two more interviews in advance of shows

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

“We created it together and that’s really pretty special for me, to have those guys by my side the whole time because when I wrote the songs I was thinking about them,” she said. “I was thinking about the way they play, what they’re going to add to it, the ideas they contribute that help make the song even better. That stuff wouldn’t be there if I was just hiring a band.”

Potter said she wrote “Ah Mary” while sitting underneath a flag pole at a swimming pool. She said the sound of the flag banging against the pole annoyed her.

“It was just making a lot of noise,” she said. “It wasn’t waving beautifully or anything. It was just sort of flopping. I took it down and picked up my guitar and just started strumming.”

She said she wrote “Big White Gate” after the death of her grandmother. Potter said she initially thought the song had been written before and she had somehow stolen it. She want as far as to run the song though a computerized chord-change program to see if it did already exist. The search, however, came up empty.

All Points West

“I didn’t know what ‘next level’ meant but I knew that we wanted it,” she says. “It’s exciting and scary but also rewarding. It’s an interesting experience you should have if you get the opportunity. So, why the hell not?”

Looking forward, Potter hopes the band gets a chance to tour Europe soon. However, for now that takes a back seat to Potter’s All Points West appearance this weekend.

“I love festivals like this,” Potter says. “It’s your one chance to see some of the bands you admire.”