rocknroll_n_blues_queens | Grace Potter and Catherine Popper of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (Reply)

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane Cover)

The lead vocalist is 27-year-old multi-instrumentalist Grace Potter, who attended St. Lawrence University for two years before pursuing music professionally. She plays the Hammond B3, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer Electric Piano and electric and acoustic guitars. The other members of the band are Scott Tournet, on guitars (including slide guitar) and harmonica, drummer Matthew Burr, Catherine Popper on bass guitar and vocals, and Benny Yurco on electric and vocals. Bryan Dondero played bass guitar, upright bass, and mandolin with the group until his departure in early 2009.^[4]MORE

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals "Low Road"

Grace Potter interview :: Turn the radio up high, and grab the first guitar you see

HB: The question I am most interested in asking you stems from my own experiences being a female blogger in this crazy rock world – I'm wondering if you feel that there's any kind of double standard when it comes to being a woman in the music industry, as opposed to a guy doing the same things that you're doing?

GP: I personally think that there's positives to it, and obviously there are negatives. I actually hate girl musicians -- for the most part I tend to really dislike them. But I'm not saying that I'm like, the Savior Girl in rock and roll. I make mistakes, we all make mistakes. Still, I'm not gonna throw a fit, I'm not gonna be a diva... I'm never gonna make a big scene if somebody didn't bring me my fucking champagne. Today they were apologizing for not having a mirror where I was backstage but -- who cares?! What's most important to me is that we've got an environment where we can create great music, and I'm more interested in if my amps work or my gear, or if there's a string broken, or if the setlist isn't quite right. I would way rather talk about that than what outfit I'm gonna wear. Of course it is fun being a woman, and I'm glad to be a woman. But what I'm most fascinated by is a woman artist who can speak realistically, from her soul, and not be bullshitting.MORE

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - "Medicine" - Sundown In The City - 2009

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Interview: SXSW 2010

At just 26, Grace Potter has jammed with Joe Satriani, opened for Dave Matthews, earned accolades from Bonnie Raitt, performed on 'Jay Leno,' 'Craig Ferguson' and 'Good Morning America,' and is a soundtrack favorite on 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'All My Children,' 'One Tree Hill,' 'Brothers and Sisters,' VH1's 'Woodstock: Now and Then' and 'Almost Alice,' the companion compilation to Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland.' The trajectory for the rising rock soulstress seems to be straight up as she and her band, the Nocturnals, continue to mesmerize audiences wherever they go. Now set to explode onto the European stage and at SXSW, Spinner recently spoke with Grace about the band, where they've been and where they're heading.

Describe your sound.

We are a rock 'n' roll band with a multiple personality disorder. Sometimes I'm in my diva 'Soul Train' mode, and other times I'm Aretha Franklin rocking out. We do broad sweeps across massive genres, but the binding sound is always my voice, our dual guitars, that analog sound and the classic rock tether that ties it together.

Beatles or Stones?

We love the Beatles for their songwriting, but we are definitely Stones for their eternal energy and endless attempt at keeping the dream alive.

What are your musical influences?

I listened to everything as a kid: the Kinks, the Band, Maggie Bell, Spooky Tooth. My Irish influences are definitely in there. You can hear the traditional folk songs of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. The entire United Kingdom has this enchanted sound.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Music should never be guilty. I like me a good Bon Jovi song every now and then, and sometimes girly music to paint away sorrow, like Dido.
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Grace Potter and the Nocturnals "Ah Mary" - Leno Performance

Blarer Of The Month: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Would you say your upcoming album lives in the moment? Oh absolutely. Compared to our other ones, it’s so loud. It was a lot of fun to be that loud and the whole process of putting it together was kind of in the moment. We just recorded it quickly and appreciated each other. There weren’t any fights in the studio or major freak outs. It’s rare not to have any shit like that happen.

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Its ridiculously hard to find interviews with the bassist Catherine Popper. Here's her Myspace

I did find out that she was in a band called Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, which Wiki describes as playing country rock, jam band, rock and alternative country.

Here's a glimpse of her in the red shirt in this rendition of "Games"

And she was featured on the cover of their 2005 album Jacksonville City Lights, where she apparently played piano as well.

Then she left them in 2006 and did some playing with other bands:

Tony Scherr with Catherine Popper, Anton Fier & Chris Brown playing Brown's "Willing" at The Living Room in New York, NY on 7/10/08

Here she is with Norah Jones "Puss N Boots" Project covering Jesus Etc. By Wilco.

In 2009 she joined Grace Potter and the Nocturnals:

catherine popper to join grace potter and the nocturnals

Some of you may recall seeing a new bass player on stage during the VH1/Woodstock and Doheny Blues Festival shows. Who was that anyway? Well, it’s Catherine Popper and she’ll be joining Grace Potter and the Nocturnals on the road this summer. Catherine has a stellar musical resume with stints in The Cardinals (backing Ryan Adams) and songwriting credits on most of the songs on “Jacksonville City Nights” and “Cold Roses” (both of which I loved by the way). In addition she’s played with Norah Jones in her side project Puss N Boots, Michael Stipe and she toured and recorded with Hem in the early part of the decade.MORE

Here she is playing a wine bottle in a hotel room acoustic rendition of Grace Potter and the Nocturnal's "Paris" Here's the VEVO version if you can see it.