The Show: Live From The UK available everywhere now!
2022 marks the 25th year since Gretchen Peters first set foot on a UK stage. The release of her debut album The Secret of Life, championed by beloved BBC Radio 2 presenters Terry Wogan and Bob Harris, sparked what has turned out to be an enduring relationship with her UK fans and an equally long-lived touring career in the UK.
Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2014, Peters has accumulated accolades as a songwriter for artists as diverse as Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill. Her song “Independence Day”, recorded by Martina McBride, won a CMA Song of the Year award in 1995. She has been nominated for 2 Grammys (“Independence Day/Martina McBride, “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am”/Patty Loveless), a Golden Globe (“Here I Am”/Bryan Adams), and numerous other awards. “If Peters never delivers another tune as achingly beautiful as ‘On A Bus To St. Cloud,'” People Magazine wrote, “she has already earned herself a spot among country’s upper echelon of contemporary composers.” Her 2015 album, ‘Blackbirds’ was awarded International Album of the Year and Song of the Year by the UK Americana Association. In 2015, The Telegraph named her one of the greatest 60 female singer-songwriters of all time. In 2021 she was awarded The Poets Award by the Academy of Country Music.
To mark this milestone, she is releasing a live album, recorded while on tour in the UK in 2019 with her band and an all-female Scottish string quartet. The Show: Live from the UK was released 19 August 2022.
“…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…” – Glide Magazine
“…graced by the sumptuous orchestrated arrangements and the precision of Peters’ performance, the music is magical, memorable, and emotionally engaging…” – American Songwriter
“…whether it’s the careful intuition of the string quartet or the supportive underpinnings of Walsh’s piano accompaniment—or the mindful silence of the audience during the songs—the disc feels just the way it feels to be in a room with Peters and her songs…” – Folk Alley
“Peters’ lyrics are poetic in their rich imagery and descriptions of the human condition… The Show reveals the depth and breadth of her talents. She’s accompanied by her touring band that features Barry Walsh (piano, vocals), Colm McClean (electric guitar, vocals), and Conor McCreanor (electric and upright bass, vocals), as well as an all-female Scottish string quartet featuring Seonaid Aitken (violin), Amira Bedrush-McDonald (violin), Sarah Leonard (viola), and Alice Allen (cello). This frames Peters’ impassioned vocals with a formal backing. She sounds eloquent even when being colloquial and never comes off as pretentious. The arrangements allow her voice to always be at the forefront…” – Pop Matters
“Bold and fearless, live Gretchen Peters delivers an alluring, understatedly dramatic set as she spins out a rich and dazzling fabric sewn by the threads of autobiography, sociocultural, fiction, and authenticity.” – Alan Cackett, alancackett.com
“…feels like a you-had-to-be-there retrospective of Peters’ illustrious career to date, framed with new-but-familiar arrangements focused on letting her songwriting shine.” – Entertainment Focus
“…anyone fortunate enough to have seen Peters live will already be well aware that her vocals on stage are always pitch perfect and this album fully captures the artist at her emotive and captivating best. An album to be savoured and memories of gigs past rekindled by any Gretchen Peters devotees or a fantastic introduction to an immense talent for the uninitiated.” – Americana UK
“The Show captures a singular artist at the peak of her powers, covering a 22-year spectrum of outstanding songs.” – Folk Radio UK
