda Nielsen. Shortly after, Prince entered.
“I was so excited,” he said. “We introduce ourselves and then very quickly we started to play. You know, the sound of two electric guitars is incredible and for that other guitarist it was Prince was amazing.”
After the initial traffic jam, nobody sent Grantis to her house and she continued to stuck daily with the band. But it wasn’t until the four musicians appeared together in Night with Jimmy Fallon who realized that he was officially in the Band Prince and 3Rdeyegirl.
Look | Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis tells Ian Hanomansing of the Nacional about being invited to scroll with prince and entering Paisley Park for the first time:
Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis tells Ian Hanomansing of the National about being invited to stuck with Prince and entering her countryley park farm for the first time.
Recording with Prince
Grantis contributed more than his talents as a guitarist to Prince’s legacy. She also ended up writing with him.
In an essay, Prince asked Grantis to teach the band their composition of Elektra She did it, and Prince then offered some ideas for the agreement and a change of name.
“He said: ‘What do you think if we call it Pectrumelectrum? ‘”Grantis said.” It was like, ‘great, that’s a great name’.
Not only became a new “Cool name” for the song, but it ended up being the main song of the Prince and 3rdyegirl album, released in 2014.
Look | The guitarist of Toronto, Donna Grantis, touches a clip of the song that became the main song of the Prince and 3rdyegirl album, Pectrumelectrum:
Grantis touches the Riff of Elektra, a song that became the main song of the album Prince and 3Rdeyegirl, Pectrumelectrum.
The recording process Pectrumelectrum It was a mixture of live shots live from the floor recorded in different places around Paisley Park, with some overwhelmed.
“Sometimes we recorded in the study, sometimes we settle on a basketball court without any solid barrier or anything like that,” he 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 Gontis, Prince was an expert in obtaining the best of those around him.
“The bar was tall,” he said. “And, of course, you know, the expectation was to go beyond our potential.”
Look | The guitarist of Toronto, Donna Gontis, speaks with the National Hanomansing of the National recording at Prince at all hours of day and night:
The guitarist of Toronto, Donna Grantis, talks to Ian Hanomansing of the National about Prince recording at night, and only one very special.
Playing live with Prince
Grantis says that Prince always kept the alert band, rarely adheres to a list of songs and changed the songs on the fly.
On a particular night at the Sony center in the hometown of Grantis, Toronto, the leader took it by surprise. They were playing one of Prince’s exclusive songs, Purple rain. When the time of the iconic alone came, that Prince always played, he told Grantis to take it.
“It was a total surprise,” Gontis said. “I felt that it was a really special moment. And you know, I consider that this is a gift to have had the opportunity to play that for a audience of the hometown.”
Look | Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis tells Ian Hanomansing of the National about the prince surprising her in Toronto giving her the wink to take the alone in her iconic song, Purple Rain:
The Canadian guitarist Donna Grantis has Ian Hanomansing of the National about the prince surprising her during a Toronto performance by winking her alone in her iconic song, Purple Rain.
Learning from the prince
As a fan, friend and bandmate, Gontis learned a lot from Prince. He taught him about playing with conviction, as well as details on how to handle an electric guitar.
The band would also sit and had discussions on heavy issues, such as religion and spirituality. It is known that Prince is a religious man, but Grantis said the conversations were very open and cozy.
“There was a difference in opinions and opinions,” he said. “But we all talked for hours and we really listen to ourselves, and those were really special conversations.”

It was during one of those chats that Prince said something that inspired his current project. He asked the band: “What would happen if we could use music to teach?”
With Prince’s question in mind, Grantis embarked on an audio project that combines his concern about the climatic crisis and his musical skills. In an upcoming release called Humanianness, She is using climate leaders statements, establishing them in recently composed music.
“And I’ve been learning a lot, talking with oceanic scientists and activists,” he said. “My goal is to add a musical frequency to his words.”
Look | Drop in the Bucket video by Donna Grantis (with Tzeporah Berman): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pinkifupwds
Thoughts about Prince’s legacy
Almost nine years after Prince’s death for an overdose of fentanil, Grantis says he still does not feel comfortable talking about the circumstances of his death, or any detail about how he reacted when he heard the news. She would prefer to discuss her life and musical legacy.
“His legacy is in music,” he said. “I can’t choose a favorite song or a favorite album, because I think everyone is very special. But it really is, it is a gift, you know, that he has left us. And when celebrating his life and his legacy, I would say: Listen to everything “
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