Grace Potter

Grace Evelyn Potter (born June 20, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released five solo albums: Red Shoe Rebel, Original Soul (2004), Midnight (2015), Daylight (2019), and Mother Road (2023). She has also released four studio albums with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, a band she formed in 2002, which disbanded in 2015 upon her divorce from her bandmate: Nothing but the Water (2005), This Is Somewhere (2007), Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (2010), and The Lion the Beast the Beat (2012).

Early life Potter was born on June 20, 1983, in Waitsfield, Vermont. Both of her parents, Peggy and Sparky Potter, were involved in professional woodworking; her mother was also a piano teacher. Her older sister, Charlotte Potter, is an artist who works with glass. She was exposed to the arts at a very young age The band included Scott Tournet on guitars (including slide guitar and harmonica), drummer Matthew Burr, Michael Libramento on bass guitar and keyboards, and Benny Yurco on electric guitar and vocals. Bryan Dondero played bass guitar, upright bass, and mandolin with the group until his departure in early 2009.

In 2002, she released her first album, Red Shoe Rebel. Her second album, Original Soul followed in 2004.

The group independently recorded and released one album, Nothing but the Water in 2005 with sound engineer Lane Gibson, who recorded and mastered Original Soul (2004). The band signed a deal with Hollywood Records in December 2005 and re-released Nothing but the Water in May 2006.

In 2005, the band was nominated in two categories at the Boston Music Awards, for "Best Local Female Artist" and also for "Best New Local Act".

In 2006, the band won the Jammy Award for "Best New Groove". At the Boston Music Awards, the band was nominated for Album of the Year (major) for the re-release of Nothing but the Water and Potter was nominated for Vocalist of the Year.

The group released its second album, This Is Somewhere, on August 7, 2007, on Hollywood Records and was the opening act for Gov't Mule on its October and November North American tour.

In July 2011, Potter was a guest on Chelsea Handler's show Chelsea Lately.

In July 2012, she joined The Flaming Lips during their show at The Lyric in Oxford, Mississippi, which was part of their attempt to break the Guinness World Record for Most Concerts Played in different cities in a 24-hour period. That same year, Potter and The Flaming Lips collaborated on a recording of "My Mechanical Friend", which she also wrote, for the companion soundtrack to Disney and Tim Burton's film Frankenweenie. In 2014, she contributed to their cover of The Beatles' "Good Morning Good Morning" for their With a Little Help from My Fwends album.

Potter made guest appearances on The Chew in November 2012 and December 2015.

Solo career

After Potter's divorce from Burr, the band disbanded.

In September 2015, Potter performed The Star-Spangled Banner during the New England Patriots' season opener.

In 2016, her collaboration on the song "Wild Child" on Kenny Chesney's album The Big Revival garnered award nominations from the Academy of Country Music, CMT Music, and the Country Music Association.

Potter was the musical guest on the episode of Conan that aired on January 25, 2016.

Daylight, produced by Eric Valentine, was released in October 2019 on Fantasy Records. It features guest musicians Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, and Benmont Tench.

Potter's fourth solo album, Mother Road, was released in August 2023 on Fantasy Records.

Artistry On guitars, Potter primarily plays the Gibson Flying V; however, she also plays classical guitars with nylon strings. She has also been described as a "grittier Patty Griffin".

Tracks used in film and television Potter's song "Apologies", was used in an episode of One Tree Hill; Potter also made a cameo appearance as a street performer in the episode. "Apologies" was also featured on All My Children, Kyle XY, and Brothers & Sisters.

The song "Falling or Flying" was featured on ER and Grey's Anatomy and appeared on Volume 3 of the latter's soundtrack.

In 2010, Potter re-recorded "Something That I Want" with altered lyrics for the end credits to Disney's animated feature Tangled.

In December 2011, Potter was the voice of Carol in Disney's Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice, for which she also wrote and recorded "Naughty, Naughty Children (Better Start Actin' Nice)."

In 2011, the song "Paris (Ooh la la)" was featured in the Season 2 promo for the TNT television series Rizzoli & Isles.

In 2012, the song "Nothing but the Water" was used in trailers for the short-lived 2012 ABC drama Last Resort.

Potter's version of the Stealers Wheel song "Stuck in the Middle with You" was used as the theme song for the Netflix series Grace and Frankie (2015–2020).

In June 2017, her song "Instigators" was featured in the video game Dirt 4.

In 2019, the song "The Lion the Beast the Beat" was featured in the season 2 episode of Cloak & Dagger titled "Vikingtown Sound".

Personal life Potter is legally blind in one eye and is bisexual. Potter said that she does not belong to any religious group but values a spiritual life.

Potter married bandmate Matt Burr on May 11, 2013. They divorced in 2015, at which time the Nocturnals disbanded. Potter married her current husband, record producer Eric Valentine, in 2017. They have one son, born in 2018.

In 2011, Potter founded the Grand Point North music festival in Burlington, Vermont. Potter has supported and fundraised for the Alzheimer's Association in honor of her paternal grandfather's battle with Alzheimer's disease. In June 2015, Potter was presented the "ASCAP Harry Chapin Vanguard Award" by WhyHunger for her work towards defeating world hunger.

Discography

Solo +List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions Title Album details Peak chart positions US USRock USTaste. Red Shoe Rebel Released: 2002 Label: Dream On Productions Label: Grace Potter Music, Indie911 — — — Midnight Released: August 14, 2015 Label: Hollywood 26 4 3 Daylight Released: October 25, 2019 Label: Fantasy 74 9 20 Mother Road August 18, 2023 Label: Fantasy — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles As lead artist +List of singles as lead artist showing year released, selected chart positions, and album name Title Year Peak chart positionsCertifications Album US US AAA US Country Airplay CAN CAN Country "I Want Something That I Want" 2008 — — — — — — Music from One Tree Hill "Wild Child" 2015 56 — 9 1 69 3 RIAA: Gold Hemingway's Whiskey

Other appearances

with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Studio albums Nothing but the Water This Is Somewhere Grace Potter and the Nocturnals The Lion the Beast the Beat