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Biography
Pierce Pettis is an United States|American singer/songwriter from Alabama .
Biography
A former staff writer for PolyGram Publishing in Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville , Pettis' musical career was started in 1979 when Joan Baez covered one of his songs, "Song at the End of the Movie", on her album Honest Lullaby . Following that release, Pettis became heavily involved in the " Fast Folk movement " in New York in the 1980s alongside artists such as Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega .
In 1984, Pettis released his first independent solo album, Moments . Signing with High Street Records in 1989, he made three albums with them: While the Serpent Lies Sleeping in 1989; Tinseltown , produced by Mark Heard in 1991; and Chase the Buffalo , produced by David Miner (musician)|David Miner in 1993. None of these releases made Pettis a household name, but his music became extremely popular with other artists. The production on While the Serpent Lies Sleeping is erratic, apparently trying to balance a folk-rock sound with Pierce's mostly introspective and introverted lyrics. Pettis and producer Doug Jansen Smith argued often over the production, and did not work with each other subsequently. Mark Heard , Pettis's own choice as producer for Tinseltown gave that album a more straightforward folk sound, with the occasional touch of bluegrass or rock. The lyrics are also more provocative, and include not a few tracks which are basically protest songs. Heard and Pettis became close friends, and after Heard's untimely death in 1992, Pettis made a decision to include a Mark Heard song on every subsequent album of his own until Heard's songwriting abilities gained greater attention, a practice Pettis continues to this day. Chase the Buffalo , undoubtedly the most lyrically rich album of the High Street years, established Pettis firmly as a "songwriter's songwriter" and further developed the solid folk atmosphere of the previous album, adding more prominent bass and percussion instruments and starting to move away from keyboard sounds. Lyrically the album struck a fine balance between songs looking inward and looking outward.
When Pettis's contract with High Street ended, he signed with Compass Records , where he has remained since. 1996 saw his first release with them, Making Light of It , a low-key collection of songs, the majority returning to an introspective demeanor and tone, produced by David Miner (musician)|David Miner ( T-Bone Burnett , Elvis Costello ), and featuring Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong of The Choir (alternative rock band)|The Choir . Musically, "roots folk" would not be a bad description, though the tone is not old-timey in any way. Everything Matters followed in 1998, with an increased tempo overall and a few regionally oriented songs that explored and celebrated Southern cities and personalities. The music of this record was a delicate and successful blend of a more sparse "roots folk" sound backed by solid bass and percussion and produced by Grammy award winning artist Gordon Kennedy (musician)|Gordon Kennedy (best known for co-writing Eric Clapton 's "Change the World"). 2001 saw Pettis's most regionally-oriented album, State of Grace released, with a fuller, more straightforwardly folk tone and atmosphere. Most recently, 2004's Great Big World record saw Pettis collaborating with a number of other songwriters for the majority of the tracks, with a still-present regional tendency, and similar sound musically to the previous album. The album's cover art was painted by the southern folk artist Terry Cannon . Great Big World featured musicians like Kenny Malone on percussion and bassist Danny Thompson of Pentangle (band)|Pentangle fame.
Pettis's songs have been covered by artists like Dar Williams ("Family" on Mortal City ), Garth Brooks ("You Move Me" on Sevens ), Dion & the Belmonts , Sara Groves , Randy Stonehill and others. Pettis himself has covered one of Mark Heard 's songs on every album since 1993. These are: "Nod Over Coffee" on Chase the Buffalo ; "Satellite Sky" on Making Light of It ; "Tip of My Tongue" on Everything Matters , "Rise from the Ruins" on State of Grace , "Another Day in Limbo" on Great Big World ; and "Nothing but the Wind" on That Kind of Love . Pettis's cover of "Nod Over Coffee" also appeared on a 1994 tribute album to Heard entitled Strong Hand of Love .
Discography
Moments (Small World, 1984)
While the Serpent Lies Sleeping (Small World, 1988, original release)
While the Serpent Lies Sleeping (High Street, 25 September 1989, full release)
http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/710/feature/music/pierce_pettis_when_words_alone_fail "Pierce Pettis: When Words Alone Fail", by Jason Killingsworth, Paste (magazine) , Issue 11.
External links
http://www.piercepettis.com Pierce Pettis official website
Persondata | NAME = Pettis, Pierce | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Pettis, Pierce Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Kerrville New Folk Competition finalists Category:Fast Folk artists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Alabama Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
