Grace Petrie comes from Leicester in the East Midlands, but can often be found further afield, particularly, recently, around the Nether Edge area of Sheffield. She writes indie folk rock songs (a couple with an acoustic punk twist), plays the guitar and sings with a voice that has been described by listeners as similar to Laura Marling, Kate Nash and nothing you’ve ever heard before. From the humble beginnings of small gigs in her hometown in 2006 and a home-recorded debut album, Grace quickly acquired a reputation as one of the best artists on the flourishing Leicester music scene, and a following of dedicated listeners. In 2007 she supported Frank Turner and Mark Morriss (The Bluetones) and released a second CD, Feel Better, to critical acclaim. From there onwards she began to break onto the festival scene, playing Leicester’s acclaimed folk weekender, The Big Session Festival, and the more commercial Summer Sundae, as well as the main stage at Nottingham Gay Pride 2009, where she played to over 10,000 people.
In 2010, folk legend (and Grace’s personal hero) Billy Bragg heard her music and invited her to play at Glastonbury on the Leftfield stage, sharing a stage with Bragg and Frank Turner. At Leftfield she went down a storm and, in Bragg’s own words, “stole the f@!#ing show, sister!”, leading to more shows on the same stage as the likes of Bragg and Emmy the Great.
Since then the buzz of excitement around her music has inspired her to write, record and release a third album, Tell Me A Story, which has roused national interest in the run up to its release on December 10th. She is also quite small.