Gretchen Peters faces 'emotional' farewell tour of UK including date in Derbyshire

Gretchen’s show at Buxton Opera House on May 19 is one of only nine throughout the country.

Hinting at what the audience can expect during her last hurrah, Gretchen said: “It’s really important to me to let UK fans know just how much their support has meant to me. I literally don’t think I’d have a touring career without them. They were always there for me, steadily growing in numbers year by year, even when I wasn’t touring or doing much in the US. And around the time Hello Cruel World and Blackbirds came out, things really amped up and our UK audience seemed to grow by leaps and bounds. I want to have the chance to express my gratitude to them directly; to say thank you for decades of support and love. I expect it to be emotional, to say the least."

While set staples like “On A Bus To St. Cloud” and “Five Minutes” are highly likely to feature each night,Gretchen is hoping to devise a setlist that will cater to “everyone’s favourites”, including some older songs that she and her band may not have played in recent years.

The farewell tour comes more than a quarter of a century since Gretchen first set foot on UK stages.

Reflecting on some of the band’s most stand-out moments this side of the Atlantic, Gretchen’s husband and longstanding musical partner, Barry Walsh in particular remembers unforgettable April Fool’s Day surprises at Leicester’s The Musician venue in 2001 to partying with The Pixies in Shepherds Bush Empire in 2004; special guest appearances from Bryan Adams (who rode in on a motorcycle to their Maidstone gig) and enchanting accompaniments from Elizabeth McGovern (at the Southbank Centre in 2013).

Gretchen added: “I have so many visual memories of watching the UK fly by from the window of a tour van: fields of rapeseed in bloom, Durham in a fresh coat of snow, Stonehenge for the first, second, third, fourth times (still thrilling!), the stark, gorgeous mountains of Scotland, swans on the Thames in Reading, the pebbly beach at Brighton, the dizzying cliffs at Beachy Head. The impromptu fish & chips on the beach with the band after soundcheck in Bexhill-On-Sea.

"The birthdays we’ve celebrated while on the road. The crews at all the venues, some of whom are old friends by now. The fans lining up at the merch table to share their most personal and vulnerable stories because a song I sang had touched them deeply. The beloved and brilliant musicians we’ve shared the stage with: John Lester, Christine Bougie, Danny Thompson, Hags Haggerty, Ben Glover, and our current brothers-and-sisters-in-arms, Colm McClean, Conor McCreanor and Kim Richey. Our dear Rebecca Kemp, who has tour managed us through thick and thin for so many years. Through all of the times when we were bone-tired and homesick, these things and these people really sustained us. I will miss them all so much.”

Tickets from £27.50; go to www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk