Pierce Pettis performs at the White Horse, Jan. 9

From a press release:

 Pierce Pettis performs at the White Horse, Jan. 9

After a lifetime of of crafting finely-wrought, heart-touching songs, singer-songwriter Pierce Pettis feels that he’s finally found his comfort zone. “The biggest change,” he says of this point in his career “has been getting over myself and realizing this is a job and a craft. And the purpose is not fame and fortune (whatever that is) but simply doing good work.” Pettis’ good work can be appreciated in person at the White Horse Black Mountain on Friday, January 9. Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.  Advance tickets available online here.

Born into a musical family in Fort Payne, Alabama, Pierce Pettis has always felt the urge make music. He played in a series of adolescent bands, “all of them horrible”, he says, but persevered in playing and writing music that combined rock, folk, country and R&B influences, finally landing an unpaid position as a staff writer at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. While there, his track “Song at the End of the Movie” found its way onto Joan Baez’s 1979 album Honest Lullaby.

Following up on this initial success he gravitated to New York and became involved with the fertile 1980s “Fast Folk” movement alongside up-and-coming singer-songwriters like Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega. He launched his recording career with an initial independent release, followed by albums on Windham Hill subsidiary High Street Records. While Pettis was still a staff writer for PolyGram in the 90s, he signed to Compass Records and produced several more well-received albums. Pierce Pettis’ songs have been recorded by many discerning artists, including Susan Ashton, Dar Williams, Garth Brooks and Art Garfunkel.

With his warm voice, witty stage presence and thoughtful, introspective songs, Pettis is a respected figure on the music scene. Sing Out! magazine sums it up: “Pierce Pettis doesn’t write mere songs, he writes literature …End to end the songwriting is brilliant. His writing just gets better and better all the time and his singing is marvelous, warm and wry.”