Basic Folk 76 – Grace Pettis

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Grace Pettis is leaning in. The founder of Nobody’s Girl (with Rebecca Loebe and Betty Soo) and daughter of beloved songwriter Pierce Pettis, was raised in a “homogeneous community steeped in a traditional Christian faith.” This led to some questionable decisions as a a young person, including not reacting in a loving way when her best friend, Landon, came out to her as a gay man. Fortunately, that frame of mind and that action do not define her. Through contemplation, information gathering and soul-searching, Grace landed in a different place. She realized how she had done Landon wrong and also knew she could only express it through song, which is how her new song “Landon” came about. Grace relates to and prefers brave songwriters and the new song certainly is brave. An interesting note to make about Grace is that even though her dad is a successful musician, Garth Brooks, Joan Baez and many others have recorded his songs, her parents did not want their children to pursue music. That all changed after Grace attempted to teach herself on a self-purchased cheap guitar. Her mom, seeing her daughter struggle, finally let Grace play her fancy Martin guitar. Eventually, her dad let her use one of his guitars and things began falling into place. She moved to Austin and started playing open mics and attending Kerrville Folk Festival. She even won the New Folk Award at Kerrville in 2011 (something her dad ALSO won in 1987). Grace is very open and honest in our conversation. She addresses questions ranging from how she is actively being anti-racist to her Star Trek podcast (“Troubadours on Trek”). We love Grace! Thanks for being on the podcast!

Grace’s new single “Landon”

Grace on Spotify