Pierce Pettis makes his long-awaited return to Sundilla this Friday; showtime is 7:30, and admission is just $10, $8 for students, and free for children 12 and under. And if you can’t wait quite that long, tune in to www.wildmansteve.com at 1:00 PM on Friday, and hear Pierce LIVE in the studio with Wildman Steve.
So how long is “long-awaited?” 1,443 days. That’s how long it has been since Pierce Pettis has played Sundilla. It seems hard to believe that it has been four years but it’s a good thing we waited, because now we get to be one of the first concerts he has played since the release of his newest CD. But we’ll get to that further down the page…
Pierce Pettis, adored by both critics and public alike, is one of this generation’s most masterful songwriters. His music is distinguished by his uncanny ability to capture universals in human experience by drawing on the humor and trials in daily life. Pettis’ music can simultaneously pull on our hearts and keep us laughing. The beautiful harmonies, inventive yet subtle percussion, strong guitar, and Pierce’s rich vocals are a constant throughout his body of work.
After a lifetime of crafting finely-wrought, heart-touching songs, the Alabama native feels that he’s finally found his comfort zone. “The biggest change,” he says of this point in his career “has been getting over myself and realizing this is a job and a craft. And the purpose is not fame and fortune (whatever that is) but simply doing good work.”
“From the time I was very little, I always had the music going in my head,” Pettis explains. “Like my own personal soundtrack or something. I also come from a fairly musical family: my mother went to music school and was an excellent organist and pianist. And my sisters all played piano and other instruments. In school, I met other kids who wanted to be rock stars, just like me. From the time we were around 10 or so up through high school, we put together various bands — all of them horrible.”
His “horrible” bands didn’t deter him though and even though he had a nagging feeling (“I thought I was supposed to be a doctor or something.”) he persevered, not only playing music but writing songs in a mix of rock, folk, country and R&B genres that landed him an unpaid position as a staff writer for Muscle Shoals Sounds Studios. While there, his track “Song at the End of the Movie” found its way to Joan Baez’s 1979 album Honest Lullaby.
From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on March 2, 2009. View the original page.
