Welcome to The 9513! If you're interested in country music, be sure to subscribe to our feed or receive updates via email.
Album Review: Gretchen Peters - Burnt Toast & Offerings
Gretchen Peters’ latest, Burnt Toast & Offerings, is a quiet and introspective collection of precisely-crafted songs that is remarkably detached from the usual heavy-handed imagery and overwrought production of today’s Nashville. Seldom wasting a word, Burnt Toast showcases an unparalleled maturity of thought; these stories are smart and poignant and come together to spin a complex web of human emotion.
There are so many drop-your-jaw-amazing lyrics on this record that it’s near impossible to pick just a few to hold up here as examples. “Open up your suitcase and show me what you got/I don’t need a new religion, I don’t need no pans or pots/But your little ritual might entertain me,” Peters’ sings on “Lady Of The House,” unquestionably one of the album’s highlights. Then there’s “Jezebel,” which tells the other side of the story, and “Breakfast At Our House,” a dark, realist take on love actualized. There simply is not enough room in this review to pull out every noteworthy passage–which speaks to how excellent this album really is.
And it is excellent. I’m not sure there is a songwriter alive today (in any genre) who understands narrative tone as well as Peters does–as evidenced by a song like “Sunday Morning (Up And Down My Street),” which not only describes a breezy Sunday morning (although it does so in vivid detail), but sounds and feels like one, too.
Burnt Toast & Offerings does tend to wear on a bit, though, perhaps lingering for too long in its mellow aesthetic, and the album lacks any truly edgy moments; there is nothing here with the driving power of “Independence Day,” (which she wrote), or the gritty desperation evident in Peters’ cover of Steve Earle’s “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied” (from her 1996 album The Secret of Life). This fact causes the album’s material to bleed together somewhat, despite its quality.
Still, this is a welcome offering for those of us who sometimes wonder where all the storytellers have gone, and it deserves a listen from anyone who appreciates great songwriting.

Popular Stuff
Sponsor
Tagged In This Article
Current Discussion
- leeann: I *did* mention the Lauderdale song in my review. I really liked it. He sounds...
- Thomas: "whereas rap was the word of truth, today country is where you go for honesty".....
- Razor X: The Jim Lauderdale track is excellent. Another one that I liked better than I t...
- Dylan Gramm: Why does that statement make Keith a racist?...
- f_t_e: Namely this: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/30/toby-keith-obama-white/ "...
- f_t_e: Yeah, because if there's anyone who would have supported John McCain, it's the m...
- Josh: Rascal's "I'm Moving On" was good.. that's all I got....
- Mirandas2cool: Kenny really has made some bad choices lately. I really like I go back and his o...
- Dylan Gramm: What's the Jim Lauderdale track like?...
- leeann: I didn't mention it in my review, but I didn't like the Skaggs duet either. It ...
In Memory of Don Helms (1927 - 2008) Helms dated back to a time when an excellent four or five piece band and a good singer were all that were needed to make great country music. No drums, no light shows, no production tricks in the recording studio–just good music.
Don’t look now, but Darius Rucker, lead singer of 90s rock group Hootie & The Blowfish, has a country hit on his hands. What you probably haven’t heard is that Rucker is the first black artist to chart a single in the country top 20 since Charley Pride last did it in 1988.
News that former Sugarland member and co-founder Kristen Hall is suing her ex-mates, to the tune of $1.5 million, goes a long way towards providing a bit of context regarding the Atlanta singer/songwriter’s sudden departure from the group.
Josh Gracin - “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” Despite initial marketing that touted the album as deep and personal, “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)” is anything but deep or personal.
Josh Turner - "Everything Is Fine" Turner is the rare example of an artist who records material that’s both quality and trademark.
Darryl Worley - "Tequila On Ice" A groovy mid-tempo that sways, a refreshing reprieve from the exhausting pace of a format that clamors for loud music and swelling choruses.
Blake Shelton - "She Wouldn't Be Gone" It’s all about nailing the melody rather than providing a legitimate interpretation that accentuates the lyrical content, although Shelton does do a pretty good job of injecting what limited emotion he can.
Forgotten Artist: David Rogers David Rogers (1936-1993) is proof of the adage that it’s great to be on a major label, but only if the label is truly behind you.
Forgotten Artist: Charley Pride For the ’70s, Billboard has Charley listed as its third ranking singles artist behind only Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard.
In this exclusive interview with The 9513, the Show Dog Records trio talks about growing up around Waylon and Jessi Colter, and about how those experiences have helped shaped their music as they set off on their own country music journey.
One of an emerging wave of artists empowered by decreasing production costs and a rapidly changing distribution landscape, Kelleigh Bannen has taken a do-it-yourself approach to her debut album, Radio Skies.







1 Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URI for this postNovember 5, 2007
[…] Gretchen Peters - Burnt Toast & Offerings Gretchen Peters’ latest, Burnt Toast & Offerings, is a quiet and introspective collection of precisely-crafted songs that is remarkably detached from the usual heavy-handed imagery and overwrought production of today’s Nashville. Seldom wasting a word, Burnt Toast showcases an unparalleled maturity of thought; these stories are smart and poignant and come together to spin a complex web of human emotion. — Jim Malec […]
7 Comments
RSS for comments on this post | Trackback URI for this post
October 20, 2007 at 11:18 pm Permalink
I haven’t heard anything about her, but this review definitely makes me want to check her out!
October 22, 2007 at 9:25 am Permalink
Upon your recommendation I’ll definitely be checking this one out, but I’m pretty sure that I can come up with an artist or two to challenge your claim about narrative tone. :P
October 22, 2007 at 10:00 am Permalink
One of the difficult things about reviewing this record is that I’m not sure it’s something that will translate to the uninitiated.
Peters’ writing is so sophisticated that I worry it might be read as inaccessible to some (and boring to others). I think a person has to come to this record for the right reasons–because they love sincere, complicated, thoughtful songwriting.
It’s the difference between reading genre fiction and James Joyce. One serves primarily an entertainment function, and the other asks you to participate and to evaluate.
But from a review standpoint, is that the fault of the artist? I don’t think that a writer should have to dumb-down to the audience. And so, while I give this record 4 out of 5 stars (it deserves every one of them), I’m not sure it’s something that any bloke off the street will “get”.
I think most Rascal Flatts fans would find it utterly unbearable. And Peters should take a great deal of pride in that, in my opinion.
October 22, 2007 at 8:25 pm Permalink
There’s a haunting, melancholic quality to her songs that reverberates throughout–something that I find appealing, but I agree that the material starts to bleed together after a while. Parts of the album remind me of Patty Griffin’s Children Running Through. My girlfriend automatically thought Ella Fitzgerald when she heard me listening to “One For My Baby”. I thought I detected some Celtic influence, too. One thing is for sure, it’s definitely not background music.
I think the writer of another “Sunday” song, “Sunday Morning Coming Down” to be exact, has a pretty firm grasp on narrative tone (at least as I understand that term). Guy Clarks Dublin Blues is another one that pops to mind that would give Peters a run for her money.
October 22, 2007 at 8:55 pm Permalink
Now why did I think you’d mention Guy Clark? :-)
October 22, 2007 at 9:14 pm Permalink
You’ve got an astronomic sense of perception?
October 22, 2007 at 9:54 pm Permalink
I think that’s about right, actually.
Leave a Comment