Omschrijving

Monday, April 2, 2001 Gretchen Peters (Valley Entertainment) Producers: Getchen Peters, Green Daniels Prime Cuts: “Souvenirs”, “Love And Texaco”, “Like Water Into Wine”, “Eddie’s First Wife”, “Picasso And Me”, Waiting For Amelia” Grade: ACritique: Even among Nashville’s crowded pantheon of superwriters, Gretchen Peters casts a distinct shadow. Like Hugh Prestwood she mostly eschews co-writing (Nashville’s favorite team sport) and possesses an enviable knack for turning poetic masterworks into hit records. In Peters’ case, those hits have been sung by the likes of Trisha Yearwood (“On A Bus To St. Cloud”) and Martina McBride (“Independence Day”), and though vocally Peters may lack the grandeur of these giants, her own girlish Alice-In-Wonderland instrument provides an ideal guide for exploring her picturesque scenarios and exotic characters. There’s no filler or empty cliches here. Peters’ every line seems weighed and considered with a master jeweler’s squinting precision, her best songs imbuing the sweat and confusion of everyday lives with the serenity of the blessed. “Love And Texaco” unfolds against a sad, mysterious backdrop reminiscent of a David Lynch film. “Like Water Into Wine” offers a starker treatment of an excellent Patty Loveless single. “Eddie’s First Wife” is slightly funky and deliciously ironic, a tale of love, marriage and lesbianism…yep, all the staple country love song ingredients. A gentler surprise is found in the Joni Mitchell-like “Picasso And Me.” Put simply, Gretchen Peters finds this exquisite Nashville songsmith at the top of her game, and that’s damn good indeed.