Connectivity by Grace Petrie
I was honoured to be given another opportunity to work with Grace, this time on an album called “Connectivity”. Grace is a very true and honest songwriter, speaking with clarity through her songs on topics of real importance. This was another project born out of and affected by the Covid lockdowns. It was at the recording of her HOME performance at Leicester Cathedral, where after playing a couple of new songs we began to talk about her next album. She had a set of songs that for the first time she hadn’t been able to road-test, a part of the process important to her, but I think this had given some time for self-reflection. She may be better known for social commentary, but has an equally deft touch with more personal writing.
The album was made at Seamus Wong Recorders in Leicester, an infamous city-centre loft space where we’d worked together before on the drums for her previous record, Queer As Folk. This time, after making demos and guide tracks at Rawson Street, we set up camp and recorded everything else at Seamus Wong. We had a couple of Grace’s touring musicians come in to play on the record, Caitlin Field on drums, and Ben Moss making magic on many things including violin, concertina, and mandolin. I particularly enjoyed recording all the acoustic instruments - vocals included - in the same space. A pair of 4038’s stayed up for every session to listen to what was going on. Grace’s music leans towards, but perhaps not all the way to, folk music. I think the room sounds we captured help give the sense of intimacy, but also community, that folk music is all about.
I mixed the album back at Rawson Street and it was mastered by Neil Ferguson.
Photos by John Helps.
