Going by the book pays off for Grace Potter
Grace Potter has just returned from a brisk walk near the Waitsfield, Vt., hippie-style compound -- variously known as Potterville, Hobbitville, and that deserted sign production company up on the hill -- where she was born. A 22-year-old roots-rock singer, songwriter, and keyboardist with an easy laugh and a preternaturally soulful voice, Potter lives there with her parents, her band, and -- by day -- the burgeoning support staff buzzing about on the floor above her bedroom.
''The office part of things is ramping up," says Potter, breathless from both her walk and the swift clip at which her career is moving along. ''The worst of it is waking up in the morning and hearing people working."
Taking care of business from home, however, is an integral part of the plan, at least for the next few weeks. Poster children for the do-it-yourself approach, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals spent 2004 spurning advances from managers, agents, and record companies, meanwhile recording and self-releasing a pair of albums, becoming bona fide stars in their home state, and amassing a touring resume that includes stints with the Dave Matthews Band, Taj Mahal, and Robert Cray. They perform at the Paradise tomorrow and open for fellow Vermonter Trey Anastasio at the Orpheum on Wednesday.
''We got a lot of hefty offers early on," Potter says. ''But we'd read Justin's book."
That's Justin Goldberg, veteran of the
''The band really took the book to heart," says Goldberg, who in 2003 founded indie911, a musicians website that's part iTunes, part MySpace. ''They told me my first job was to call Universal Records and tell them that they're not ready to sign a deal. They told me to say that the band appreciates their really sharp ability to see the band's potential so early but they want the leverage of a year and 20,000 records sold. Now we're here and we have our pick."
The band's artistic growth is proportional to its mushrooming industry profile. Potter met drummer Matt Burr in 2002 while both were attending St. Lawrence University in upstate New York. Potter, a film student, was deep in her coffeehouse phase, playing Celtic music and other ''very sad songs." She declined Burr's invitation to form a duo, but when her bassist friend Courtwright Beard transferred to St. Lawrence later that year, the three formed a jazzy, covers-heavy trio. Guitarist Scott Tournet and his girlfriend, Jen Crowell, joined shortly, and the sound -- as well as Potter's writing -- shifted yet again to encompass blues and funk influences. The band released their debut album, ''Original Soul," in 2004.
This year's follow-up, ''Nothing But the Water," was recorded on the heels of the band's return to Vermont and the replacement of Beard with Bryan Dondero. It marks another shift, away from the laid-back vibe of the first record toward a grittier, groove-based feel -- more early Bonnie Raitt than mellow Norah Jones.
''I think it has a lot to do with the band just getting more comfortable with each other," says Potter of the band's new direction. ''The addition of Scott and the bass change from Cory to Bryan really sparked something in the group dynamic. I started playing organ, and realized the music I was writing was really different. It's like playing French horn all your life and then picking up the saxophone."
Now, between gigs, Potter is allowing herself to daydream about producers for the band's next album, which will be an entirely new sort of endeavor -- financed and released by one of the dozen labels, both indie and major, currently courting them. She mentions the Wilco album, ''A Ghost is Born," and Phish's ''Billy Breathes," and the legendary T-Bone Burnett.
''We have a list of 10 or so people we'd like to work with," says Potter. ''We're really ready to take it to an edgy level. That's where we want to go."
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals perform tomorrow at the Paradise (visit www.nextticketing.com) and open for Trey Anastasio at the Orpheum on Wednesday (www.ticketmaster.com).
Joan Anderman can be reached at anderman@globe.com. 
