Grace Potter, the delightfully energetic singer-songwriter, stopped by the Setlist office to talk about what she sees when she looks through her many sets.
Best known for her powerhouse vocals and ability to mix modern blues with classic rock, Grace has released four solo albums, including 2023's Mother Road which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Americana/Folk Albums chart.
Along the way she has collabed with the likes of Kenny Chesney, The Flaming Lips, Gov't Mule, Warren Haynes, and Jackson Browne, among others, who she talked about in the Setlist Insider below.
Currently Grace is touring in support of her brand new album, Medicine, which was produced by T Bone Burnett back in 2008. Now both fans who like to say how much they love an artist's "old stuff" and those who only seem to care about the new jams, can be equally pleased.
Here's a roundup of some of her best reactions to her setlists.
Playing at MSG in 2006
I was asked to be a part of the Jammies, an amazing event. We're talking East Coast, West Coast, Canada, Japan.
There were people from all over the place, and I wanted to play a song that would make sure that not only was I able to present what I had to offer the world, playing the Hammond B-3 organ, but also that my voice could kind of sail over any amount of instrumentation that was going to be thrown at us.
I also insisted it had to be the full length of the song, the way that Neil Young and Crazy Horse do it, which is an 18 minute song, I believe. I thought that would get me out of having to do this really big collaboration with all these other people.
But they didn't do that. They were like, "yes, and we're gonna get more instruments on stage. And sure, take 20 minutes."
What was I thinking? It was the first time I'd ever really been in a space where the stakes were high and I really wanted to show up.
The spicy little number called "Paris"
Oh my god. Exit/In!
Wow. This is wild. This is October 19, 2008. It's such a short set because I didn't have that many songs.
Ever since I wrote "Paris," there was just something about it, this spicy little number.
The first time I ever played the song I know was in Troy, New York, because I made out with two women that night in the bathroom after the set.
And they were like, "what was that song about Montreal that you had in there?"
And I was like, "it's not Montreal, it's Paris."
The story behind the new album Medicine
"Medicine" [is my] fourth-most performed song. It's been in the banks all along.
I made an album with T-Bone Burnett in 2008: mastered, mixed, everything was perfect, but it was a solo record.
The record company was like, "try again. You said you wanted it to be all about you and your band. So why not keep running with it?"
We re-recorded a good amount of those songs.
That record and the studio and the energy and the feeling of Medicine, which was the name of that T-Bone Burnett record, always lived inside me, even though the rest of the world had never had a chance to hear it, which is gonna be really interesting with Setlist, because stats are gonna start flying.
Cover songs, baby
In a way, I don't think of "You and Tequila" as a cover song, because that song was, for me, such a transformational experience.
It was sent as a demo. I was in a rental car shuttle coming back from Japan or Portugal or somewhere really wild. We'd been on tour. In the midst of it, my manager was like, "do you know who Kenny Chesney is?"
And I was like, "She Thinks My Tractor Is Sexy." I knew very little about him, but when I heard the song, I just couldn't believe what was being offered to me. It felt like a silver platter of opportunity.
I didn't really understand that the genre of Country was so similar and walked down so many of the same roads that the Blues and Gospel and Soul music did.
Now, when I hear certain country songs, I stop in my tracks. And this is the one that's made me first stop. I don't even really like tequila that much, though.
Guest appearances by Grace Potter
So we have Kenny Chesney, Govt. Mule, Warren Haynes, Emmy Lou Harris, The Roots. Man, I played with The Roots a shit ton. I didn't realize I'd done nine things with them that makes sense, though.
The ol' Rolling Stones, I remember that one. I opened for the Rolling Stones for a couple of shows, mid-tour, so the grind and the motor was really there.
One was... in Minneapolis, where there were a lot of my fans very much anticipating my set. And I think something about that sparked excitement. And the conversation was, "would Miss Potter like to join the Rolling Stones for the song, 'Give Me Shelter?'
And my answer was, Yes!
This was just the beginning. Check out many more insights in her full video.
Grace is currently on tour, heating things up on the East Coast. And look she'll get to play twice at MSG at the end of July. And in September she headlines her Grand Point North fest. Tickets available from her website.
Jul 17 – Lowell Summer Music Series, Boarding House Park, Lowell, MA
Jul 18 – Capitol Theatre, Rome, NY
Jul 19 – Artpark Outdoor Amphitheater, Lewiston, NY
Jul 20 – Point of the Bluff Vineyards, Hammondsport, NY
Jul 23 – UBS Arena, Belmont Park, NY (with Chris Stapleton’s All‑American Road Show)
Jul 24 – Upper Merion Township Building Park, King of Prussia, PA
Jul 25 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (with Chris Stapleton’s All‑American Road Show)
Jul 26 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (with Chris Stapleton’s All‑American Road Show)
Sep 12 – Waterfront Park, Burlington, VT (with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra)
Sep 13 – Waterfront Park, Burlington, VT
Sep 28 – Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival, The Park at Harlinsdale Farm, Franklin, TN
