Grace Pettis – Down To The Letter
This LP with its divorce theme contains one jewel after another. Little novellas that dig deep into places only your ears know how to get to. The finesse is to be admired as Grace sings these 12 fragile penetrating songs. Grace goes deep into her Peggy Lee zone on “The Year of Losing Things,” & does it well.
I find it fascinating when artists who can’t write lyrics often get their words printed on a CD. Repetitive cliched lyrics that wouldn’t pass muster in a 7th-grade poetry class. Yet, a composer like Grace Pettis who knows how to write expressively with poignancy & imagination doesn’t have her lyrics on her new CD in a beautifully printed & stitched insert. With all the beautiful vintage photography & poignant songs why not an insert? Blame the record company? The jacket designers? Or Grace? Maybe it’s an oversight.
And so, there’s not much to criticize. I could stop writing now & say it’s worth the few bucks you need to shell out to be captivated by Grace’s intimate & well-crafted set despite the divorce theme since she handles that issue with class.
OK — but not everyone’s familiar with Grace Pettis. They should get to know her Down To The Letter – the name of her sophomore CD at MPress Records (Drops June 14/47:00) & produced by Mary Bragg (bgv). But they’re so in the dark about the artists who matter that the songwriters are often blurred out, obscured & ignored. Are we really that shallow? There have been brilliant artists: Heather Nova, Cindy Bullens, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Cris Williamson, Ferron, Beth Nielsen Chaplin, Janis Ian, Judee Sill & New Zealand’s Shona Laing. Many others – flew under the radar but boy, could they write & sing compelling songs that could sting & soothe. Just like Grace.
So, ask yourself, is it more important for your butt to find its groove to be satisfied? Is it more gratifying for your feet & hips to dance into an escape you know you can get out of? Or would it be smarter to immerse yourself into an atmospheric inspiring dozen tunes that’ll make you drift in your head as something you could believe was written especially for you & you alone?
Finding Grace Pettis is like a diabetic being told there’s no sugar in the hot fudge sundae. And yes, you can have 2 helpings. Here’s a spoon. Go for it.
Highlights – “Rain,” “Horses,” “I Didn’t Break This,” “I Take Care of Me Now,” “Wild,” “Joy,” “A Thousand Times a Day,” “The Better & the Worst,” “The Year of Losing Things” & “When Nobody’s Watching.”
Musicians – Jon Estes (mellotron/synth/cello/piano/bass/drums/organ/Wurlitzer/acoustic guitar), Josh Kaler (acoustic, electric & rubber bridge guitars/lap & pedal steel guitars/guitalele/Moog), Owen Biddle (bass), Jordan Perlson (drums) & Will Hawley (trumpet/trombone/bgv) with multiple guest & background singers listed on the CD.
Color image by Starla Dawn & Grace’s Facebook. CD/music samples @ https://gracepettis.bandcamp.com/album/down-to-the-letter & https://www.gracepettis.com/
