Hello Cruel World, Gretchen Peters’ eighth album and her first solo studio effort in four years, will be released in early 2012. Recorded at Patty Griffin’s East Nashville studio and coproduced with Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin, The Greencards, John Hiatt), the album features a duet with Rodney Crowell (“Dark Angel”), and guest appearances by Kim Richey, Viktor Krauss and Will Kimbrough. Peters, Lancio and coproducer Barry Walsh (Tom Russell) also utilized the talents of Robert Plant’s Band of Joy rhythm section Marco Giovino and Byron House. The album contains 11 original songs written by Peters, including collaborations with singer-songwriters Matraca Berg, Suzy Bogguss and Tom Russell.