Grace Pettis / Billy Crockett w/Dirje Smith May 11, 2012

Count the number of people on stage -- three. Count the moments when your breath is taken away by a turn of phrase, depth of emotion, soaring melody, pristine harmony, astounding musicianship – forget it, you can’t possibly count that high. Our journey this night begins with Grace Pettis, who obviously drank the musical kool-aid while growing up around her esteemed folk-singing father Pierce Pettis. Having written songs practically her whole life, she came to Texas just six years ago to attend college at St. Edwards in Austin. Shortly after arriving, her father told her about some friends who were opening a new artist studio in Wimberley, just down the road, and she soon found herself at a concert there. The place is Blue Rock Artist Ranch and Studio, and the owner and creative director is Billy Crockett. Billy was a successful contemporary Christian artist in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, but had left that to pursue a different dream, which manifested in the creation of Blue Rock. Billy has since produced albums there for some of music’s most vital artists. So naturally, when Grace was ready to make her first album, she turned to Billy. That collaboration turned out to be so much more than either could have dreamed, receiving praise throughout the folk music world, particularly impressive for a first-time artist. Soon thereafter, the idea of doing live concerts together was born, and we were fortunate at Uncle Calvin’s to book them first. The trio wouldn’t be complete without cellist extraordinaire Dirje Smith, a friend and collaborator of Pierce who first played with Grace at a Wylie house concert in 2009. Now an award-winning, full-time touring artist, Grace is currently working on her second album – with Billy -- at Blue Rock.