“The worst thing an artist can do is
what is expected of them.”
For more than a decade, Grace
Potter and The Nocturnals have
been a fixture on the jam band
scene, playing the largest music
festivals with a distinctive rock
and roll sound that defied easy
categorization. Some songs
were bluesy, some rocked hard,
some sounded like alternative
rock and some sounded rootsy,
but they were all held together
via the powerful and soulful vocals of Grace Potter. In August,
she released Midnight, her first
solo record and she’s currently
on a tour that will bring her to
the tri-state area in December.
The record surprised many
long-time fans of the band
because it takes her songwriting in completely different diNewJerseyStage.com
rections. In fact, some say it’s
closer to a pop album than anything else.
“I wouldn’t say this is a pop
record,” explained Potter. “It’s
poppier than anything I’ve
done before, but more than
anything it was great to unleash
the preconceived notions and
parameters that I’ve set for myself about having to write for
the band and write for my fans.
I was in this very people pleasing mode for many years where
I wanted to write what I thought
other people would like and
what other people would dig.
And so this record was an opportunity for me to explore the
things that make me happy and
fulfill me as a songwriter.”
2015 - ISSUE 11
ARTICLES
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