Editing Pierce Pettis

{{short description|American singer-songwriter}}

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{{Notability|Music|date=July 2019}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2019}}
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{{Infobox musical artist
| honorific_prefix = 
| name             = Pierce Pettis
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = Pierce and Grace Pettis - Evening Concert.jpg
| image_upright    = 
| landscape        = yes
| alt              = 
| caption          = Pierce Pettis and daughter Grace Pettis performing in 2013
| background       = solo_singer
| birth_name       = 
| alias            = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1954|04|14}}
| birth_place      = 
| origin           = 
| genre            = 
| occupation       = Musician
| instrument       = 
| years_active     = 1979–present
| label            = Small World, [[High Street Records|High Street]], [[Compass Records|Compass]]
| associated_acts  = 
| website          =  {{url|www.piercepettis.com}}
}}
'''Pierce Pettis''' (born April 14, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter from [[Fort Payne]], [[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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}} Pettis and producer Doug Jansen Smith argued often over the production, and did not work with each other subsequently. [[Mark Heard]], Pettis' 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 the album includes a few tracks that 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' 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' most regionally oriented album, ''State of Grace'' released, with a fuller, more straightforwardly folk tone and atmosphere. 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. In 2009 ''That Kind of Love'' included less of a regional focus with a collection of mostly mid-tempo, personal and contemplative songs, although the three cover tracks on the album, from [[Mark Heard]], [[Jesse Winchester]], and [[Woody Guthrie]], are uptempo blues or bluegrass. 2013 saw Pettis, along with [[Tom Kimmel]] and [[Kate Campbell]], form the New Agrarians and release a debut album on the independent Due South label. Pettis tours frequently, alternating between solo shows, concerts with the New Agrarians, and a double bill with his daughter Grace Pettis.

Pettis' 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]], [[Pat Alger]], 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' cover of "Nod Over Coffee" also appeared on a 1994 tribute album to Heard entitled ''Strong Hand of Love''.

On November 15, 2018, Pettis announced a January 2019 release of ''Father's Son'', his first new album in nearly 10 years, on Compass Records.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.musicnewsnet.com/2018/11/music-news-a-songwriters-songwriterpierce-pettisis-back-with-his-first-new-studio-album-in-nearly-a-de.html|title=AL. Songwriter Pierce Pettis Announces First New Album in Nearly A Decade, "FATHER'S SON" Out on 1/18/19 via Compass Records|website=Musicnewsnet.com|accessdate=April 15, 2020}}</ref>

== Discography ==
* ''Moments'' (Small World, 1984)
* ''While the Serpent Lies Sleeping'' (Small World, 1988, original release)
* ''While the Serpent Lies Sleeping'' (High Street, September 25, 1989, full release)
* ''Tinseltown'' (High Street, June 18, 1991)
* ''Chase the Buffalo'' (High Street, July 13, 1993)
* ''Making Light of It'' (Compass, October 8, 1996)
* ''Everything Matters'' (Compass, June 16, 1998)
* ''State of Grace'' (Compass, July 10, 2001)
* ''Great Big World'' (Compass, August 3, 2004)
* ''That Kind of Love'' (Compass, January 27, 2009)
* ''New Agrarians'' (independent, 2014) as a part of the trio The New Agrarians
* ''Father's Son'' (Compass, January 18, 2019)

=== Compilations ===
* ''[[Legacy: A Collection of New Folk Music]]'' (Windham Hill, 1989)
* ''A Winter's Solstice, Vol. III'' (Windham Hill, 1990)
** featuring "In the Bleak Midwinter"
*''[[Strong Hand of Love]]'', tribute to [[Mark Heard]], 1994
** featuring "Nod Over Coffee"
*''[[Orphans of God]]'', tribute to [[Mark Heard]], 1996
** featuring "Nod Over Coffee"
* ''Aliens and Strangers'' (Silent Planet, 2000)
** featuring "Kingdom Come"
* ''Beat'' (Silent Planet, 2001
** featuring "Absalom, Absalom"

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.piercepettis.com}}
* [https://compassrecords.com/artist/pierce-pettis/ Record Label Bio]
* [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)|Paste]]'', Issue 11.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettis, Pierce}}
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Fast Folk artists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:People from Fort Payne, Alabama]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Alabama]]