Grace Potter Readies New Album, Hits The Road

Vermont rock goddess Grace Potter and her band the Nocturnals kick off their latest tour today with popular singer-songwriter Brett Dennen. Potter and the band have been hard at work on their third album, due in the spring of 2010 on Ragged Company/Hollywood Records. It will be the Nocturnals first album to feature Catherine Popper (Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Norah Jones) on bass and Benny Yurco on guitar.

Potter co-wrote much of the material with the album’s producer, songwriter Mark Batson. “I liked the idea of writing with someone who was totally not from my own world,” says Potter. “Mark was the first person outside of my band that I’d ever attempted to co write with, and I was excited. We ended up writing one song after another – it was like we could read each other’s minds. He would build drum tracks, basslines and piano chords, and I would write the words and vocal melodies over the top. It was a natural progression, totally organic and magical. I knew he also produced, and after we played Bonnaroo we went into the studio with him for a week to see if we could bring that magic to the band as a whole. When we started laying down tracks, it felt like something really special was happening, and Mark was capturing it. Inside of a week, we had five strong tracks.”

Look for the Obama election-inspired “Colors” to make the album, as well as “Medicine,” the first song the band ever wrote together.

Check out the band’s tour dates below: