When I first heard the song On A Bus To St Cloud, I immediately tracked down the source album and have enjoyed Peters’ output ever since. Very much in the territory of Carole King, Mary Chapin Carpenter and John Prine as regards subject matter, she finds her own twists and exposes her own humour, humanity and yes, vulnerability as she tells musical tales most of us can surely relate to​

She admits, “You can trace the feminist DNA in my songwriting back to ‘Independence Day’ and probably before. The thing that 2017 did is just put it front and center.” Though Peters doesn’t consider herself a political writer, she is politically minded and, therefore, knew she had to address the 2016 election and all that has happened since… but in her own way.

There’s a bittersweet beauty to the passing of time — the changes it brings are just as often heartbreaking as they are heartwarming. The inevitable tension that arises from that sway is Gretchen Peters’ most trusted muse. With melody supporting that melancholy, the songs on the new album combine to lift the effort over the high artistic bar set by her last outing, 2015’s award-winning Blackbirds.

Whether a single sentence or a simple setting, once planted, even the tiniest seed can grow into a vision unto itself. Strung together and populated with strong and broken female heroines, those vignettes make up Dancing with the Beast and, indeed, Peters’ entire discography.

Beauty tempered by dread, sorrow buoyed by hope, these are the ever-present tugs of war that make life worth living and songs worth writing. And they are the over-riding themes that make Gretchen Peters one of her generation’s most compelling singer/songwriters.

Album Tracklisting

1. Arguing With Ghosts
2. Wichita
3. The Boy From Rye
4. Disappearing Act
5. Lowlands
6. The Show
7. Dancing With The Beast
8. Truckstop Angel
9. Say Grace
10. Lay Low
11. Love That Makes A Cup Of Tea

In addition, Peters will support the album release with an fifteen-date extensive May/June 2018 UK Tour and all of the dates, venues and ticket links are listed below.

Pete Sargeant