• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    amazing grace

    Pop powerhouse Grace Potter heads to Houston for can't-miss, 'super spreader of joy' charity concert

    Steven Devadanam
    Feb 22, 2023 | 3:30 pm

    Boasting a singing voice that conjures up a folk revival, blues hall jam, a coastal California road trip, and a little Janis Joplin, Grace Potter has been dazzling fans since she burst on the scene in 2002 with her band the Nocturnals. But who needs our description — when pop/R&B queen Rihanna summed Potter up so perfectly in a single Tweet: “A Victoria Secret model with a Mick Jagger swagger and that voice??”

    Fittingly, Potter shared the stage with the Rolling Stones in 2016, completely holding her own — and at times upstaging — the strutting rock legend Jagger during a raucous version of the “Gimme Shelter.” Potter, clad in a shimmering dress, could be best described as Heidi Klum channeling Joplin that night. (Note to the Stones’ management: Please book her on the next world tour.) Little wonder why the iconic Bob Dylan cites Potter — an instant classic who was seemingly born in the wrong era — as one of his favorite singer-songwriters these days.

    Now, Houstonians will get a chance to experience Potter and her powerful pipes when she and her band head to White Oak Music Hall on Friday, February 24 for The Beat Goes On, a special benefit concert. The show pays tribute to prominent Houstonian Michael Carroll, the young founder of Foxgate Capital who tragically and suddenly passed away from complications of the heart.

    Tickets are still available online and start at $60, with 100-percent of the proceeds benefitting the American Heart Association, thanks to generous underwriter the Fields Companies. Mississippi-born country crooner Charlie Mars to set the stage for Potter and her show-stopping live act.

    And oh, what an act. The Vermont-born Potter has become a live show must-see for her boundless energy, throaty, soul-dripped vocals (fans may notice her sultry version of 'Stuck in the Middle with You" as the theme song for the Netflix smash Gracie & Frankie), her shredding on her 12-string or electric guitar, and her fluid riffs on the organ. Now married with a young son, Potter has put her past band breakup and divorce behind her and is attacking life with gushing glee and bring-it-on zeal.

    Her show at White Oak Music Hall — perfectly intimate but expansive enough for her scope — promises to be a teaser of what's to come on a new album due later this year — and perhaps, projects on different mediums. (We've been sworn to secrecy on her cool new developments.) CultureMap caught up with Potter while she was taking a much-needed break at the Sunset Marquis hotel in West Hollywood.

    CultureMap: Congratulations on being married, being a mom, and the upcoming tour and album! You're in Hollywood — are you 'taking meetings' — as they say?

    Grace Potter: Thank you! Yes, I'm in Hollywood, taking meetings. You know, doing the Hollywood shuffle.

    CM: Speaking of shuffles, you seem perfectly fit for the screen. Does that interest you at all?

    GP: You know, if I could be the type of rock star that could wander like Courtney love — drunk — into the middle of a movie. I think that's kind of my jam. Like, that’s me! I'm like the Koo-Aid Guy that comes crashing through the wall — and nobody knows what to do with the Koo-Aid Guy.

    CM: Oh yeah! [See what we did there?] Nobody seemed to know what to do with you during your Grace Potter and the Nocturnals days and later, solo. Is it fair to say that you were somewhat packaged by the music industry?

    GP: That's an interesting perspective that you have, one that I have heard much of — that I was just packaged. And I think that I absolutely was, but what people don't know is that the me — that Janice-sort of like homespun, shoegazer, cowboy boots and plaid girl? That was a spin. That was packaging.

    Coming from Vermont, it wasn't even cool to have makeup on or like — God forbid — want the spotlight. Absolutely not — you were not allowed that. If you wanted it, you're shallow and they were sad for you and they really felt for you. That was genuinely my reality growing up, to the point I knew I needed to leave Vermont in order to establish and understand my belonging in the world that enjoyed a spotlight. Like there, I'm not kidding, there were no stages in Vermont with those pin lights — they're called follows — they don’t exist.

    So, that humility and growing up in that was incredibly good for my character — but not for my show, not for my game, not for my look, not for my brand.

    CM: That sounds like leaving was liberating.

    GP: One-hundred percent. By the time I signed with Hollywood [Records] and actually had this incredible gift horse of Disney being like, ‘so, what do you wanna look like?’ I was like, ‘Fucking kung fu rock ‘n’ roll Barbie! Please? Right now!'

    There was a lot of spin doctoring and way too much energy put into how I look — I'm talking way too much — but I loved it, and it was such a huge piece of the me that was able to express again in a medium — like the the medium of fashion, the medium of makeup, the medium of hair. God the hair, oh my god, the hair!

    CM: So that va-va-voom bombshell in the ‘Paris’ video — that’s more the real you?

    GP: That's me! But it was just a projection and it was a role I was playing, just like the girl in the cowboy boots and the plaid shirt.

    CM: Do you think women's images in music are hyper-scrutinized, while men get a free pass to do whatever and express themselves in whatever way works for them?

    GP: I don't think that women are given the opportunity to express those platitudes, you know? It's really fun to play with image. Bowie did it constantly. And again, like you said — and I think this is a really valid point you made — a man doing that needs absolutely no explaining.

    But, a woman doing it causes outrage, confusion, dismay, a sense of alienation, and almost an ‘I don't want her anymore,’ — like the there's an ownership over it. Like, ‘that's not my Gracie, that's not the Gracie I know!’

    Like, Harry Styles can be wearing an entire women's outfit on the cover of his record, in an upside-down living room, and it's just perfect and there's no explanation.

    CM: Your charm, effervescence, and humility make you positively Texan — specifically Houstonian, you know.

    GP: A lot of people mistake me for a Texan and I love it! I think it's such a compliment. I really do. There's nothing about that that doesn't track for me. And I think naturally, my influences and the sounds that I have conjured my whole life, whether on purpose or mostly by accident, are extremely steeped in in Texas, and country and western, also a little bit more wild, a little bit more California — there's a little bit California soul in there. There's always been this feeling of like a crossroads that belongs in my heart and it definitely feels like Houston, as a town.

    CM: You actually have some fond memories of our fair city.

    GP: Houston is the only place I ever got to go see Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers live, which was like life changing and ZZ Top was opening.Later, I get this call from NASA, because they'd seen a music video when my album Midnight came out and they saw some performance videos of me, and I had this NASA mug on my organ. So someone at NASA said, ‘let's call her and see if she wants to come by.’ They invited me to the Johnson Space Center and I brought the band and they gave us an incredible tour. We we actually met an astronaut is now one of my best friends in the whole world: Jessica Meir.

    CM: Is it too bold to say that it almost seems like marriage and motherhood have helped you find your voice?

    GP: No, you’re right — I've got a voice now… because I'm yelling over the four-year-old all the time! I've had to really, you know, isolate: what is my point? What is my voice? And how do I get to that point as quickly as possible? Because there's just less time and emotional space to indulge in the wondering — what am I, who am I, what do I want? Like, you have exactly three hours to be creative before you’ve got to go pick the kid up from school: get there, get straight to it. Just mainline that shit.

    For me, music is an interesting medium to move through, because music is not my purpose. Healing and bearing joy is my purpose. That's what I was put on the planet to do. Music just happens to be the quickest funhouse ride that I got to jump on — because it was low-hanging fruit and it was an elemental thing that was in me.

    I just got on stage and open my mouth and it was already there. But I don't feel ownership over it and I don't feel pride in, like, ‘look how great I can sing,’ because I'm not doing that — I'm just channeling it. but I am actively putting my mind and my heart towards the things I care about and that's the thing that is and feels like a contribution and the purpose.

    CM: Grace Potter and her purpose is pretty darn exciting.

    GP: Oh yeah, when I feel that I'm charged up by my purpose and the conveying of love, joy, respect, mutual respect, healing, medicine through music — that is a real, like, ‘you're on the planet doing a really good thing. Well done, you.’ And I can say it to myself and actually receive it, you know?

    CM: Sounds like you're really ready to unleash all the love here in Houston.

    GP: The pandemic of joy that is what I'm here to do. I'm trying to spread joy — like a fucking super-spreader event!




    Grace Potter
      

    Grace Potter/Facebook

    Potter will hold court on February 24 at WOMH.

    news/entertainment
    popular

    most read posts

    Massive, German-inspired beer garden coming to new Energy Corridor project

    Houstonians will get the royal treatment at this lively new steakhouse

    4 fresh new restaurants now open in suburban Houston

    Movie Review

    New movie Friendship pairs Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in a bizarre bromance

    Alex Bentley
    May 16, 2025 | 3:30 pm
    Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship
    Photo courtesy of A24
    Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship.

    Comedian Tim Robinson has gained a cult following thanks to series like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave, in which his brand of cringe comedy is on full display. The former Saturday Night Live writer/performer has had a few small movie roles over the years, but he’s now getting his first starring role in the off-kilter Friendship.

    Robinson plays Craig, a mild-mannered suburbanite with a wife, Tami (Kate Mara), and son, Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer). Craig has a boring life that involves little more than going to his middle manager job while wearing the same clothes day after day, anticipating the next Marvel movie, and helping Tami out with her at-home floral business.

    He gets a jolt of energy when Austin (Paul Rudd) moves into the neighborhood. The two men seem to hit it off, with Austin — a weatherman at a local TV channel — even taking Craig on a couple of impromptu adventures. But when Craig commits a couple of faux pas at a group gathering at Austin’s house, their bond starts to fracture.

    Even though the film is written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, it’s clear that Robinson had a big influence on the style of comedy it features. There are no big set pieces with a slew of jokes coming one after another. Instead, the film forces the audience to try to vibe with the very particular type of wavelength it’s giving off, one that could almost be called anti-comedy for the way the laughs come out of left field.

    The 100-minute film is full of random comedic moments, like Steven kissing Tami on the lips, Craig being obsessed with his plain brown clothes, a group sing-along, and more. More often than not, it’s the way Craig reacts to both normal and abnormal situations that gets the laughs. The character is needy and oblivious, two traits that combine to make many of his actions cringeworthy.

    Perhaps most importantly for this type of movie, many things in the story go unexplained or don’t make sense. Seemingly crucial elements are brought up only to fade away just as quickly, while other parts that appeared to be throwaway sections get callbacks later in the film. DeYoung and Robinson are determined to keep the audience on their toes the entire time, never knowing what to expect next.

    Robinson has the perfect face for a story like this, one that’s bland enough to blend into the background but memorable enough to sell the jokes. His demeanor is also excellent, never becoming too expressive, even when he gets angry. With long hair, a mustache, and a certain swagger, Rudd is a great complement to Robinson. Only in a film like this would an everyman like Rudd be considered the suave and cool one.

    There will be some that will see Friendship and come away wondering what the hell they just watched. But anyone who goes in knowing that they’re about to witness a comedy that challenges their sensibilities will likely have a great time.

    ---

    Friendship is now playing in select theaters.

    moviesfilm
    news/entertainment
    popular

    most read posts

    Massive, German-inspired beer garden coming to new Energy Corridor project

    Houstonians will get the royal treatment at this lively new steakhouse

    4 fresh new restaurants now open in suburban Houston

    Loading...