Sally Grayson

Sally Grayson

On October 1, the Matthäuskirche in Stuttgart-Heslach will become a resonant space for one evening. American musician Sally Grayson will take the stage alone, layering her voice, acoustic and electric guitars, and backing tracks. At this pre-release concert, she’ll perform the entire album *Lady Justice* half a year before its release, along with songs from her twenty-year career, including those from her time as Black Swift. Cinematic Americana, somewhere between Beth Gibbons and Nick Cave.

The title describes not a mood, but a movement. Grayson’s songs deal with loss and injustice as well as longing, empathy, and love—and with one’s own vulnerability as a prerequisite for connecting with other people and with the world around us. For her, a concert is not a lecture, but a space of give and take. Accompanying the performance is a lighting design by Hanno Braun. The Stuttgart-based lighting and media artist plays with light as if it were an instrument. His starting point is Grayson’s own collages, which he sets in motion. The production is designed for church interiors: the focus is less on a picture plane and more on spatial depth.

Sally Grayson has lived in Germany since 2004. “Lady Justice” was recorded at Mystery Train Studios in Stuttgart, produced by Markus Birkle, the guitarist for Die Fantastischen Vier’s live band. The evening marks the first public performance of a program that will go on tour in 2027.