Tracy Grammer, writer and musician, is pleased to present words+music at Act II Playhouse on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018 at 7 p.m. — a captivating, intimate show featuring readings from her memoir-in-progress interspersed with songs on violin and guitar.
Grammer rose to acclaim as half of the “postmodern, mythic American folk” duo, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer. From 1997-2002, the duo released three celebrated, chart-topping albums featuring Carter’s mytho-poetic Americana songcraft, and toured internationally, including five weeks as Joan Baez’s bandmates. Off-stage, Carter and Grammer were romantically involved — a fact they coyly avoided by referring to themselves in interviews as “partners in all things.”
In 2000, just as the music was gaining traction, Carter revealed to Grammer a lifetime struggle with gender dysphoria, and an intention to transition. This impacted the duo’s off stage romance and became an issue they would struggle with privately until the summer of 2002, when Grammer faced an even greater reckoning — Carter’s sudden death.
In words+music, Grammer offers honest, poignant, often humorous glimpses into the journey with, and without, Carter. The content varies nightly but has addressed such topics as grief, transgender issues, bad British accents, life on the road, public versus private selves, and starting over.
“This show is my most satisfying presentation to date,” says Grammer. “I’ve been performing Dave’s songs since his death, but with the addition of my writing, our voices finally come into balance, and the dynamics of our journey are revealed — both the shared joy, and the separate suffering each of us endured when it seemed we had the world at our feet. Dave’s songs take on a poignancy that was not evident before. And conversations open up — about compassion, love and identity, sudden loss, the grace of humor, anger, and the redeeming power of forgiveness. The details of our story are unique to us but the underlying joy and struggle are elements of a broader story. It is an honor to offer these words and songs; it’s my hope they can serve as a balm for a bruised humanity.”
We Are Supported By:
