Charlotte native — and Zach Bryan go-to — makes hometown debut with NYC band Grumpy

Heaven Schmitt may have grown up in Charlotte, but Grumpy — the band Schmitt has fronted for seven years — has never played a Charlotte show until now. As the opening act for indie-rock staple Real Estate’s current U.S. tour, Grumpy plays Wednesday night at Neighborhood Theatre.

Grumpy’s trajectory has been a long, twisty one. Its first album “Loser” was a bright, self-aware, jangly indie-pop debut, released in 2020. In the time between it and Grumpy’s EP “Wolfed,” which came out this past October, Schmitt moved to New York from Nashville; married and divorced Grumpy’s drummer, Austin Arnold; changed the band’s name a few times before returning to the original one; and found a way to stay afloat financially by singing backup on country superstar Zach Bryan’s records.

“I had so many things in my life ... and my music change, and my confidence (increased),” says Schmitt, who uses they/them pronouns. “We say it is our sophomore debut. It’s a real introduction for me taking charge. That first album was a great first experience. I wrote the songs and was really shy producing and recording. I let people who I thought knew better than me (make those decisions) and ignored my gut. It wasn’t pushing the envelope.”

But circumstances became complicated just as they were really getting serious about working on “Wolfed.”

“My ex-husband and I decided to break up the week before we recorded the album,” Schmitt says. “Our whole world and the idea of what our lives are going to be was changing.”

The end of the marriage was not the end of the band, though. As planned, Grumpy piled into the couple’s house for 15 days to make an album. “We were in this fishbowl of emotion,” Schmitt says. “But for Austin and I, it showed us that we could still make something beautiful together. We are still collaborators and family and it was going to be okay.”

Schmitt briefly considered changing Grumpy’s name and starting fresh with a new one.

“True to form, to me being a little clunky but unafraid to change my mind. ... I had a good reason to change, but more than anything I just had this feeling of doubt. ‘Grumpy didn’t make it.’ (I had) this idea you have to blow up immediately or you’re dead in the water.”

But, they continue, “I thought about it and ... I felt sentimental about the band.” As that feeling was still washing over Schmitt, Grumpy booked and played its first NYC headlining show last year — and that gig led to the band signing with Bayonet Records, a small indie label started by Beach Fossils’ Dustin Payseur (also a Charlotte native) and his wife Katie Garcia.

It was a good fit, with its roster of left-of-center, experimental but accessible artists. It also represented a fresh enough start without the need to create a new identity.

‘All the pressure went away’

Schmitt traces their interest in music back to their dad making mix CDs for them and their twin sister. It was through those CDs Schmitt discovered songwriting. Their freshman year at Myers Park High School they had an audition, but couldn’t decide what song to play.

“I was like, ‘I’ll just make one up.’ It snowballed from there.”

They began taking guitar lessons from Charlotte teacher John Tosco, which turned into weekly sessions tweaking Schmitt’s original songs. They joined the Myers Park Bluegrass and attended the Swannanoa Music Gatherings where they roomed with Asheville-based indie artist Indigo De Souza. “We’d dream about being rock stars,” Schmitt says. “We were like, ‘I don’t know what everyone else (here) is doing, but we’re going to pursue this.’”

But Schmitt developed a preconceived notion of a timeline for success that almost derailed their music.

While studying songwriting at Belmont University in Nashville, they say, “I was trying so hard to write commercial music. Music that was marketable and relatable. I wanted so badly to be an artist as my job. I better make something that’s worth money. I had a lot of silly beliefs that I had to be a tortured artist in order to write something beautiful.”

The pressure they put on themselves, Schmitt continues, “ruined music for me.”

By graduation, Schmitt recalls, “I couldn’t even look at my guitar. I got to the end and thought, ‘It didn’t happen for me. Maybe I should get okay with the fact that I don’t have it.’ I pretty dramatically quit music and started working at this marketing agency. I decided, ‘I’m not a successful artist, I should find a new plan.’”

Schmitt ended up giving up on music for a year — which ended up being a blessing.

“All the pressure went away. What became ‘Loser’ came so fast and was so easy.” What’s more, Schmitt found that people enjoyed their more personal approach. So now, they say, “everything I write is deeply personal and honest and true to my thoughts.”

‘I’m thinking, Who is this guy?’

As for their recent appearances on a handful of Zach Bryan songs, the opportunities came courtesy of their mutual friendship with songwriter Jack Van Cleaf.

“I’ve sang on Jack’s records for years,” Schmitt says, and “Zach Bryan ... a pretty avid music discoverer ... fell in love with one of Jack’s songs. He wanted to re-record it as a duet, and wanted the same musicians that had worked on Jack’s version.”

Schmitt didn’t know of Bryan’s notoriety when they got the call from Jack. “I pull up to the address,” they recall, “and it’s Electric Lady Studios” — the legendary New York City studio that has hosted icons ranging from Led Zeppelin to Stevie Wonder. “I’m thinking, ‘Who is this guy?’”

And Schmitt wasn’t shy about sharing their opinions about the track.

“I sang and pulled up a chair to the mixing board and sat with Zach and Jack and the engineer. Zach disagreed with almost everything I said. I left that day thinking, ‘I blew that. He loved my singing, but I was too much. I shouldn’t have asserted myself so much,’” they recalled.

But Bryan called the next day to ask Schmitt to sing on another song.

“Since then, I’ve been singing on everything he’s made,” Schmitt says. “That’s my main job now. It’s a lottery-ticket situation. It’s freed me up completely to go hard with my band.”

Real Estate featuring Grumpy

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Where: Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St.

Tickets: $30.74-$42.10.

Details: www.neighborhoodtheatre.com.