Kina Grannis

Stairwells was released on February 23, 2010, and included many original songs already appearing on YouTube, as well as three previously unreleased songs: "World in Front of Me", "In Your Arms", and "Mr. Sun". Stairwells debuted at No. 139 on the Billboard 200,[31] No. 5 on the Billboard Top Internet Albums chart, No. 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart,[32] and No. 18 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.[33] The location of her release party for Stairwells, the Dakota Lounge in Santa Monica, was the subject of an article in the Orange Country Register because the venue enabled her to show her gratitude to her fans.[34] On March 13, 2010, her single "Valentine" was played by Paul Gambaccini on BBC Radio 2, a popular radio station in the UK.[35] The music video for "Valentine" directed by a young and talented viral video director Ross Ching has been viewed well over 21 million times on YouTube.[36][37][38]

Grannis' Stairwells Springtime Tour began in San Francisco on May 24, 2010, and concluded in late June after several stints on the East Coast and in Canada. Her Fall Tour began on September 17, 2010, and concluded on November 17, 2010.[39] On July 10, 2010, she played at Lilith Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.[40] In 2010, Grannis was featured as Judy in a miniseries by Wong Fu Productions entitled "Funemployed".[41][42][43] In early 2011, Grannis was awarded the title of Sirius/XM CoffeeHouse's 2010 Singer-Songwriter Discovery of the Year after a months-long online voting period. Her song "Heart and Mind" was used for the German TV series Anna und die Liebe. On November 3, 2011, Grannis released a stop-motion music video for the single In Your Arms, using 288,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans. It took about 2 years to complete the project.[44] The video accumulated over 1 million views within the first three days.[45] It now has over 13 million views.

In April 2011, Grannis launched her first world tour. She performed in the eastern regions of Canada and in the eastern and southern regions of the United States. She continued in May through the northwest region of North America which included stops in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Los Angeles. Shows in Europe and southeast Asia followed into the fall of 2011.

In late 2011 and into 2012, Grannis launched her In Your Arms Tour in Europe, Asia (Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong), Australia, and North America.

In March 2013, Grannis gave a talk at TEDx Hollywood[46] titled 'Finding Community Through the Internet'.[47]

Elements was released on May 6, 2014,[48] and was produced by Matt Hales (a.k.a. Aqualung).[49] Starting in November 2013, Grannis began ramping up for the forthcoming album with the launch of "Kina Mondays", which promised a weekly video via Kina's YouTube channel.[50] Nearly six months later, she continued to deliver on that promise and released a video for "The Fire", the first single from Elements. The song showcases acoustics and folk-driven vocals. The following week another album track was released via video with a stripped-down version of "My Own" featuring her sisters. "Dear River", an upbeat track, premiered on Glamour's "Obsessed Blog". Elements debuted at No. 48 on the Billboard 200,[51] No. 4 on the Billboard Americana/Folk chart,[52] and No. 7 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.[53] On its release day, Elements hit No. 2 on iTunes Singer Songwriter Chart, and No. 1 on iTunes Canada.

Grannis announced that she would be celebrating the release of her sophomore studio album Elements with fans at a handful of intimate shows across North America, kicking off with a show at the Troubadour in Hollywood on May 6 – Elements' release date.[54][55] From there, she performed in San Francisco, New York City, Brooklyn, DC, Boston, Toronto, and Chicago. The select dates were the first time fans could hear Elements live and also served as her first official headline run since the spring of 2012.

In late 2014 and 2015, Grannis launched her Elements tour in Europe and North America. She embarked on a tour of Southeast Asia, but was only able to play two shows before she and her band were detained by Indonesian authorities for having the wrong type of visas. Grannis and her crew were deported from the country after three months.[56]

Grannis joined Patreon, a site created by Jack Conte to provide artists a living via direct support, in April 2014.[6]

In April 2017, Grannis created a record label entirely composed of her patrons and began creating an album entirely funded by her supporters.[57] On advice of these supporters, the record label was named KG Records. Grannis began recording, producing, and releasing songs from the upcoming album throughout 2017.

Her first major release under KG Records was the album In The Waiting, on June 29, 2018.[58]

Grannis began streaming on Twitch in 2020.[59] During this time she reached Twitch Partner status.[60]

Her second major release under KG Records was the album It's Hard To Be Human, on October 12, 2021.[61] Building on the themes of her previous album, It's Hard To Be Human further chronicled and grappled with Grannis' journey through infertility and IVF. Shortly after the album's official release, Grannis announced the birth of her child, Aya.[62]

An avid supporter of cancer research, Grannis has performed at several Southern California Relay For Life functions over the years.[72]

In late 2007, she contributed her music to the Band Together: To Fight Measles benefit album.[73][74]

In October 2008, she participated in the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco[75] to support the Leukemia Lymphoma Society in honor of her mother,[76] raising $6,000 for the organization.

In 2009, the philanthropic organization Sister to Sisters adopted her song Message from Your Heart.

In 2011, Grannis contributed her song Message from Your Heart to a benefit album[77] released as part of a broader relief effort[78] for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

In 2012, she launched a charity project called Run Team Kina dedicated to the promotion of personal health and wellness and to raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.[79] In 2012, Run Team Kina raised $71,886 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

In 2023, after her mother's cancer returned, Grannis spearheaded a months-long initiative to register blood donors,[80][81] including serving as grand marshal of the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival's Grand Parade.[82][83]