Grace Potter is returning to Upstate New York with a new solo album that was shelved more than 15 years ago.
The soulful rock-Americana singer will perform at the Capitol Theatre in Rome on July 18, the Artpark Amphitheater in Lewiston on July 19, and Point of Bluff Vineyards in Hammondsport on July 20. Johnnyswim will open the Artpark concert.
Tickets are on sale via etix.com for Rome, axs.com for POB, and Ticketmaster for the Artpark. $1 from each ticket sold will benefit Potter’s The Grand Point Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the arts in Vermont.
Potter grew up in Vermont and first rose to fame with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, a roots-rock band she formed in 2002 while a student at St. Lawrence University in Northern New York. She earned acclaim with thrilling live performances and songs like “Paris (Ooh La La),” “Apologies” and “Medicine.” She also performed duets with Kenny Chesney on “Stars” and the Grammy-nominated “You and Tequila,” plus contributed songs to Disney’s “Tangled” and Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie.”
Potter split with The Nocturnals in 2015, around the same time that she divorced drummer Matt Burr. She’s since released three solo albums, got married to producer Eric Valentine, and welcomed a child.
Next, Potter will release a “secret” solo album that she originally recorded in 2009 with Grammy-winning producer T Bone Burnett. It featured a “timeless” sound with a lineup of session musicians, despite still being with The Nocturnals at the time.
In a new interview with The New York Times, Potter said the LP, titled “Medicine,” was blocked from release by Hollywood Records, who pushed her to rerecord most of the songs with producer Mark Batson for a younger, sexier sound.
“I was totally heartbroken,” Potter told the Times. “And I thought about T Bone and our connection and the triangulation of our creativity.” She added, “Like, was it all for nothing? That seems crazy.”
The rerecorded album, featuring new versions of eight songs from the “Medicine” sessions, debuted at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 and featured the hit song “Paris (Ooh La La).” The band released one more album in 2012, before breaking up due to “intraband strife and [Potter’s] desire to go solo,” according to the Times.
“They would always say, ‘Don’t go Gwen Stefani on us,’” Potter recalled, referring to how the No Doubt singer left the ska punk band for a solo career that led to pop superstardom.
But now Potter’s “Medicine” is finally set to be released May 30. She said Hollywood Records still had a digital recording in their vault and agreed to release it.
“It was so good,” Potter said of listening to “Medicine” again. “I was like, ‘This is wild that this didn’t get out.’”
Hear lead single “Oasis” from the new album:
