Search - Gretchen Peters :: Burnt Toast & Offerings

Another Masterpiece by Gretchen Peters

James C. Ahlstrom | New Jersey, USA | 02/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gretchen Peters is the master songwriter who wrote "Circus Girl", so of course I purchased her newest album "Burnt Toast & Offerings". Since then it has seldom been out of my CD player. This album is simply fantastic. Peters writes catchy music and poetic lyrics that rhyme. The arrangements are varied and interesting, and the musicianship is first rate. She writes about personal subjects, both life changing and the mundane stuff of daily life. She is a fine interpreter of her own work, and has assembled a group of other great musicians for this project. She can write in various styles, and this album includes up-tempo pop, torchy blues, twangy guitar blues and a minor key heart breaker. There are no weak cuts on this album, but these are my favorites:



Sunday Morning: A happy singable song with great lyrics about it being Sunday.

There's a Sunday paper, and a sleepy neighbor,

And a cat curled at your feet.

There's breakfast frying, and a baby crying,

And your smile is all I need.



One for My Baby: A torchy 3AM-in-the-bar song with piano accompaniment to die for.



England Blues: Up tempo twangy guitar blues plus more great lyrics.

Holed up in a hotel room on the river Tyne.

Just me and my baby and a "Do Not Disturb" sign.

Twenty-four hours by the hotel clock

Hotel maid going knock knock.



Breakfast at Our House: Devastating song about a marriage without love.

Burnt toast and offerings,

That's what the morning brings.

Breakfast at our house.



This Town: A catchy happy song with longing. Great arrangement includes a pennywhistle.



I am an adult (OK, an older adult) who doesn't listen to oldies. Instead I search magazine reviews and the Internet to find good recently published music. And when I find an album like this I remember why. Some artists can make it all happen; the music, the lyrics, the musicians, the production. And then they make a work of sound-art that has the power to communicate emotion directly to the listener's heart. Thanks Gretchen!

"

Dreamers Slowly Waking

Lee Armstrong | Winterville, NC United States | 12/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gretchen Peters has recorded three previous studio CDs + a live disc. "Burnt Toast & Offerings" is an amazing 5th disc. With no poor tracks on the disc, four cuts make me hit the repeat button. "Sunday Morning (Up & Down My Street)" is a lovely upbeat midtempo track that has Peters' lovely vocals on a joyful moment on the disc, "And we're talking & we're laughing & we're taking time & making love so sweet." The glockenspiel by Barry Walsh gives the arrangement a lighthearted feel. "Thirsty" smokes like last call at the blues bar, "What makes you look right through me? What demons from your past? What are you looking for inside that whiskey glass? ...You're always thirsty and you're never satisfied." Jim Hoke's clarinet makes me think New Orleans. "This Town" is a catchy classic Peters' tune with her voice part longing, part ecstasy, "All I wanna do tonight is kiss you in the street, swaying to the beat of a rusty radio." The set ends with the classic "To Say Goodbye" that has such a strong mixture of the sweetness of the past tasted with loss and lament. Peters' vocals ooze strength and vulnerability, "We are dreamers slowly waking; We are shooting stars across a midnight sky; We are strangers in the making, but we're not ready to say goodbye." Other tracks like the emotional opener "Ghost," the rocking "England Blues" & the Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer cover of "One for My Baby" are stellar. This diamond-studded set grows deeper with repeated listenings. Bravo!"

Another great Peters album

NoWireHangers | Sweden | 05/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"i've loved Gretchen Peters for a long time. Apparently, this album was released last year and I didn't know until now. Why didn't anyone tell me sooner? I also didn't learn about "Halcyon" until about two years after it was released. I guess it shows how underappreciated she is as a performer. Many of her songs have been succesfully covered by other artists, but Peters's own recordings are just as good. Her voice is less polished, more fragile, than many of the others (Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Patty Loveless), but full of emotion and fits her songs perfectly. And the production is perfect.



Like "Halcyon", "Burnt Toast & Offerings" consists of mostly slow tempo songs. While "The Secret of Life" was immediately catchy, "Burnt Toast & Offerings" is meditative rather than catchy, and grows with repeated listenings. Still, there are up-tempo songs to be found here as well, such as "England Blues", and "This Town". This song alone is worth the price of the album.



I still like "Halcyon" better, but "Burnt Toast & Offerings" is another great album from one of our time's greatest songwriters. I don't want to miss her next one."