Macy Gray’s 25th anniversary tour comes to KiMo Theatre

It’s been 25 years since Macy Gray released her debut album, “On How Life Is.” Its soulful single, “I Try,” became one of the biggest hit songs of 1999 and earned Gray a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

To celebrate her first quarter-century in the music industry, Gray has embarked on a nationwide “On How Life Is” 25th anniversary tour. She will perform at Albuquerque’s KiMo Theatre on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

“During the show, we play the whole album in order, live, and everybody has a ball. It’s really cool to see that people still remember all the words, and they still get all excited when they hear a song start,” Gray said. “It’s definitely pretty cool.”

Growing up, Gray saw herself more as a writer than a singer. She only started writing songs after first trying her hand at screenwriting.

“I always had a natural thing with writing. Even when I was a kid, I used to write. Then, when I was in college, I wrote term papers for money. People would pay me to do their papers,” Gray said. “Writing is how I got into school in the first place. I applied only to the schools that had writing programs at the time, and so I ended up at USC (University of Southern California), because they had screenwriting. It was a brand new (program), and John Singleton (who wrote and directed ‘Boyz n the Hood’) was in my class.”

Gray’s screenwriting classes taught her about structure, she said, which came in handy when she started writing songs.

“You know, a beginning, middle and end,” Gray said. “People don’t talk about it enough in music, but it’s so important in a song to tell a story. You give it a beginning, and then it ends somewhere for you, and you have it resolve. And you can exhale.”

“I learned that in screenwriting,” Gray said. “But in screenwriting, you have to do that with 120 pages or so. With songwriting, you just got the verse, chorus, bridge, and you’re done. You can write it in five minutes.”

Gray said a “lack of patience” kept her from becoming a professional screenwriter, so she became a songwriter instead.

And, although she doesn’t write screenplays, Gray keeps one foot in the film world as an actor, having appeared in at least 25 films, including “Idlewild” (2006) and “For Colored Girls” (2010).

“I’m shooting a movie in about two weeks, called ‘Turnbuckle.’ It’s directed by Sean McEwen (“Bernie,” “American Outlaws”) and stars Kate Beckinsale, Emile Hirsch, Evan Ross and a bunch of other people. It’s a pretty wild cast,” Gray said. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited. Actually, before I started my press today, I was memorizing my lines.”

Musically, Gray draws on a wide range of influences.

“I just think about the time that I grew up in. Like, I was born in the ’60s, and I was a teenager in the ’80s. So, I got to see the whole evolution of music, from the birth of hip-hop in the late ’70s, when Bob Marley was still around, and jazz was still really big, too. I remember when Herbie Hancock had the No. 1 song, and it didn’t have any vocals on it at all. It was all instrumental. And I remember the Marsalis brothers (Branford and Wynton) were on the charts (with jazz music),” Gray said. “And I was around for the heyday and rock ’n’ roll, and then metal, and when Nirvana came around — I think all of that seeped into what I do, making it really impossible to just put out just one little type of music, one kind of song, because I have all this information in my brain.”

Music industry executives have not always been pleased with Gray’s eclecticism.

“You’re encouraged to stay in your lane,” Gray said. “When you wake up and want to do something different, they’re like, no, that’s going to confuse your audience, blah blah blah.”

“I think I get categorized a lot as an R&B singer because I’m Black, which is fine. Most Black artists get that,” Gray continued. “But nothing I do is in the same universe as a Chris Brown or an Usher — like the pure R&B artists. So, maybe people think I’m all over the place. But I just think I can only do what comes to me. My music comes from all that I know, and all that I listen to.”

For her 25-year anniversary tour, Gray has assembled a small, jazz-influenced touring band.

“It’s just a rhythm section — bass, drums, keys, guitar — and it’s like a jazz show,” Gray said. “The thing about jazz is, when a jazz artist puts on a show, there’s no bells and whistles. They barely do anything with the lights. No dancers come out. Nobody flies over the audience. It’s just the music. And you can’t take your eyes off of it.”

She said she wanted her show to have that same simple, stripped-down feel.

“But I sold out,” Gray said. “We do have a video show with tons of visuals. But the vibe of the band is very musician-like. They’re a great band.”

Gray said her voice is better than it’s ever been.

“My voice is a million miles from where it was 25 years ago,” Gray said. “I’m a lot more seasoned, and a lot more technical. Like, I studied, and I got coached, and I still see my coach. So, my voice is a lot better, thank God.”

Performing the songs live gives them “a different kind of energy,” too, she said.

“We have a ball. Everybody’s singing and dancing and screaming and sweating,” Gray said. “It’s like a proper show. It’s a great night out.”

Macy Gray’s 25th anniversary tour comes to KiMo Theatre