Cannon’s painting, Shelter, is a bit startling.  The viewer is immediately met by two sets of large and expressionless dark eyes.  Nutcracker-like rosy cheeks angle down into large red lips and a pointy chin.  The man and woman share a subtle but piercing glance through a blanket of rain as they stand beneath a shared umbrella.  There is something in the look of their eyes that is at once intangible and present, passing and warm.  And perhaps the painting’s peculiarity made it the perfect fit for Pierce Pettis’s latest collection of “rootsy” and “lyric-driven” songs titled That Kind of Love. 

Pettis and Cannon are great admirers of each others’ work.  In fact, the two hooked up for Mr. Pettis’s 2004 album, Great Big World.  Pettis describes Cannon’s artwork as a fit for his music.  And Cannon explains that “The simplicity of Pierce’s music and his voice have always resonated with me.” 

And their ongoing collaboration is the result of an unlikely crossing of paths.  Cannon was on a trip delivering art to New Morning Gallery in Asheville, NC.  Passing through Knoxville, the public radio station aired one of Pettis’s tracks.  “It stopped me cold in my tracks,” Cannon explained.  They met a short time after.

As Pettis explains, “It was at Charles and Myrtle’s (a coffeehouse concert series that takes place in a house owned by the Unity Church).  I was performing that night and there was an exhibition of Terry’s works—which I was immediately taken with.  I was admiring the artwork and saying things like ‘wow, this is great,’ ‘who’s the artist?’… not realizing that Terry was standing right beside me.  So we got to be friends right off and he stayed for my concert, which he also liked.” 

So what attracted Pettis to Cannon’s art.  “I would say his childlike whimsy.  Not unlike the way I felt looking at Howard Finster’s work—but different.  Very original,” Pettis explains. 

Pierce Pettis
That Kind of Love
(Compass Records)

Four years in the making, That Kind of Love is Pierce Pettis’s 9th Album, which will be released in February at Loose Cannon.  The 12 tracks were produced by Garry West and include the contributions of guest artists Andrea Zonn (James Taylor’s band) and Resse Wynans (Stevie Ray Vaughn’s keyboardist) among many others.

So you should check it out, it’s good!