Peters out

International artists looking for songs that are clever, witty, emotional and sincere often turn to Gretchen Peters to provide the answer. Her creations have shifted millions of records by a bewildering array of artists, from Faith Hill, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James and the Neville Brothers, to George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Bryan Adams and Neil Diamond.

It’s surprising, then, given that impressive CV, to learn she doesn’t write to order. “It often happens that in the middle of a song I realise it might suit somebody else, or that it isn’t going to suit me. But writing songs deliberately for others is like trying to mind read, and often leads writers to shoot themselves in the foot.”
While her influences include writers like Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen and Dolly Parton who also scored major success as recording artists, Peters’ own recording career hit a speed bump in 1996 when her debut was aborted due to the collapse of her record label. But the recent release of her third album Halcyon and a return visit to this side of the Atlantic. “There’s an incredible volume of great songs being written by American writers, but whether they’re getting a fair shake is another matter,” she says when asked how she finds the current musical climate. “That the record industry is now governed by such a small number of corporations is a terrible thing. It’s also a radio problem, with most of the top stations owned by about three companies.”
Yet she sees a silver lining. “While the recording corporations are just putting out pablum, independent music now has a status in America that it never had before.”
Peters grew up in New York, and moved to Boulder, Colorado after her parents’ divorce. I put it to her that while the Vietnam War inspired some extraordinary songwriting, the so-called War On Terrorism doesn’t seem to be doing likewise. “I was only at grammar school at the time, but my older sister went to Woodstock. I have a sense that music to that generation was a key part of their identity. That’s not happening today on a mainstream level.”
I ask her if she has any explanation for this change. “It worries me that it might be an apathy, but we’re overloaded now with entertainment options. There seems to be a fear on the part of the companies. They don’t want to be controversial in case of reprisal. Look at what happened to the Dixie Chicks.”
Peters acknowledges the impact and the veracity of the new Michael Moore film about corruption at the highest levels of the US government before adding, “but if we had a 2004 version of Bob Dylan would any major record company want to release him or her? I doubt it, and that bothers me. The companies cloak it in not wanting to be accused of anti-patriotism, but it’s just a coward’s way of saying ‘we can’t handle dissent’.”
Although Peters understands the groundswell of anti-Americanism sweeping Europe, she also feels that she has to put it aside as she tours with her music. “A lot of people at home wondered why I would play France since they’re supposed to hate us and we hate them, but I went there and felt none of that. Intelligent people all over world are capable of separating ordinary individuals from the actions of their government.”
Then again, maybe French, and Irish, audiences feel that with songs of the calibre of ‘Tomorrow Morning’, ‘The Aviator’s Song’ , ‘Blessing Disguise’, ‘Imogene’ and ‘Germantown’, Gretchen Peters delivers the kind of shock and awe we prefer.

Halcyon by Gretchen Peters is distributed in Ireland by RMG.