Photo by Steve Moyles
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals headline the inaugural Grand Point North Festival on August 13 and 14 in at the Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont. Fielding a diverse and energized set of performers, the Nocturnals offer an intimate experience in a very scenic and “classic American boardwalk” setting, according to their band leader/vocalist/songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist. Potter is a lively, down-to-earth, and engagingly warm conversationalist, as well as having one of the strongest voices in American rock music today. Her band’s continuing ability to stay fresh, focused, and ever-evolving while keeping its roots firmly planted in good ole rock ‘n’ roll with a large heaping of jamband is matched by Potter’s unique ability to absorb and transcend a wide variety of influences while always maintaining her own inimitable sound.
Jambands.com sat down with Potter just days before the GPN festival to discuss its origins, the band’s recent touring, Potter’s other collaborations, including a foray into a country music duet, and her desire to “be the new Randy Newman.” She may just yet accomplish that lofty goal, but she will always be the one and only Grace Potter, as well.
RR: We first spoke back in 2005 when things started to happen, and now, I feel like one planet isn’t enough for you.
GP: I know, dude. It’s pretty hilarious. I feel like we’re a tank, a big ole Army tank. We have to stop for gas every once in a while, that’s all. (laughs)
RR: Having your own festival, Grand Point North, has to be a career highlight.
GP: Yeah, it’s been on the top of my head all week because I actually just got finished writing all the thank you notes for everybody that’s going to be a part of it. I got overwhelmed by how many people come to play—not just the bands, but all the local companies that are donating to the gift baskets…I mean everything. I’m completely overwhelmed and the whole way that Vermont comes around and embraces things, even when it’s a first-year event like what we are doing. I think it shows this incredible faith in music, and in what we are trying to do, which is to curate a wonderful experience for fans who love our music, but maybe, need more than that.
When you come to a concert, sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get. And I tend to find that my biggest surprises come in the opening act. What we wanted to do was to expand on that, and drag a bunch of bands that we’ve met around the country like the Wood Brothers and Taj Mahal and Fitz & the Tantrums and Rubblebucket, and we want to bring the whole experience together at the festival.
The most exciting part for me is just where it is located. The Burlington waterfront is pretty insane. It is right in downtown Burlington, so it allows for that sense that you are
already in a city, or somewhat of a festival experience. Burlington is especially during the summer, Burlington is so beautiful. People will just spill off Church St. and just wander down to the waterfront, and there’s a really beautiful boardwalk and there are all kinds of things to do down there—there’s a museum and there’s a great little restaurant right on the water—and if you keep going, you continue down this great little bike path. There’s a dog park, and then it opens up into a huge green area. They’ve been doing concerts there. We were actually the guinea pig band when they started doing concerts there a couple of years ago, so now, we’re heading it up with the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival.
RR: Are you also doing the set design for the festival with your dad?
GP: I am, yeah, yeah. My dad’s a sign maker [Sparky Potter] and he’s collaborated with Russ Bennett for Phish concerts and Bonnaroo and lots of festivals. He’s already had experience in that world of working with the vendors and he understands how festivals are meant to be laid out. We came out to Red Rocks with my mom, and they came to see our shows when we played a couple nights at Red Rocks. We stayed at this hotel, and it completely inspired the entire festival experience. When you looked at the walls, there were all these beautiful pictures of classic American boardwalks. I hate to use the [Martin] Scorsese reference, but the show Boardwalk Empire has a set design that is so exceptional. It conjures the faded glory of the classic American boardwalk for me.
[My father] and I just sat down and started drawing. We knew that we wanted to have wings and I wanted the whole scene to match the logo. I had this crazy idea when I named the festival Grand Point North that it was like a compass, which is spinning, but it has wings, and the wings keep coming into play. We had a ball looking through old art deco books and beautiful pictures of the old fashioned boardwalks, and a 1920s carnival vibe, and drawing back and forth with each other. Now, my dad has figured out how to text message so he’s very excited about that.
RR: Which is probably a lot for a normal person, but being Grace Potter, you’ve got to be thinking, “O.K., Dad, I get like 300 messages a day.”
GP: Oh, dude, totally, yeah. He hasn’t stopped either: “How ‘bout this one?” He has this incredible team of sign makers at his shop, so they can, literally, whip something up in fifteen minutes with paint and a piece of plywood and do a mock up of what it’s going to look like. He sent me four different mock ups yesterday and, meanwhile, he’s got these people running around doing it, while he’s waiting for me to respond. That’s pretty amazing. He’s a hard working dude, and I’m just so excited that he gets to be a part of this, and, you know, he always does every year.
This is a continuation of what we are doing as a band anyway. We re-enact a movie every New Year’s Eve. We always play New Year’s Eve, and half way through the show we always come out in costume, but the set pieces have become more and more extravagant as the years have gone on because my sister will bring up all her crazy friends, and they’ll all start painting. With a sign shop at your disposal, Lord knows what we’re capable of. (laughs) This is basically just a continuation of that—that energy that we’ve always had as a band and as a family, to be constantly creating and bringing it down to the wire, not planning out anything in too specific or particular way, but more letting things happen as they will.
It’s been interesting to deal with the land because it’s such an incredible property itself. Like being at the waterfront, if you’re there, you don’t want to do too much to the space. You don’t want to manipulate the space, or tell people what direction to walk in, or encourage them to walk one way or the other because every direction you look in is exceptional. That freed us up in a lot of ways, but it also limited us because we didn’t want to go too hog wild with anything because it’s too beautiful to over decorate.
RR: How did you get Alex Crothers’ involvement with the band, and what has been his influence on the festival and its details while working with you?
GP: Yeah, good question. Alex and I and the band as a whole have been working together for coming on almost a decade; basically, since we’ve been touring back in Vermont. When we moved back to Vermont in 2004, he picked us up pretty much right away, and brought us into the showcase lounge for a New Year’s Show from 2004 turning over into 2005. He invited us in, and since then, we basically have not left Higher Ground. He’s a great promoter and he, obviously, has a great vision, a clear vision, of how a festival should run, and how a concert should be run. We’ve been talking about it all along. We’ve always wanted to do a festival. This is many, many years of daydreaming finally coming to fruition.
RR: You’ve got some diverse and fascinating acts on the bill, as well, which you referenced earlier in our conversation—young and veteran acts. You just played at Red Rocks with the Avett Brothers, and I remember seeing them in a small bar where Jessica Lea Mayfield opened for them. Now, she is on your GPN festival bill. I love the fact that you’re the veteran moving someone else’s career forward now.
GP: Absolutely, and she deserves that spotlight. I think she’s really a talented person and somebody that the second I heard her voice—I think it was on a Black Keys album [“Thinks Ain’t Like They Used To Be” on Attack & Release ]—and that was the first time I had heard about her and I was like “FUCK!” (laughter)
There are a lot of those opportunities at a festival like this because it is intimate and our friends are attentive. I think they are really going to be sponges for it, no matter what. Like I said, my favorite thing is always to discover new bands. I might be going to see the main act, but I’m always pleasantly surprised by the opener, and that is what I end up taking away with me from a concert—“who was that band? That band was so good.” The same goes for a festival like Bonnaroo. My favorite thing to do is just wander around at Coachella or Bonnaroo and some of these festivals and wander into the smallest tent on
the site because you’re sure to find something really special in there. That’s basically what we’re trying to curate here, in a smaller and more definitive way, hoping that our friends are going to appreciate it. And I think they will.
RR: In 2009, I saw the band at a festival in Arizona. What struck me wasn’t just the performance, but the fact that there was a CD-signing afterwards, and I have never seen a line so long. You were there at the beginning with a big smile on your face, and you stayed right through the end, and I wondered how much time people must want from you, and yet, you have such a positive attitude while giving something back to the fans. Is that something over the years that you’ve had to stop and think about as your fan base has grown and other people have needed your time?
GP: No. If I’m going to dive in, you’ve got to dive all the way in. I think the only thing that I would ever do is to…I certainly have to organize my schedule a little more carefully, and know that if I am going to jump in and do a signing, I need to devote the time to the people because those people care enough to be in that line. They walked their asses from their car, they parked their car five miles away, they bought the ticket, they carry their backpack, they sweat it out, and so, really, I’m the one in the air-conditioned trailer backstage—why the fuck shouldn’t I go out and hang out with everybody, and give them the time of day? (laughs)
It’s a no-brainer. It’s also an incredible and emotional experience for me. Actually, I remember that McDowell Mountain signing because someone came up to me and said the song “Big White Gate” saved their life. They were in a pretty dark spot and that song brought them back and helped them to snap out of it. Those are moments where why wouldn’t you go out and want to hear those stories? They are so incredible. It’s a gift, and certainly, you have to have the energy for it, but I do. I was just born this way. I get it from my dad, for sure (laughs), but I think it is just a part of my nature to try and make that time even if my time is getting a little bit busier.
RR: It also must be deeply satisfying to have that impact on other artists. How did you get involved with working with Kenny Chesney?
GP: Oh, yeah, Kenny just called me. It’s funny. He heard my voice. He had his iPod on shuffle. Someone had given him the CD, and he just popped it into his iTunes, but never actually bothered listening to it. So he put his iPod on shuffle, and it popped on. I guess this was a couple of years ago, and before he was starting to make his new record. He had the song “You & Tequila” for a while, and he had just been letting it sit, trying to figure out what to do with it. When he heard me sing the song “Apologies,” he said, “Well, that’s the voice I want on this song.” Not caring at all as to the fact that I’m not a country artist, not from Nashville, may not ever even, he didn’t even know if I lived in the country, or where I was. He just tracked me down, sent me the demo for the song, and within two days I was flying down to Nashville to record it with him. Now, we’re lifelong friends. He’s an unbelievable dude. He’s really fucking awesome. I was with him
last night in St. Louis, actually. I went and sat in on one of his shows. It’s just been a great experience all around.
RR: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals also opened for Chesney at the Red Rocks.
GP: Yeah. Yeah. Kenny loves the band, and the band loves Kenny. The first thing we realized we had in common, within about five minutes of knowing each other, was the show Eastbound & Down. We were both referencing quotes from it. It’s an unbelievable show, and within five minutes of knowing each other, we were already screaming at each other “April!”—all the lines from the show. So, yeah—there’s a common denominator there that we can all agree upon, even if he plays country music and we play rock ‘n’ roll.
RR: You have a confidence about you that is both very attractive and it appears to allow you to enter diverse situations and pull them off. Obviously, your acting career comes to mind. Do you see yourself doing more of that in the future, or is it all tied in with your music right now, and you have to fit that into your schedule?
GP: I think if I was to do any acting it would definitely be down the line of the Lyle Lovett/Jack White type of appearances. Jack White is in a fuck ton of movies. He’s all over the place. I would love to find a way to spin that web into my career in some way. I love it when Tom Petty shows up in that fucking Kevin Costner movie [ The Postman ]. Those are moments where you’re like “Wow, that is so awesome,” and Keith Richards in Pirates of the Caribbean —those are, to me, really cool references and cool things where you’re like “Wow, that’s such a cool spot to see someone.” I’d like to arrive unexpectedly in a motion picture at some point. But, it’s certainly not a priority.
Right now, if anything, my favorite thing to do, aside from the Nocturnals, is to write songs for movies, which I’ve been doing. I wrote a song for Tangled, which played in the credits, I have another song coming out for a Christmas special with Disney, and also, we did Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland soundtrack. It’s been cool to have that happen simultaneously and in a completely parallel way, so that the Nocturnals sometimes jump in and do something with it, and sometimes, it’s my own solo thing, and it’s a really comfortable relationship, and something that I was really trying to develop with Disney from the day we signed with Hollywood Records. I knew I had the death wish to be the new Randy Newman. (laughter)
RR: God, please replace Randy Newman. I’m begging you.
GP: Exactly. My thing is to be the new Randy Newman. (laughs)
RR: Speaking of solo gigs…you just did something with Stevie Wonder at the Hollywood Bowl. That had to have been huge, and another example of how you fit into so many different circumstances and settings.
GP: Talk about diversifying. That’s what I love about what’s happening. I can spread myself, what appears to be very thin, across a lot of different genres, but I can find a way to be comfortable. The reason that’s the case is that I’m always looking for that common denominator between everybody—musically and personally. I had this conversation with Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley backstage before we went on for the finale. Stevie’s out on stage playing fucking “Superstition,” and we’re all standing there and I am the whitest white person in this whole place, and we were all trying to sing our parts, making sure we knew all of our lines, and we all closed our eyes, and there was this moment where everything melted away—color, genre, expectations, and everything, and I felt like these are my people. I’m here, we’re all together, and this is such an incredible moment. And music was guiding the entire thing. I just felt this incredible connection.
If there is any spirituality in me, it’s a musical spirituality where I can find faith in whatever I’m doing, and put my whole heart into it, and just jump in with both feet.
RR: Is there some new music to be expected from the Nocturnals sometime soon?
GP: Oh, yeah. I was actually up until 8:30 in the morning. I lost $300 at the casino last night at the roulette table, so I got back to the bus, and I had this terrible guilt. It was a soul-crushing, conscious decision that for every hundred dollars I lost, I needed to write a song. So I wrote three songs last night. (laughs) Partly, that was because every time I tried to record it, it didn’t sound good. And then that one didn’t sound good, so I wrote another one. Who knows what will come of those three songs. I felt a little guilty, so that was my penance. (laughs)
RR: And the night before the roulette table tragedy…how did Minnesota treat you?
GP: Oh, phenomenal. The zoo was insane, dude. The people were bonkers, and we had so much fun. We walked the whole zoo. It was such a hot day that I actually went under this shower that I didn’t realize was just supposed to be for the animals. (laughter) It was a little sprinkler system that I thought was for the people, but it was for the animals. Yeah. It had some kind of a bug spray in it and it tasted weird. Yeah. It was great. We saw the grizzly bears fighting in the water and it was amazing. I Tweeted a video of it. I was standing five feet from these grizzly bears who were having the time of their lives, wallowing in this unbelievable golden day, and they’ve got this cool water. For everything I bitch about zoos and animals, but those bears looked pretty fuckin’ happy.
So we took that happiness and all that energy that the bears gave us and we took it and brought it with us on stage, and we wallowed in it all night long. It was really wonderful.
RR: One of the last stops on this campaign for the Nocturnals is in Central Park in September—a pretty cool marquee gig. Is the rest of year going to feature some writing? Some time off? Other shows? Your annual New Year’s Eve run?
GP: Right. Good question. There is definitely a lot on the horizon. I was trying to find a little pocket of time to take a trip somewhere to do something, but it is looking like it is not going to happen. We’re really definitely going to roll straight from the Central Park show—which is going to top off our summer in such a great way; I’m really excited about that show, by the way; not to be too ADD, but I think that is going to be a really killer night, and we’ve got Floating Action, who are awesome—to finding a place to make a record. I’m not sure what city we would do it in, or if we bring it back to Vermont, or what we’d do, but teach the band new songs, write some more songs, and definitely wrap our heads around a new record. It’s just feeling like the momentum is leading up to something even more exciting, and as we go, there’s just really no stopping this train. (laughs) It’s like I want to make the record as fast as possible, and I want to throw it out to the world because it is just so much fun to watch people learn your music, and get to know your music, and see what it does to them, and what your lyrics mean to someone else in their life. That’s definitely going to happen.
I’m sure the New Year’s experience is going to come back around again. I’ve got an idea already. It’s a little early. I usually never cook up an idea as quickly as I did this year, but I think it’s going to be one for the books.
RR: Coming full circle, it has to be a huge kick in the ass to be headlining your own festival in Burlington in mid-August.
GP: It’s so true. That’s obviously the thing that I’m most focused on right now—making this experience as good as it can be. We’re in the bus figuring out what time everyone is going to go on, and what order. It’s just like planning a wedding with no bride and groom. Everybody at the festival is the bride and groom. (laughter) We are all going to be getting our festival cherries popped that weekend, but it’s going to be really, really special and I’m just so looking forward to it. I hope the weather will hold up. Obviously, that is a big, big piece of it. (laughs)
