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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Having been a fan of Pierce Pettis for quite sometime after discovering his first three releases, I was a bit disappointed in his last two discs, and was a bit curious about State of Grace. Fortunately, this latest release from Compass Records sees Pettis reverting a bit to the earthier, rootsier, grittier sound of his earliest work. His first three albums, Tinseltown, While the Serpent Lies Sleeping, and Chase the Buffalo were some of the best sounding "new folk" discs of the early nineties. His last two discs, Making Light of It and Everything Matters were a different story. While they were pleasant enough to listen to, they sounded a bit too slick and overproduced. But State of Grace regains some of the edge that was lost on those discs. Pettis continues his tradition of paying tribute to the late Mark Heard by starting each of his albums off with a Heard cover, and this time around he chooses "Rise From the Ruins," originally heard on Heard's Dry Bones Dance. The Pettis version has just enough of a rollicking country touch to do the song justice without going too far. The title cut begins with an acoustic guitar instrumental version of the traditional Doxology and sets forth the overarching theme of the album:
And I'm left and right Rich and poor Black and white I am not alone I am not ashamed To make my home In a state of grace
And people walk right on those names You can tread on falling stars All the way down Sunset Boulevard Well all that glitters is not gold And even gold is hard and cold Life the way it turns your soul And it's a long way, a long way Such a long way back home.
And if I don't get to hold you, I'll hold you again In the mystical union of a love that never ends We will meet again. The album is produced by Compass's Garry West, husband of Alison Brown, and Brown's banjo can be heard throughout. Also appearing on the album are Colin Linden and Gordon Kennedy, as well as a host of others, giving the disc a true folksy flavor, complete with harmonicas, mandolin, and Hammond B3. And a final bonus is the fantastic cover art from outsider artist Howard Finster. Ken Mueller 7/29/2001
State of Grace is the sixth full release from this amazing singer/songwriter and is perhaps his best yet. I have only seen Pierce in concert once, at the Cornerstone festival back in 1992, where he accompanied Mark Heard in what was to be Mark's final show. In the last ten years he has released a series of albums that keep getting better and better. His voice and guitar are two equal extensions of one very talented individual. Every time I hear one of the albums it just whets my appetite to see him in concert again. If the packaging was all there was to this project then it would still be well worth the price. The cover art by the Rev. Howard Finster and the photographs on the inside are amazing. But that is just the icing on the top of the cake. Produced by Garry West and featuring the talents of Colin Linden, Gordon Kennedy, Stuart Duncan and many others, this is one great album in every way that you can imagine. Although this is a great album to listen to in the car, it cries out to be listened to in a quiet setting to get the full impact of all that is being said, both lyrically and musically. I may be starting to show my age, but I really appreciate a lyricist who forces me to stop and think about what he is saying. Reading a lyric by Pierce is like reading a satisfying short story or a good poem. "And if I never told you how much you mean to me, someday I will show you and all of the world will see, in the middle of forever, in the company of friends we will meet again" from "We Will Meet Again." Or this piece from the song, "Little River Canyon": "This song is just an echo, this song is just a ripple from a stone [that was] tossed into the water long ago." Add to this good acoustic southern-fried music and you've got the total package. Check out www.compassrecords.com/pettis.htm. Chris MacIntosh aka Grandfather Rock 8/3/2001
State of Grace, Pierce
Pettis’ latest album, is a series of celebrations of and ponderings about
our homes, temporal and eternal.
This is not to say that Pettis’s
lyrics are either lightweight or unrealistic. Pettis has lost none
of his ability to create thoughtful and
Several of the songs are notable for their celebration of earthly homes. The title cut is a tribute to Pettis’s home state of Alabama. “A Mountaineer Is Always Free” celebrates co-writer Tim O’Brien’s home state of West Virginia. Both songs are quite catchy, and it wouldn’t surprise me if either was used in tourism commercials for the states by which they were inspired. “Moontown” is an ode to the positives of small town life that features Pettis’s knack for clever lyrics: Tourists
stop for gas
“Georgia Moon” and “Little
River Canyon” are looks back to Pettis’ youth. In the latter, Pettis mixes
some humor with the nostalgia,
Pettis doesn’t focus exclusively on earthly homes. “We Will Meet Again” and “I’ve Got a Hope” express his longings and hopes beyond this earth. The latter is a perfect end for the album, sung with conviction and power: I try
not to forget
The musical arrangements use a wider variety of instruments than in the previous two albums, which were more guitar-dominated. Pettis adds some harmonica to his guitar playing. Tim O’Brien plays mandolin and bouzouki, Stewart Duncan plays fiddle, and Allison Brown plays banjo. Garry West’s production makes this album pleasant to listen to without seeming overly polished. The whole album has a rootsy feel and sound to it that makes it excellent listening for those journeys home. Chris Parks 8/3/2001
Pierce Pettis's work has always been rooted in southern red clay but his new one seems to be a deeper study into the lives of those located south of the Mason-Dixon line. The packaging is littered with old photographs of such a life and the cover is a painting by Georgian folk artist Rev Howard Finster. The title track, "Little River Canyon," "Moontown, " and "Georgia Moon" are the songs that have the most geographically located lyrics but rural small town philosophy is the hinge to every song on State of Grace which has to be the most satisfying Pettis release to date. The late Mark Heard gets his third Pettis cover version on the opening sound-setter "Rise From the Ruins" and in some ways Pettis is taking up the mantle of that particular niche in Heard's career. The arrangements are a little more minimal, intimate and almost rustic than anything before. Pettis's voice is given more freedom for passion and the supporting cast of Tim O'Brien (bouzouki and mandolin), Colin Linden (electric resophonic guitar), Alsion Brown (banjo) and particularly Stuart Duncan (fiddle and octave violin) play with a sense of feel and soul that just gives these songs the very best kind of home. On this album there is a special sense of the life ever after. He makes God live as part of the poetry without any seeming conscious effort. Check "Georgia Moon," for me, one of his finest moments: Georgia MoonWhether writing by himself or with a co-writer, here Tim O'Brien, Tom Kimmel, Cliev Gregson, and Gordon Kennedy, it is little wonder that the likes of Garth Brooks, Susan Ashton and Dar Williams have mined his catalogue. But it might just be time that it is his own work and not that covered by others that gives this finest of writers his livelihood. Steve Stockman
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