Support Women Artists Sunday: Petracovich

Based out of San Francisco, Petracovich is Jessica Peters with an old-world version of her family name. Her great-grandfather came to the US from Russia at the turn of the century, and one of the only things Peters knows of Abraham Petracovich is that he loved to listen to the New York Opera from the radio in the living room. Out of respect for the music, he would always wear his best suit.

Many years later, his 9 year old great-granddaughter would be at the piano, practicing Chopin and Debussy, which evolved into writing unrequited-love songs in highschool, and spending her 20’s in long, blissful hours on a living-room floor, creating sounds and beats, twisting knobs, tinkering and writing.

The new live show includes drummer Max Diez of Audio Outsend, adding a momentum and dyanamic to these tunes with skill on a standard kit and various shakers and tambourines, and cellist Heather Houseman.  Jessica plays the keys, banjo and loops bells and percussion.

Petracovich just released her third album, Crepusculo, which was recorded two years ago while Peters was pregnant with her first child, Otto, and shelved when he died 8 days after he was born. Now, two years later, she is finally releasing the album and touring behind it while she is pregnant with her second child. A joyful album filled with stories of interesting characters inspired by events in songwriter Jessica Peter’s life including the tale of a wayward father created from a son’s letter that Jessica found in a book on the street, a fantasy about leaving the gridlock behind on a sundown on a traffic-filled freeway which came to her as she was stuck in traffic on her way home from work, hotels overgrown with wildflowers, arrests at gun point and a love affair with her own heart, all sung with heart and truth.

via Petracovich.com

Nighttime

Petracovich on KCRW - San Rafael and others

Check out her myspace. I also love Heaven Help the Day.