Gretchen Peters Shares 'Wish I Was'

Today, Gretchen Peters shares her new song "Wish I Was", the latest single from her forthcoming album The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury, out on May 15 via Scarlet Letter Records. Pre order: https://smarturl.it/songsofmickeynewbury

Listen to "Wish I Was" below!

"'Wish I Was' is one of the first Newbury songs I remember hearing," Peters tells Billboard. "I've known and loved the song since the late 70s, so it was always on my short list for this album. I'm drawn to visual imagery in songs, and this lyric is like a little movie; full of beautiful images (I wish I was a grain of sand/playing in a baby's hands/falling like a diamond chain into the ocean) and that pervasive sadness that Mickey's songs are known for."

Rolling Stone Country praised Peters' "mesmerizing take" on first single "The Night You Wrote That Song," which Peters explains, "I decided early on that I didn't want to make an album of Mickey's hits...All my lifelong favourites were on the first list, of course - but some of those, much as I loved them, proved not to be the right fit. I came across 'The Night You Wrote That Song' early on, and felt it was the perfect title for the album. You never knew how right you were the night you wrote that song... seems to sum up my feelings towards Mickey Newbury perfectly. In so many ways he was ahead of his time."

"I had had the idea of recording an album of Mickey Newbury's songs for the past 10 or 15 years, but it was always one of those ideas I put on the shelf because I was busy writing and making records of my own songs," Peters explains about the conception of the album.

"About three years ago my husband and coproducer Barry Walsh and I decided to explore the idea of recording a few songs, as a sort of trial run, at Cinderella Studios, where Mickey recorded his great trio of albums in the late 60s/early 70s. I think we were hoping some of the magic would rub off. It turned out to be the best idea we could have had - Cinderella was a sort of refuge from Music Row - a secluded converted garage studio in Madison, TN where we could go and experiment with songs and arrangements without any pressure. Over the course of 2 1/2 years we recorded a few songs at a time, whenever we had some time. It was a wonderful, organic way to make a record, and I treasure the experience of getting to know Cinderella's owner, Wayne Moss, who was a great contributor to Newbury's recorded work, as much as I do making the record."

Guests on The Night You Wrote That Song include Buddy Miller, studio founder and legendary guitarist Wayne Moss (Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt), COUNTRY MUSIC Hall of Famer and renowned harmonica player Charlie McCoy (Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley), Will Kimbrough, Barry Walsh and more.

For two decades, Gretchen Peters has been one of Nashville's most beloved and respected artists. "If Peters never delivers another tune as achingly beautiful as 'On A Bus To St. Cloud,'" People Magazine wrote, "she has already earned herself a spot among country's upper echelon of contemporary composers." Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2014 by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, who called her "both a songwriter and a poet (who) sings as beautifully as she writes," and said her song "The Matador", "moved me so greatly, I cried from the soles of my feet", Peters has accumulated accolades as a songwriter for artists as diverse as Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill. Her 2015 album, 'Blackbirds', debuted at #1 on the UK Country chart and in the top 40 UK Pop chart, and was awarded International Album of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2015, The Telegraph named her one of the greatest 60 female singer-songwriters of all time. Her latest album, The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury, is a loving tribute to another Hall of Fame songwriter and a profound influence on Peters' own writing.

Tracklist:

1. The Sailor

2. She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye

3. Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)

4. The Night You Wrote That Song

5. Frisco Depot

6. Heaven Help The Child

7. Why You Been Gone So Long

8. Saint Cecilia

9. Wish I Was

10. San Francisco Mabel Joy

11. Leavin' Kentucky

12. Three Bells For Stephen

Photo credit: Gina Binkley

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