Sally Potter: Second billed, but on top of her game

“This is pretty special,” Sally Potter said.

Potter’s “Summer’s Child” CD is being celebrated, along with Ruelaine Stokes’ poetry book, at the “Voices from the Heartland” event Saturday (March 26) and Sunday (March 27). The CD is Potter’s first solo recording.

Between 1989 and 2001, Potter made four CDs with the folk trio Second Opinion. In 2005, she recorded a CD with Pat Madden, a fellow Second Opinion member.

“Second Opinion always held local CD release shows,” Potter said.  “It’s different when the music is just you.”

Potter’s “Summer’s Child” has 12 of her favorite songs. Most feature her old-style, claw hammer banjo style.

“No picks,” Potter said. “It’s more melodic than bluegrass.”

Potter has a 1910 Vega Whyte Laydie banjo pot with a neck made by East Lansing’s Bart Reiter.

“The other is a Wildwood I found in a store in Minneapolis,” she said. “I’ll use them both in the shows, tuned differently. The open-back banjo is really a percussion instrument with a few strings. It’s easy to sing along with.”

Ten of “Summer’s Child” cuts are folk tunes that suit sing-alongs. Folk messengers like Pete Seeger, Earl Robinson and Woody Guthrie are included.

“These tried-and-true labor songs remind us that the fight for wages and safe working conditions are not new,” Potter said.

Two “Summer’s Child” songs were composed with Kerrin Hoban.

“I handed her a recording of a melody and she came up with the lyrics,” Potter said.

“I have melodies in my head all day long. I am not a lyricist.”

So why not collaborate with Stokes, who Potter says creates “spoken word magic”?

“I don’t have a good answer,” Potter said. “We work on countless projects together — like these two shows — but not music. I have played banjo behind her when she reads a poem, but we have never created a piece together.”

Dylan Rogers recorded Potter’s album in the summer of 2020.

“Recording this at the height if the pandemic was pretty wild,” Potter said. “I was on the stage at the Robin Theatre surrounded by curtains and wool blankets to block off street noise.”

Her singing on “Summer’s Child” is a cappella or accompanied by only one instrument.

“At the time, it was hard to get together with anyone,” Potter said.

Her voice is velvety and powerful — partly because Potter’s classes at Waverly High School were taught online from March to June 2020.

“Because I wasn’t in class all day, every day, I think my voice was stronger,” she said.

Potter is also known for booking Ten Pound Fiddle concerts.

“It’s a little strange,” she said.  “I’m usually on the other side.”

On promotional materials for “Voices from the Heartland,” Stokes appears first on the bill —though get equal billing in real life: They are married.

“Ruelaine wrote an entire book of stunning poetry,” Potter said.  “I walked over to the Robin Theatre, recorded 12 songs and put together a 24-page CD booklet. That’s it. She gets top billing.”

Voices from the Heartland

University United Methodist Church

1120 S. Harrison  Rd. , East Lansing

7:30 p.m. March 26 & 3 p.m. March 27

Tickets start at $10, Masks, vaccination cards and ID required