In the marriage of word and melody, Grace Pettis sets the bar at a jaw-droppingly high level."
— Maverick Magazine, UK
This first outing for Grace Pettis is just great...These are fine songs from a brave, transparent young woman. She has a voice that reminds me of Karla Bonoff or a young Linda Ronstadt."
— Victory Review
Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!
I am just back from the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis and I am so thrilled to be sharing this artist and her music with you. My goal at the conference this year was to see a lot of new artists, and one of the first ones I went looking for was Grace Pettis.
Grace is the 22-year-old daughter of Pierce Pettis, who is one of my favorite songwriters. I heard that her song Nine to Five Girl beat out 800 other songs to win the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest this year. I suspected I was in for a treat… but I had no idea.
I went to her first showcase and, along with everyone else in the room, fell in love with Grace Pettis. She has a really lovely voice (strong and sweet) and a beautiful presence. She started with Turning Too a gentle and lovely coming-of-age song which takes us from bicycles to wedding dresses. The next song was Nine to Five Girl, which is the one that beat out all the others at Mountain Stage. She joked that it was about the kind of jobs you have when you’re in your twenties… or a musician… or both, and “making just enough to dream.” Dancing (written with Sofia Echegaray) is a tender waltz that Grace dedicated to her grandparents and to a time when dancing was a part of all love stories. Italy was dedicated to her fiance, who couldn’t be with her at the conference because they are saving for a honeymoon. She told us that when they met they discovered they both dreamed of traveling in Italy. When the song was done, I don’t think I was the only one who wanted to help finance the trip. Like I said, I fell in love with Grace Pettis. I am sure you will too.
Grace’s album, which came out in October 2009, was produced by Billy Crockett, who runs the amazing Blue Rock Artist Ranch and Studio in Wimberley, Texas. I am happy to know that Grace is working with someone who obviously cares so much about wonderful music and artists.
The videos below are from Grace’s official showcase at the Folk Alliance Conference. By the time she did this showcase, word had spread (I know I told everyone I saw) and the room was packed. The noise you hear is from bustling conference traffic in the nearby hallway, but in the room there was not a sound as everyone was listening so intently. She was accompanied by Billy Crockett on guitar and Dirje Smith on cello. She got a standing ovation at the end of her set which is rare at this conference.
The best way to support Grace is to buy from her website (Click here),
the 2nd best way is CDBaby (Click here),
and the last best way is iTunes (Click here).
Whichever way works best for you, I hope you will support this fine artist because I want to see the photos from Italy!
Nine to Five Girl
Love Is There
What You Don’t Want to Know
