Having been a fan of Pierce Pettis for quite some time after discovering his first three releases, I was a bit disappointed in his last two discs, and was a bit curious about State of Grace. Fortunately, this latest release from Compass Records sees Pettis reverting a bit to the earthier, rootsier, grittier sound of his earliest work. His first three albums, Tinseltown, While the Serpent Lies Sleeping, and Chase the Buffalo were some of the best sounding "new folk" discs of the early nineties. His last two discs, Making Light of It and Everything Matters were a different story. While they were pleasant enough to listen to, they sounded a bit too slick and overproduced. But State of Grace regains some of the edge that was lost on those discs.
Pettis continues his tradition of paying tribute to the late Mark Heard by starting each of his albums off with a Heard cover, and this time around he chooses "Rise From the Ruins," originally heard on Heard's Dry Bones Dance. The Pettis version has just enough of a rollicking country touch to do the song justice without going too far.
The title cut begins with an acoustic guitar instrumental version of the traditional Doxology and sets forth the overarching theme of the album:
Well I'm up and down
And I'm left and right
Rich and poor
Black and white
I am not alone
I am not ashamed
To make my home
In a state of grace
On "Long Way Back Home," Pettis visits the overlapping themes of Pilgrim and Prodigal:
Hollywood's got that walk of fame
And people walk right on those names
You can tread on falling stars
All the way down Sunset Boulevard
Well all that glitters is not gold
And even gold is hard and cold
Life the way it turns your soul
And it's a long way, a long way
Such a long way back home.
"Georgia Moon" is a song of love in the South while "Moontown" sings the praises of small town life and simplicity. And "We Will Meet Again" examines true love in light of eternity:
If I don't get to see you, I will see you again
And if I don't get to hold you, I'll hold you again
In the mystical union of a love that never ends
We will meet again.
Other standouts on the disc include "Nothing But the Truth," "I've Got a Hope," and a cover of Dylan's "Down in the Flood."
The album is produced by Compass's Garry West, husband of Alison Brown, and Brown's banjo can be heard throughout. Also appearing on the album are Colin Linden and Gordon Kennedy, as well as a host of others, giving the disc a true folksy flavor, complete with harmonicas, mandolin, and Hammond B3.
And a final bonus is the fantastic cover art from outsider artist Howard Finster.
4.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Chris MacIntoshState of Grace is the sixth full release from this amazing singer/songwriter and is perhaps his best yet. I have only seen Pierce in concert once, at the Cornerstone festival back in 1992, where he accompanied Mark Heard in what was to be Mark's final show. In the last ten years he has released a series of albums that keep getting better and better. His voice and guitar are two equal extensions…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Chris ParksState of Grace, Pierce Pettis' latest album, is a series of celebrations of and ponderings about our homes, temporal and eternal. Celebration dominates, however, as this album is much lighter in atmosphere than either of his two previous albums. This is not to say that Pettis's lyrics are either lightweight or unrealistic. Pettis has lost none of his ability to create thoughtful and…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Steve StockmanPierce Pettis's work has always been rooted in southern red clay but his new one seems to be a deeper study into the lives of those located south of the Mason-Dixon line. The packaging is littered with old photographs of such a life and the cover is a painting by Georgian folk artist Rev Howard Finster. The title track, "Little River Canyon," "Moontown, " and "Georgia Moon" are the songs that…Similar sounding releases
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