Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters calls her new album, ‘Hello Cruel World’, her “most close-to-the-bone work, written at a time when I felt absolutely fearless about telling the truth.”
Peters’ own voice and guitar playing have been at the core of her music since she started performing. Inspired by Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and a new generation of songwriters rising out of Nashville that included Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith and Rodney Crowell, Peters relocated to Music City in the late 1980s.
Ultimately ‘Hello Cruel World’ details the sheer triumph of survival and of finding strength, joy and growth in everyday life despite the challenges of our increasingly complex times. Peters’ warm-honey voice softens the edge of desperation; the earthy maturity of her phrasing injects empathy – a quality that makes all of Peters’ songs ring consistently true.