Gretchen were an American female-fronted alternative rock band from Bristol, Tennessee, United States, featuring heavy guitar tones and emotional, ethereal melodies led by husband and wife team of Dave and Mia Richards.
Mia took on bassist duties after the Mouth Full of Nails album, due to the difficulty of keeping a regular bass player.
However, they excel with a style all their own by balancing heavy guitar tones and ethereal melodic melodies with radio-friendly song writing and catchy hooks.
Both of the first two singles "Fading" and "Passion" (from the CD In the Mean Time) were top 20 hits on Christian rock chart.
[3] Mia's Basses: Two ESP (not LTD) 4 String B2's (one black tuned DADG and one white tuned BEAD) Mia's Rig: SKB Rack, two Ampeg Pro 4x10 2000w cabs, Gallien-Krueger 1000w head, Korg strobe tuner, Bass Balls pedal, Boss Bass Distortion Pedal, Boss Chorus Pedal, Boss Tuner Pedal Dave's Guitars: Ibanez 7-String in purple, Dean 7-String in black, Gibson Studio LesPaul 6-String in black, PRS 6-String sunburst Dave's Rig: Mesa 18 Space Shock Rack, Mesa 90/90 Tube Amp (Grove Tubes), Mesa Triaxis Preamp (also Grove Tubes), Rocktron All-Access Pedalboard, two Ernie Ball volume pedals (used for midi controls with All-Access), Dunlop Cry-Baby Rack mounted WAH, Samson power conditioner with custom Gretchen logo, Korg strobe tuner, Rocktron rack mounted stereo mixer, Line 6 Echo Pro, Line 6 Filter Pro, Line 6 Mod Pro, Decimator Noice Gate, GCX Patch Switcher, DigiTech Midi Whammy Pedal, Boss Acoustic Simulator.