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Gretchen Peters

Venue: The Sage/The Arc
Town: Gateshead/Stockton
Date: March 1st/2nd
Website: http://www.gretchenpeters.com

Over the course of two consecutive nights Gretchen Peters played in two towns in North East England; Gateshead and Stockton.

Support both nights came from Canada native Lynne Hanson, a new name to me. Both nights she played a similar set, though whilst at The Sage it was clear she is very talented, she was obviously being held back a little by nerves as it was her first time there and her first night opening for Gretchen. By the following night at The Arc, she had found her mojo, so to speak, and was much more relaxed and at ease, chatting, laughing and clearly enjoying herself.

Demonstrating a great sense of humour, fabulous guitar skills and an impressive vocal range, her songs touched on country and blues, even leaning towards rock at times. Cold Touch had a great country sound, whilst Here We Go Again, is a song to which many will relate, of taking the leap again after being hurt in love. Telling us she has now not had a drink for six months, she upped the tempo for Riptide, her 'redemption song.' Rest of My Days spoke of the damage done when you hold onto something you shouldn't, whilst 11 Months talked of being stuck in time when you are trying to move forward; very clever lyrics. Her attempt at a song using the word 'lonesome' became a happy song, so as not to compete with all Hank Williams' sad ones, and she encouraged us to join in with the choruses of Trading in My Lonesome. The smile on her face left us in no doubt she was enjoying us singing with her. Ending her set with a clever murder ballad not about her mother, Mary, despite being called Mary Mary, she told us she thinks all CDs need such a ballad. Perhaps the jury is out on that one, but I think all agreed that Lynne Hanson is a name to watch out for.

Both nights Gretchen's partner and pianist Barry Walsh, and their new band member, Canadian Christine Bougie, came out on stage and played the opening notes of Hello Cruel World, as Gretchen came out onto the stage to rapturous applause. Clearly everyone was glad she was back. At both venues, she spoke of how happy she was to be back in the North East, especially at The Sage, where she said it felt like it had only been two weeks since she'd last been there. There were clearly a few first night nerves on stage, but Gretchen knows as well as we do that there is no safer or forgiving audience for her to have them than at The Sage! By night two at The Arc, however, the nerves were clearly dissipating and everyone was much more relaxed.

Clearly touched at the reception her new CD, Hello Cruel World, is receiving, the decision was made to perform for us the whole CD, live, in order. This was a new method of delivery for me, but I felt it worked really well, as it highlights how, remarkably, the songs are even more powerful live.

As Gretchen dove straight into the title track, it seemed more obvious than ever how personal the song is and this connection continued through the set; it clearly is her most personal and honest - and it has to be said, best - work to date. St Francis brought tears to my eyes as Gretchen's beautiful voice and her guitar were softly accompanied by piano and lapsteel. Barry's accordion and Christine's shakers added a distinctly Spanish flavour to The Matador, before Barry stepped up to offer his vocals to take Rodney Crowell's place in a duet of Dark Angel. I had no idea Barry could sing so well and I was amazed at how well their voices harmonized for this gorgeous song. Paradise Found was clearly made to be performed live and took on a life of its own on both stages, as Gretchen demonstrated how well her voice fits the Southern blues/ gospel sound of the song. The musicianship of the three was extraordinary. Telling us of the origins of the next story (I won't spoil it for those who haven't yet heard it) and how it fit perfectly with her circus obsession, Gretchen explained that the main character in Woman on the Wheel is 1996's Circus Girl, all these years later. Again, as I always felt with Circus Girl, it seemed there was more of Gretchen herself in those lyrics than we may first think.

Five Minutes almost didn't make the album but I'm glad it did. It is one of Gretchen's finest pieces of writing, where again she either gets totally into the character's psyche, or is there a part of her in there too? Maybe there is a part of us all in those lyrics, come to think of it. In both instances, the audiences were silent, hanging on her every word, as the piano and lapsteel again weaved effortlessly between her vocals.

Camille is a song she wrote on retreat with her Wine Women and Song sisters Matraca Berg and Suzy Bogguss. Gretchen assured us that they have fun on their retreats "though you wouldn't think so from this song!" The emotion in the song seemed to hang in the air, and you could almost be forgiven for thinking Camille was there among us as Gretchen delivered the song 'to her.'

Gretchen switched from guitar to mandolin for Natural Disaster, creating a sound somewhere between country, folk and bluegrass, which worked brilliantly live.

Stepping forward, Gretchen began to talk about her father. I knew he was a writer and journalist, but prior to this CD, I did not know that his beat was The Civil Rights Movement. Gretchen told us about how, after the murder of activist Medgar Evers, his widow and three children came to stay with her family in New York. At the time, her greatest observation was that their youngest son, her age, had never seen snow before, having lived in the Deep South, and his amazement as they built a snowman together. She pointed out how later you see the bigger picture; that actually she was building a snowman with a little boy who had seen his father gunned down in his own driveway, and that in much the same way you see there was more to all the little snippets of memories we keep as children. There couldn't have been a more articulate introduction to, or delivery of, the song that followed, Idlewild. Watching her eyes as she sang, it was clear that these beautiful lyrics, made up of seemingly fragmented recollections and thoughts, are deeply personal. It also got me to wondering how many of us, if we put together some of our seemingly random memories, would come up with a story we weren't expecting.

Taking to the piano, where she now shines with confidence - she obviously had a good teacher in Barry! - Gretchen told us that the final song on the CD, Little World, came about at the piano one day and seemed to be the little piece of hope the dark lyrics of the CD needed. Quite simply, it is a song about how, whatever is going on in the world, we can create our own little world, where everything as is we like it.

As Gretchen said, 'That is the album.' Huge applause followed, before she commented on how the two musicians on stage with her make her a better musician, and how she would like them to take the stage. The greatest comedic moment of the two nights followed, when at The Sage, she went to leave the stage, and completely lost the door, trying to open the wall. Everyone laughing, Barry made a joke about how he can't get her to leave even when she says she will. At the Arc, when she left, there was a murmur around the room of 'She found the door!' from those who were there the previous night!

As they took centre stage, Christine, on lapsteel, provided beautiful accompaniment as Barry played a stirring piece from his new piano record, Paradiso, called Koblenz. It was named after the town in Germany where he premiered it and got a great response. He told us he would similarly name a later piece 'Gateshead' but then said the same in Stockton. However, as he said it in Gateshead first, I intend to hold him to it - I eagerly await his third CD; suggested title, 'Gig Venues I have loved.' He really is the most talented pianist I've ever had the privilege to watch; he makes it look effortless as his hands dance across the keys.

Gretchen returned, promising to play a few favourites; first she took us back to 1996 with The Secret of Life, telling us how it was written for a man, but then Faith Hill recorded it. Much of the audience could be heard singing along on both occasions. Also, not for the first time, it allowed Christine to show us her talents on electric guitar.

Speaking of Tom Russell, Gretchen told us how honoured she was to record the next song, Tom's exquisite Guadalupe; a song which I have always felt sounds as if Gretchen could have written it. It also struck me, not for the first time, how lovely it is that she is happy to acknowledge that a song she didn't write has become so popular. Again, Christine's lapsteel and Barry's accordion beautifully captured the Spanish sound of the song. Maybe one day we will get to hear Gretchen and Tom sing it as a duet…

In keeping with what seems to have become tradition, the nights both concluded all too soon with To Say Goodbye. I can't think of a more fitting song, as I don't think they, or we, were ready to call it a night. 'I'm not leaving, I'm just going..' seemed particularly poignant, knowing how much she loves this area, where she has a history going back sixteen years, to a small gig played to less than 40 people. Several of those people, she commented at The Sage, are "still here, usually in the front row."

Following much deserved standing ovations both nights, which clearly touched Gretchen, the three returned for an encore. Asking us if we would sing with them, she announced "This one's for Davy (Jones)" before they launched into a rocking rendition of Last Train to Clarksville. It had only just been worked up the first afternoon, so was a little rough around the edges. I suspect that night Davy, wherever he is, was laughing at proceedings, whilst at The Arc he was likely singing along with us all!

Barry's now legendary piano introduction marked the beginning of two beautiful performances of the gorgeous On a Bus To St Cloud, the song which Gretchen always says took on a life of its own here in the UK.

The three took their final bows and twice left the stage to huge applause, having indeed - to paraphrase To Say Goodbye - gone, but not left, since we were all taking away wonderful memories of two fantastic nights shared with three amazing people. For almost two magical hours, we together created our own Little World, between the stage and the venue door; a world of music, emotion, sharing, enjoyment and appreciation. Undoubtedly we were all wishing for Five Minutes more, but if I know one thing, it is this. Gretchen Peters means every word when she says she will be back to the North East very soon; that is the promise that our beloved Circus Girl has kept for sixteen years.

Helen Mitchell
Pic illustrative not taken at gig