There's a good chance that Gretchen Peters has written one of your favorite songs.The Grammy nominated and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member has written cuts for country superstars such as Patty Loveless ("You Don't Even Know Who I Am"), Martina McBride ("Independence Day") and George Strait ("The Chill of an Early Fall"), but if you're not already familiar with Peters' own rich recording catalog, stretching back to 1996's The Secret of Life, you're missing out.
The Show: Live From the UK (out Aug. 19), recorded live during her 2019 Strings Attached Tour, is a stunning retrospective of Peters' incredible career, featuring her touring band—Barry Walsh (piano, vocals), Colm McClean (electric guitar, vocals), and Conor McCreanor (electric and upright bass, vocals—as well as an all-female, Scottish string quartet featuring Seonaid Aitken (violin), Amira Bedrush-McDonald (violin), Sarah Leonard (viola), and Alice Allen (cello).
"The Matador," a stirring track originally recorded for 2012's Hello Cruel World, is a highlight.
"'The Matador' is an important song to me, and has become a staple of our live shows, so I knew I wanted it on the set list when we recorded 'The Show' — but we didn't have a full string quartet arrangement for it," Peters tells Wide Open Country. "At the last minute, I asked violinist Seonaid Aitken if she would be willing to improvise. Every night, she absolutely floored us with her solo — soaring, passionate, emotional — so much so that you can hear the audience (and us) collectively holding their breath at the end of the song."
Listen to "The Matador" below.
The Show is Peters first release since 2020's tribute to Mickey Newbury, The Night You Wrote That Song.
