Grace Potter has her roots in Vermont, and she's planting more every day.
The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and musician grew up in an artistic community and family in Vermont's Mad River Valley. She's released four studio albums with her former band, the Nocturnals, and five solo albums. She's also lent her soulful, bluesy voice to many a high-profile duet, like the hit single "You and Tequila" with Kenny Chesney.
On July 23rd Potter joined Vermont Edition host Mikaela Lefrak in Vermont Public's Stetson Studio One in front of a live audience of Vermont Public members. They discussed the upcoming Grand Point North music festival, which returns to the Burlington Waterfront July 25-28 after a four-year hiatus, Potter's new Grand Point Foundation that supports the arts, and her own creative upbringing and growth.
The following excerpts from their conversation have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Mikaela Lefrak: The last time that you were on the show was in 2017, and at that time, you called yourself bi-coastal, living between Vermont and LA. You also said something that stuck out to me: You said that you didn't really feel like you could fully say that you were from Vermont, because you felt like you were "sort of from everywhere." At that time, you were traveling so much. You've been on the road and on tour for much of your adult life. I'm curious if your sense of home has changed in the seven years since that interview.
Grace Potter: I think it's apropos of what I've been going through with my songwriting and also the questions that we ask ourselves every day about what we're doing here and where we came from. Because I know I came from Vermont, but I do feel like there are certain people who have that migratory bird spirit. I think there's definitely an element of belonging or not belonging that I've always felt in every place that I go, and this sort of curiosity to explore. Where and how I can fit into any local community and feel like a local or learn from the locals?
I think my feelings about Vermont have never changed. I love it. It is my home. And things have also changed because I bought a farm here. Now we are back in my hometown, in Fayston, Vermont. I bought the farm with my husband in 2020.
I have some guesses as to why you made a big life decision in 2020, but tell us more. Why did you decide to buy a farm in Vermont?
I did not decide to buy a farm in Vermont. My husband decided to buy a farm in Vermont [laughs]. Because he's from Northern California, and the grass is always greener, and the grass is particularly green. I think because he knew me, and he'd fallen in love with my family and our community, I think there was a real sense of, this is a perfect time to establish — even over the course of a long period of time, because it takes a long time to to build up your dream home. We certainly didn't have a lot of idea as to where the future was going to take us, so it felt like a really stabilizing force to bring the family back together.
We're recording this conversation just a couple days before the start of Grand Point North, the festival that you started back in 2011. It's been on hiatus for a couple of years. Why the break and why bring it back now?
It was a really challenging thing for me to watch the years sort of tick by that it wasn't happening. There [was] a very sturdy feeling from from me, at least, that it needed to happen on the waterfront. My partners, Higher Ground, were really trying to figure out ways to staff it because so much of the music industry took a huge hit during COVID. Many of the people who were there in the capacity of site management, logistics, security, everything right down to the Porta Potties— people were just leaving those positions and taking more more desirable jobs that were going to be more consistent pay.
After that it became, okay, well, the city is changing. The culture and Burlington need this. I felt this urgent pull back to the waterfront, especially this pedestrian atmosphere that I really love about European cities. I've just always felt like Burlington has the essence of a European city, and that getting people on foot down to the waterfront was the most important thing. It really felt like I needed to find all the hands that were still on deck and then find more hands. It took a long time, and I'm grateful to my partners and to the city of Burlington for finally finding a window to to bring us back in.
The proceeds from your concerts are going to go towards flood relief efforts, an issue very close to your heart for many reasons, including the fact that your farm which we were just talking about recently flooded. I'm so sorry to hear that. Could you tell us what happened?
It was different than last year. Certainly, the Mad River Valley took a big hit last year. I think the flooding has been just so unpredictable, and the places that it lands and the way that our community comes together is the thing that that never changes. It's amazing how people band together. We ended up getting pretty severely flooded, and the river actually breached. [It] cut through the field and created a new brook through our field and washed out our roads. We didn't have access to our house for about a week. So we did get a considerable amount of damage on our property, and our basement in our farmhouse was about four and a half feet underwater.
You have a new foundation, the Grand Point Foundation. On the website, you say you seek to inspire a 'culturevation' for all Vermonters. What is that?
I made it up! I grew up in Vermont, I have worked on dairy farms. I've worked with so many people who truly only understand what it is to cultivate something, the patience of a gardener but the inspiration of a tech mogul. I think that's really what we have in Vermont. I thought the word 'culturevation' is also an acknowledgment that culture is not something that just shows up and stays. You have to tend to it. As somebody who didn't always find my platform here in Vermont the way that I wanted to — and in fact, I've been going back through that struggle again, in trying to get Grand Point North regenerating the heartbeat of what I believe is an important conversation and important cultural event for Vermonters, because we don't have a huge amount of that.
Culture is something we need to have the patience of a gardener with as well, and I think it goes beyond just making things and selling them. I think it's about watching humans walk through an expression, feel their way through something uncomfortable, try something new, step out of their comfort zone, find themselves being held accountable, because they want to be held accountable. They want to show up for that event or that group meeting or that amazing weird beat poetry thing on the street. I want to bring some of those weirdos out of the woodwork and allow them to find themselves on a pedestal for no reason other than that they should be. If they don't believe that, then somebody else should help hoist them up and help them understand that weird is good. And that's what makes us Vermonters.
Broadcast live on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
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