by Thomas Hall | Mar 26, 2019 | Op-Ed
I am most delighted to report a marked uptick in the number of YouTube posts made by musicians who are covering Grace Vanderwaal’s music. This is the trend since three weeks ago, around the time of the release of “Stray”. Then, with the release of movie “Wonder Park”... by Thomas Hall | Aug 27, 2018 | Op-Ed, Reviews
Today’s editorial comes from one of the VanderVault’s first recruited staff writers, Thomas Hall, who has returned to shed some light on what has to be the most ambitious, and well executed, fan tribute video to Grace VanderWaal ever created: Kristin McQuaid’s dance... by Thomas Hall | Apr 6, 2018 | Op-Ed
Modern Dutch surnames, for example the Vanderwaal family name, have interesting historical origins. If you have never thought much about names with ‘de’ or ‘van’ in them, you might still have encountered such names in high school classes. Molecular chemistry has ‘van... by Thomas Hall | Apr 4, 2018 | Op-Ed
Grace Vanderwaal held an instagram live stream event in which she casually suggested to streamers “Let’s write a song.” What unfolded was truly remarkable. Here are my notes from watching a recording of that event. What did we learn about songwriting? That... by Thomas Hall | Apr 1, 2018 | Op-Ed, Reviews
Grace Vanderwaal’s new single “Clearly” dropped a day ago, March 30, 2018, to widespread acclaim from fans and music outlets. The song, produced by Ido Zmishlany, is a re-interpretation of Johnny Nash’s 1972 hit “I Can See Clearly”. The lyrics and musical composition... by Thomas Hall | Mar 23, 2018 | Op-Ed
The number of smart decisions Grace VanderWaal and her team have made in the past two years (since, say, Autumn 2016) is quite impressive and worth making a few remarks about. I cannot do justice to all of the wise choices made by Grace and her support organization in... by Thomas Hall | Mar 19, 2018 | Op-Ed
Topic #2: Building Trust on Many Levels If you listen to different kinds of music and invest time and effort into that process, you cannot help but to develop a critical ear. You also get used to disappointment, because there is likely more music released that you do... by Thomas Hall | Mar 13, 2018 | Op-Ed
Herein is a series of short essays covering aspects of Grace VanderWaal’s music, most particularly its appeal to people of all ages. No perfect explanation can be given, but the goal is to shed light on why it is that people of all ages are drawn to Grace’s music.... by Thomas Hall | Mar 11, 2018 | Op-Ed
A great way to learn one’s place in the world is to travel to other countries and observe how the people there live. A great way to learn how to be a giving person and to have empathy for others is to volunteer time and labor to a humanitarian cause. This past week... 