Potter Gold For Bluesfest

Grace Potter and The Nocturnals have been invited to play Bluesfest three years running, yet due to their busy dance card, could never tweak their schedule enough to make it down - till now. At next year's event, Australian audiences will finally get to experience their show. There are many reasons why Bluesfest crowds should devour this band. Firstly because in the great tradition of rock touring bands, they've been at it solid for ten years, came out of America's roots music festival circuit and are as rockin' tight as they come. Secondly because Grace herself has such wonderful stage presence. As for her image, she may give the impression she's off to a cocktail party, often wearing high heels and a tightly-fitting mini skirt, but she's also usually armed with a Gibson Flying V (her own signature model) slung over her shoulder or ripping licks from behind a Hammond B3.

“I think it's a good trick to play on people,” says Grace. “They see this little Barbie doll come on stage or whatever I may look like on any given day, but then we kick in and it can be surprising for people to hear the noises that I can make.”

The noises she refers to have been compared to iconic female vocalists such as Janis Joplin. However, it's the male rock singers that have had more impact on Grace's vocal style.

“I admire Robert Plant. I'm very excited that he'll be at the Byron Bay music festival. He was a huge influence on me. When I was just learning how to tour, most of my influences were men. Freddie King, Steve Winwood... for his organ playing and his singing. The Allman Brothers... a major influence was Ozzie Osbourne... AC/DC was a big one for me. I felt more affinity to the sexual energy of the men on stage than the more timid phrasing of women. It's not that I don't love women vocalists and I think there are some great ones, but there are not that many great female rock singers.”

Potter is equally adept at both guitar and organ, and was chuffed when Gibson guitars acknowledged her musical prowess with her own signature model Flying V. “I have been a huge fan of the Flying V ever since I first picked one up. It's mostly to do with the weight distribution. I think part of the influence is, even though I love to play the guitar, I love to dance. I love movement and certain guitars are too weight-centric, especially Les Pauls. It felt too heavy all in one place, almost like a pendulum. With the Flying V, if I set it down it kind of stands on its own. I can really flail around and I'm not going to kill myself with it.”

In the early days of the band, Potter ran her guitar through a '71 Gibson Goldtone, but years of stage abuse has relegated that amp to the studio. She now runs her Flying V through a Fender Vibrolux. “I like the Vibrolux a lot, it has a good dimension to it,” she explains.  “When I run it through some reverb, it really creates Black Beauty (Neil's famous Les Paul guitar), Neil Young crunchy tones that I like. I have two amazing guitar players, Scott and Matty. When it comes to solos or creating beautiful textures, I'm just there as meat and potatoes. I like to think of myself as a very rock-steady rhythm guitarist. I certainly like playing the slide and a lot of open tunings. I'll take a moment occasionally to freak out, but for the most part I just like to create slide tones.”

Grace is something of a gear nerd and has kept most of the instruments she's played during her career, with some of them now a little more road weary than others. “The first guitar I ever bought was a (Gibson) J45 from the 1930s, which I don't take out on the road anymore,” she explains. “Then later I got an ES125, which is a smaller body cutaway semi-hollow body Gibson that has some intonation problems so I keep that at home. It sounds great for recording. Has a great old Sun Studio sound to it.”

It's no surprise that Grace's gear exists in differing states of health. A photo is brought to her attention that depicts her standing in heels on a beautiful old Hammond organ. “At least it was mine!” she exclaims. “When I first started playing the B3 I broke a lot of keys. I have really strong hands and am really muscular with the way I play. I got it from Billy Preston and his style of organ playing. I'd break a key every night. I was very frustrated that day, I remember the show and the photo. It doesn't happen all the time but you're right, it was a sad night for that keyboard.”

Among her collection of instruments at home, Grace also owns a '56 Hammond A100, two B3s and a 1972 Hammond Porta B, which her band bought for her as a 21st birthday present.

More than anything, Potter is proud of the many hours her band has played and takes a dim view of artists who don't experience that same collaborative joy on stage. “It pisses me off when I meet musicians who are talented but don't have that joy of camaraderie with other people, sharing music... people who have worked hard and can really appreciate what it takes to get to this place. Scotty and Matty and I have been together ten years now. To be able to say that I did it with these people, it's a rich part of the rock'n'roll blanket. I'm very happy to have my family with me as part of it.”

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals play Bluesfest, Easter weekend 2013