Grace Potter – Daylight

I have been a fan of Grace Potter since her 2010 album Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. I saw her around that time at an early afternoon show on one of the big stages at Lollapalooza. Despite a sparse crowd early in the festival day, Potter performed like a headliner. A few years later my daughter and I saw her at First Avenue and it was absolutely mind-blowing – she blew the roof off the sucker.

If you are not familiar with Grace Potter, she is a rocker (got to dig a gal with a Flying V) with a big voice and a touch of soul. She is a solid songwriter and a great live performer. She has not had the big breakthrough hit, but she has built a nice little tribe that allows her to play 2000 seat theaters. In a different era, or if she was a “he,” she would be a big star. The rock world has declining market share and even in the glory days, there was hardly any room at the top for women. Potter should be bigger.

All her albums have been solid, but this may be her finest. She displays her many voices from a whisper to a scream. She could front AC/DC or Al Green’s band depending on the song. The songs are written by Potter and her husband/producer Eric Valentine (the guy has a pretty impressive production resume heavy on pop-rock).

Per her website the album is

…deeply personal collection of songs that capture a particularly tumultuous period in her life – from the breakup of her band and a divorce – to more joyful events like a new marriage and the birth of her first child.

Like a lot of contemporary rock artists, Potter is creating new classic rock. What differentiates her is her skill as a vocalist. As I noted above she has several voices. All are authentic – never a put on. Hopefully, this album will be the Brandi Carlisle moment she deserves to get her to a bigger audience.