The latest single from Grace Pettis begins with just her unaccompanied, clear, precise voice, singing: “From the day we met I was never the same,” acknowledging the real value of her relationship with Landon, the subject of the song. It is immediately engaging and the listener quickly becomes emotionally invested in a song that carries important social messages of tolerance, acceptance and love. It’s a truly personal song rooted in a real relationship with a gay friend. Essentially, ‘Landon’ is an apology for the way she treated and judged him, the way she hid behind faith and her failure to understand. The delivery is heartfelt and sensitive.
Pettis explains: “Landon needed somebody to be on his side. He trusted me. And I let him down. Instead of listening and responding with love and acceptance, I replied with a lot of canned answers taken from my Christian belief system, what the church taught me to say. Years of soul-searching, prayer, and information gathering led me to a very different place. I knew that I had wronged Landon in a way that I could only explain in a song. We are in a great place now. He’s forgiven me, and we get to be close in a new way, now that we’ve made peace with ourselves. We’re both living a true story now.” There are lessons here about the views and values we hold in our youth, the ability to change, the need to ignore peer pressure and, ultimately, the importance of acknowledging mistakes in order to seek forgiveness and reconciliation. The pair are now reconciled and this song may provide some support to people facing a similar situation.
The single is taken from new album ‘Working Woman’. Pettis explains how the project was named: “I thought a lot about what to call this album. I tossed around a lot of different titles, pulled from lines I liked or themes the record seemed to have. But in the end, it really had to be called ‘Working Woman’ because the album, like the song, is not subtle. It’s about recognising and honoring the work that women do in every space in our society. It’s about claiming our own power and place in the world. This record is about the work women do and valuing that work.”
Pettis is acclaimed both for her solo work and her role in the Americana trio Nobody’s Girl alongside Rebecca Loebe and BettySoo. ‘Working Woman’ is out now – check it out.
