Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE -- Known for writing hits for Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood and George Strait, Gretchen Peters, a Grammy nominated singer-songwriter, visits Lawrenceville for the Bowman House Concert Series Saturday night at 8 p.m.

She is back on the road promoting her latest album "Hello Cruel World," which was written after 2010, a year of ups and downs in her life: her hometown, Nashville suffered from a devastating flood, her friend of 30 years committed suicide, the Gulf of Mexico was ravaged by the oil spill, she got married and her son disclosed he was transgender.

"It was a huge life change and journey," Peters said. "It was certainly a huge emotional adjustment. I felt like when that year was over, "'Wow, what just happened? How can I not write about all of this in some sort of fashion? It's like an elephant in the room.'

During the concert, Peters plans to perform the entire album in order from start to finish, then end the set with her popular tunes.

"This album just seemed to take you on a journey," she said. "The audiences really seem to respond to it played in order. We'll play the whole album, then play some of the things the people love to hear at the end of the set. It makes for a nice evening."

When the audience walks away after the show, Peters hopes to send them home with a message: a hero can be anyone.

"Well, I think that maybe the main thing that seems to emerge is this idea that resilience and survival is its own sorts of heroism," she said. "Sometimes I am the character in the songs, but not all of them. Either way, the idea that heroism doesn't need to be flashy -- just being there and staying with their life can be heroic."

The Bowman House is located at 323 Wilcrest Drive in Lawrenceville. For more information about the show, call 770-979-1314.