Gretchen Peters Delivers Esteemed Catalog With Scottish String Quartet On ‘Show- Live From The UK’

photo by Andrew Newiss

Arguably, the genius singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters has a stronger following in the UK than here at home in the states where she is likely better known as a writer for a diverse group of artists ranging from Martina McBride to George Strait, Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood, and even to Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, and Etta James. Those who have been paying closer attention though, marvel at her songcraft, which has been consistently strong but gained tremendous momentum with her albums, Hello Cruel World (2012), Blackbirds (2015), and Dancing with the Beast (2018) from which two-thirds of these 18 live tracks are sourced on Show: Live from the UK.  This is Peters’ first release since 2020’s tribute to Mickey Newbury, The Night You Wrote That Song and her first live release since 2005’s Trio

These performances are culled from three performances from April 19-22 in the UK on her 2019 Strings Attached Tour and feature her touring band of keyboardist and life partner Barry Walsh, guitarist Colm McClean, and electric/upright bassist Conor McCreanor, all of whom sing harmonies. The all- female Scottish string quartet features Seonaid Aitken (violin), Amira Bedrush-McDonald (violin), Sarah Leonard (viola), and Alice Allen (cello).

Some of these tunes benefit from the orchestration while others, especially the older ones, would be better served with a less is more approach. Nonetheless, it’s a superb collection and for those living under a rock for the past two decades, it’s a wonderful introduction to Peters, so often famed for her songwriting, and underrecognized for her emotive, gorgeous alto vocals. Simply put, there are very few songwriters equal of Peters, and listening to her perform her own material offers a superior experience to hearing others cover her work. These audiences absolutely adore her. One rarely hears so much enthusiasm in a live recording. 

After a rather plain opener, “Arguing with Ghosts,” Peters gains momentum with the haunting “Hello Cruel World,” retreats to older material with “The Secret of Life” and “Revival,” (a tune covered by her dear friend, singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave) before rendering the sublime tune inspired by her then aging mother, “Love That Makes a Cup of Tea.” Again, these songs are culled from three performances, so the sequence is not necessarily in the pattern of the live performance, yet the album begins to firmly gain strong footing with the sixth track, the murder ballad “Blackbirds,” the titular track of what was voted the Best Americana album of 2015 in the UK. Here the strings really help in building the drama. Her best-known song, “On a Bus to St. Cloud,” however, loses some of its emotional impact with the string accompaniment. In this sequence is also her version of “When You Love Someone,” originally recorded as a duet with Bryan Adams.   

It’s impossible to find fault with any of the eight tracks on Disc Two, all rendered by the band without strings, culled from the three most recent albums mentioned in the opening paragraph, from the anthemic “When All You Got Is a Hammer” to the riveting story songs “Wichita” and “Idlewild” and the vivid character sketches of “Five Minutes” and “The Matador.”  “Disappearing Act,” “Say Grace,” and “Everything Falls Away” may fall in a slightly lower tier but are still vastly superior to the writing of most.  

.We should welcome any chance we get to hear Peters sing her literate songs, adorned as they are here or unadorned. She has few if any equals. 

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