Pierce and Grace Pettis at Caffe Lena - 02/11/2012

Pierce and Grace Pettis

Long a leader on today's contemporary folk circuit, Alabama songwriter Pierce Pettis interweaves the personal, political, and spiritual elements of life in songs that range from delicate folk to more hard-driving blues. His songs and stories are always creative and meaningful and the care he takes with his craft is evident in the excellence of his live performances. He has also achieved success in the commercial music world with a #1 hit for Garth Brooks. It comes as no surprise that Pierce's daughter, Grace, is gaining national attention for her own brainy, quietly spiritual folksongs. After winning the prestigious NPR Mountain Stage songwriting competition in '09, and the Wildflower competition in '10, in 2011 Grace took the folk world's most coveted prize, the Kerrville New Folk award. Interestingly, Pierce won the Kerrville prize in 1987, the year Grace was born. This makes them the only father-daughter winners in the history of the competition.