Grace Petrie is a musician whom I really enjoy. I have recently been to a gig of hers in Bristol on 9 May. My dad was the one to initially introduced me to her music. With this gig in Bristol I really enjoyed the atmosphere while I also had a good view of the stage from where we stood. In the past I have been to eight other gigs, some were more relaxed like Micheal Kiwinuka‘s and some were more energetic like The Pogues‘ which allows for different experience where ever and whoever you go and see. But let’s get back to Grace.
About Grace Petrie
Grace Petrie was born 24 July 1987 and is from Leicester and is a folk singer – songwriter she often describes herself as a protest singer. Some of her more recent albums include Heart First Aid Kit, Queer as Folk, Connectivity and Build Something Better.
Her songs can have a political theme but she also writes song about love such as Cynicsim Free. Some of her tracks also have more personal focuses such as Ivy where she sings about when she became an aunt and her leaving Glastonbury festival to meet her newborn neice.
During Autumn of 2021 Grace released Connectivity which reached number 37 in the official album charts and number 2 in the independent charts and number 1 in the downloads charts which is all very impressive. The album Connectivity contains songs such as The Losing Side, IKEA, Storm to Weather. Her 2024 album Build Something Better reached number 27 in the official UK album charts this being her highest ranking to date.
She first played at Glastonbury’s leftfield stage in summer 2010 and was invited by Billy Brag. She also toured in 2011 with Josie Long and since then Grace has done many tours and concerts. She has recently gone on tour in may 2025 which is where i saw her for the second time, the first time I saw Grace was in Stroud in 2024. These performance were different.
The Stroud gig was in a record shop with a big hall for events were everyone had a seat. The audience was quite calm throughout with Grace asking us to sing some lyrics which many did. For me this was the first gig which I got really into the music, as Grace and her band came back for the encore singing Northbound. Everyone in the audience stood up and started to dance creating a joyous atmosphere. I had a good view of the stage from the back of the room..
At the Bristol gig lots more people were singing along and clapping to the beat including me and my Dad. Inbetween songs as the band adjusted their instruments Grace would talk to the audience and before singing The Golden Record song she spoke about the true story of the golden record which was when some scientists decied to make a record of the different sounds of the world on a record which they sent into space. At the begining of the gig Grace was in the audience during the support act The Maes as she always apprcieats the act she invites and doesen’t like it when people talk through support acts. Grace was standing very close to us so we could see her enjoying their music.
I have seen Grace twice now and seeing songs being sung live can make them so much better to me since after the gigs I realized that I liked the songs even more than I did before the gigs. Another reason why I like her music is because what she sings about, ranging from her anger about the injustuces in the world to love stories. Her atmospheric melodies and the energetc guitar playing are some of the reason why she is one of my faviroute musicians.
If this has inspired you to listen to Grace i recomend these songs to start with:
The Losing Side, Cynicism Free, Fixer Upper, Ivy, Storm to Weather and The House Always Wins
And in case you’re wondering, Petrie is pronounced Peetrie.
