Just Announced! Grace Potter at the Roseland Theater in Portland on Friday, February 12, 2016
Double Tee Concerts is proud to announce that Grace Potter will be performing at the Roseland Theater this winter. Grace Potter’s epic musical journey reaches a new milestone with the arrival of her solo debut, Midnight, an inspired work that is surprising, revelatory and wildly original.
Midnight was recorded and mixed at Barefoot Studios in Hollywood with producer Eric Valentine, whose own diverse discography—from Queens of the Stone Age to Nickel Creek—evidences a similarly adventurous spirit and openness to possibility. If Valentine’s studio work has a distinguishing characteristic, it’s his hard-hitting sonic signature, which is on display throughout Midnight’s dozen tracks. The core studio band consisted of Potter and Valentine on most of the instruments, with Burr on drums and percussion. In addition, members of Potter’s longtime band The Nocturnals: guitarists Scott Tournet and Benny Yurco and bassist Michael Libramento contributed to the sessions, as well as former tour-mates and friends including singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter, Audra Mae, Noelle Skaggs of Fitz & the Tantrums, Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, and Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age.
“This album is about embracing life as it comes at you – with all its unexpected twists and turns,” says Potter. “I took a much more open approach to songwriting than I have in the past – probably because it was unavoidable. I’ve experienced a huge amount of growth and change in the past two years – both personal and professional, and it can be overwhelming for an artist to find ways to express that in a vacuum. So I tried to strip away the confines of other people’s expectations. I started tapping into some of the deep-running themes that have shaped me into the human I’ve become, and as I went deeper and deeper, I found the results to be insanely satisfying.
“This music means so much to me because it was hard-won. It was a terrifying yet fulfilling process of boiling down what I really wanted to say – peeling back all the protective layers of lyrical metaphor and sonic padding that I’m so used to leaning on. Ultimately the process has fueled` me to share more, learn more, listen carefully, work harder, love harder… Our time on earth is far too short to be resistant to beautiful opportunities as they come our way, so when my inspiration took me somewhere new, I did what I always do: stripped buck-ass naked and ran straight into the fire.”
The release of “Alive Tonight” was shrouded in mystery, and word of Potter’s creative leap sans the Nocturnals hit the blogosphere quite suddenly causing many devoted fans to wonder if this record signaled the end of an era. Fans and friends had lots of questions, but Potter remained silent. “Yeah. People kinda freaked out, some in really good ways, some…not so much. I knew they would and I understood why; this is a bold new sound and for a hardcore fan, it’s a big deal. Loyalty has always been really important to me and so has evolution. It’s hard sometimes to understand that they don’t need to be at odds. The band is an extension of me. They are my family and a huge part of my life. I have no intention of burning bridges or leaving it in the dust.
“I’ve been a Nocturnal for a decade….but I’ve been a musician forever. I’ve got a lot of different influences and creative impulses and I can’t always use my band as my springboard. Sure, I could’ve called this a GPN record, but why would I slap a sticker on an apple and call it an orange? Just to keep a few people from freaking out? Shit no! I have a responsibility to the legacy we built. It was hard. It was scary, but it was the right time to jump off with my own momentum
– to open the door a little wider so the world can see another side, see what else turns me on. I’m mixing it up, doing something different…feels fucking awesome,” Potter says with a smile and a defiant shrug.
“In many ways, Midnight feels like a new beginning, but really, it’s a continuation of my story. I’ve always taken chances and sharp turns. So here I am again wandering into completely uncharted waters—just laying it all out there because ‘why the fuck not?’ I have absolutely no control over how this music will be received, and that’s OK. The risk is mine, and I’m taking it with all my heart.”
Tickets are priced between $28.50 and $45, and are available at this location.
