Nanci Griffith

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Born in 1954 in Seguin, TX; daughter of Marlin (a printer and publisher) and Ruelene (in real estate) Griffith. Education: Education major at University of Texas at Austin. Began playing bars in Austin, TX, at age 14; taught kindergarten and first grade in Austin school system briefly during mid-1970s; first recorded for small Texas-based label, B.F. Deal, 1977; recording artist, 1978–; began musical collaboration with band Blue Moon Orchestra on third album, Once in a Very Blue Moon, 1985; appeared on "Austin City Limits," 1985; moved to Nashville, signed by MCA; released Storms, 1989; Late Night Grande Hotel released, 1991; moved to Elektra Nonesuch Records, c. 1991; Other Voices, Other Rooms released, 1993; released Flyer, 1994; Blue Roses from the Moons released, 1997; live album Winter Marquee released, 2002. Awards: Grammy Award, Best Contemporary Folk Album, for Other Voices, Other Rooms, 1993. Addresses: Record company—Rounder Records, One Camp St. Cambridge, MA 02140, website: http://www.rounder.com. Booking—High Road Touring, 751 Bridgeway, 3rd Fl., Sausalito, CA 94965, website: http://www.highroadtouring.com. Management—Gold Mountain Entertainment; 2 Music Circle South, Ste. 212, Nashville, TN 37203. Website—Nanci Griffith Official Website: http://www.nancigriffith.com.

Singer, songwriter, guitarist

Nancy Griffith is a Texas singer-songwriter, the bulk of whose work is immediately identified with contemporary folk music. She has been recognized for her work as a songwriter as well as an interpreter of other songwriters's works. Throughout her career, Griffith has flirted with popularity; her fans seem to remain steadfast, regardless of critical opinion.

At a time when popular music is, as Detroit News music critic Susan Whitall observed, "bankrupt of inspiration," Griffith offers songs of love, stories of broken dreams, observations of people living lives that are neither heroic nor pathetic. "The people residing within the lines of her songs," Connoisseur reviewer Jared Lawrence Burden stated plainly, "are the salt of the American earth." According to Stephen Holden of the New York Times, Griffith "sings lyrics redolent of the American landscape."

Southern literature and folk music inform Griffith's vision of this landscape. Born in Seguin, Texas, in 1954, Griffith described her family as "basically really dysfunctional," to Texas Monthly. "I had very, very irresponsible parents." Her father was a a graphic artist and printer who sang barbershop quartet music. Her mother was a real estate agent who enjoyed jazz and tried her hand at acting. They divorced in 1960, soon after the family, (including two older siblings), had relocated to Austin.

Early Inspiration
Griffith grew up reading various writers and listening to jazz, folk, and country. When she was 8-years-old, Griffith says she learned to play guitar from an instructional program on public television. She says it was the fiction of Eudora Welty, the voice of folk singer Carolyn Hester, and the songs of country singer Loretta Lynn that imbued her with a passion for struggling human relationships, dreams, and a sense of place that she told Rolling Stone, instilled in her a desire to tell "incredibly vivid stories that hit their subjects right on the nail's head."

The combination of these influences has given rise to a unique Griffith style, which she terms "folkbilly," and which the New York Times defined as a "songwriting style steeped in the rich mixture of Southern literary tradition, folk music, and country."

In Sing Out!, singer/songwriter Tom Russell remembered his first encounter with Nanci Griffith at a folk festival in 1976. One evening around a campfire, with people spread out on a grassy hill into the darkness, guitars and wine being passed around, a gruff voice yelled from the darkness, "Let her play one." From the edge of the campfire light came a waif-like young girl. She began to play and sing in a voice Russell said possessed "a wild, fragile beauty." When she finished and the echo of the applause drifted away, the voice spoke again: "That was Nanci Griffith. She writes songs."

When she began performing in the 1970s, it was at a variety of Austin nights spots—the Hole in the Wall and Alamo Lounge among them. In that period, Griffith was primarily singing the songs of others while working on her craft. She also began touring the coffeehouse and college circuit and promoting herself. Her earliest recordings were the independently released There's A Light Beyond These Woods and Poet In My Window. Her break came in 1985, after appearing on the acclaimed television program Austin City Limits.

Also in 1985, Griffith moved to Nashville and soon was signed to a recording contract by MCA. Her first hit single was a version of Julie Gold's "From a Distance." It was the number one song in Ireland. Artists including Suzy Bogguss and Kathy Mattea discovered Griffith's music, which they would transform into hit songs. As Griffith continued in the music business, she chased success, opting to embrace a more pop sound with Storms and Late Night Grande Hotel.

Griffith changed labels in the early 1990s, moving to Elektra subsidary Nonesuch Records. Her first recording was 1993's Other Voices, Other Rooms, a collection of other people's songs that she had begun shortly after parting ways with MCA. She has said the inspiration for the project came while recording Late Night Grande Hotel. The songwriters whose work Griffith chose to perform on the project included many who informed her songwriting, including Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Woody Guthrie, Tom Paxton, and the late Kate Wolf.

"All of these songs have a real special place in my heart. They speak of something dear to me in my musical and personal growth," she told Billboard in a 1993 interview.

"Beauty and Dignity" in Her Songs
Griffith had a strong reputation for her songwriting. In Stereo Review Alanna Nash pointed out how Griffith crafts songs "focusing more on character development than outside events." Burden offered a panorama of the focus in her songs: "There is a black middle-class woman living in Houston, caught at a moment of pride and wonder about her marriage. There is a couple arguing at the airport about their lost love. In one of her strongest and best-known songs, 'Love at the Five and Dime,' two lovers' romance is rekindled by memories of the days when they were courting. The aim of these songs is not self-aggrandizement. In the best literary tradition, Griffith gives a voice to the inarticulate, the uninspired, the unheard." She told Paul Mather of Melody Maker, "I want to celebrate the South again. … There's a dignity and beauty there that's not often pointed out."

Her celebration of life is not confined only to songs. When Griffith is not on the road, she writes stories and novels. So far she has completed one manuscript, Two of a Kind Heart, about three generations of a Texas family, and is working on a second, Love Wore a Halo Before the War. There is no division between the focus of Griffith's songs and her prose. Often she turns a story into a song. "Love at the Five and Dime" was originally a short story while "Love Wore a Halo (Back Before the War)," which appears on Little Love Affairs, is drawn from the corresponding novel.

In concert, Griffith combines both mediums. She tells stories both through and between her songs. "Her stories," Mather said, "are sometimes ordinary, sometimes magical, invariably enchanting." He went on to add that "despite the often upbeat seduction, the lasting memory is of a beautiful sadness." A reviewer for Variety was left with the impression of "an unusual talent, a winsome, almost strangely pure-voiced singer whose style and sound bear little taint of commercialization or contrivance, marked instead by a quirky, honest individuality and soulfulness that connect in gentle, often bewitching ways."

Some critics, however, do indeed consider Griffith's individuality to be contrived. According to Nash, there are some who deem her material "overly sentimental and precious, as affected as the white cotton anklets she wears with the old-fashioned dresses she makes from prints bought on sale from Woolworth's."

Flyer Utilized New Voices
Perhaps her most popular recording to date, 1994's Flyer featured a mix of rock and folk. She enlisted Peter Buck (R.E.M), Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton (both of U2), The Indigo Girls and others.

"I had always felt like maybe I didn't have enough of an idea of who I was to write really personal songs, maybe because I was always on the road and never had a chance to sit back and get some perspective," she told Billboard of her writing on the album. "Now I think I've gained a greater perspective, and this is probably the most personal set of songs I've written."

Critics responded favorably to Flyer. "It's a record that blends the quintessential folk style of Griffith's … Other Voices, Other Rooms with the rock approach she explored on her last two albums for MCA," wrote Billboard 's Jon Cummings. "[I]t was as if working in the crucible of her influences had fired her muse," wrote Hall in Texas Monthly. "The record had some of her best writing in years … plus smart arrangements."

In 1996 and 1999, Griffith was diagnosed with cancer. First, with breast cancer, then thyroid cancer. And still, Griffith continued to be active as a touring and recording performer. She has also lent her celebrity to various charitable organizations including Campaign for a Landmine-Free World. Apart from these few insights, Griffith seems to be fiercely guarded about her personal life.

It would be several years before Griffith would record again. With such a long wait post-Flyer, expectations were high for Blue Roses from the Moons when it was released in 1997. It failed to connect with critics. Lyndon Stambler, writing in People said it "rarely reaches the heavens despite its fanciful title," and found Griffith's voice "lackluster and strained, disappearing at times behind the lush arrangements. In fact, no recording since the one-two punch of Other Voices and Flyer seems to have attracted positive attention from both critics and fans. She tried to recapture some of the magic of those with Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful), but it was deemed a poor imitation of the first covers collection. "[W]here the original was inspired, the sequel sounded, like its title, forced," Texas Monthly's Hall. "Griffith—usually such a sure singer—sounded lost. She bent words unnaturally, self-consciously hammering them as if the eccentricity of interpretation would help deliver the meaning."

Responded Vehemently to Reviews
In 1998, fed up with what she called "Years of Brutal Abusive Reviews," Griffith wrote a puzzling, vehement letter to writers and editors at several major Texas newspapers—including the Houston Chronicle and the Austin Chronicle, which printed the letter in full—taking them to task for years of slights and abuses, without divulging any specifics. As Texas Monthly's Michael Hall wrote, the letter was "less a reply to brutality and abuse than an excuse to rant." Even so, to those detractors she is seen as "a greeting-card folkie whose songs are full of sentimental caricatures and sweetness and light. Some go beyond her work and actually attack her personally. They see a faux naïf—an artist too sensitive for her own good, someone so thin-skinned that she mass-mails a hurt letter."

"Why is Griffith judged so much more harshly about her affectations than others? Why did [her] letter inspire such howls of delight? Because she peddles sincerity so baldly in a musical form that has always been sanctimonious about integrity. Because she's so successful at being someone she is not, which drives writers—who would love to be able to pull it off—crazy," he continued. "Why Griffith should care so deeply and bitterly what writers think about her work makes one question why she makes music in the first place. She is an artist, but not because some writer says so," he wrote. "For some reason she was blessed with a beautiful, clear voice that touches people deeply, that speaks to their longing, to what their hearts want but can't have—or sometimes even name."

Perhaps, there is a more logical explanation. As Time's Richard Corliss observed in writing about Blue Roses from the Moons in 1997, "Consumers of pop have become so used to dirges about life's rottenness, sung by grungesters crushed under the weight of money, fame, drugs and women, that any happy music seems like ad jingles." Griffith, then, by comparison is "doomed to good humor" and "the aural equivalent of a good mood."

In 2002, an undaunted Griffith released another live album. With Winter Marquee, she reportedly strove not to repeat what she'd done on previous live recording including One Fair Summer Evening. She reportedly wanted it to be "a slice of a musical life in progress."



The album included covers of Phil Ochs' "What's That I Hear" and Van Zandt's "White Freight Liner Blues" as well as originals such as "Gulf Coast Highway" and "I'm Not Drivin' These Wheels (Bring the Prose to the Wheel)."

Despite the criticism, "Nanci Griffith gives us dreams," wrote Mather. "There's no urge here to reinvent, to introduce a new pop vocabulary, simply a pure joy in her own ability to make music that touches all those places that make you sigh and stuff." In the end, perhaps all that matters is Griffith's ability to step into the light and touch her audience.

Selected discography
There's a Light Beyond These Woods, Philo/Rounder, 1978.
Poet in My Window, Philo/Rounder, 1982.
Once in a Very Blue Moon, Philo/Rounder, 1985.
Last of the True Believers, Philo/Rounder, 1986.
Lone Star State of Mind, MCA, 1987.
Little Love Affairs, MCA, 1988.
One Fair Summer Evening, MCA, 1988.
Storms, MCA, 1989.
Late Night Grande Hotel, MCA, 1991.
The MCA Years: A Retrospective [compilation], MCA, 1993.
Other Voices, Other Rooms, Elektra, 1993.
Flyer, MCA, 1994.
Blue Roses from the Moons, Elektra, 1997.
Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful), Elektra, 1998.
The Dust Bowl Symphony, Elektra, 1999.
Clock Without Hands, Elektra, 2001.
From a Distance: The Very Best of Nanci Griffith (compilation), MCA, 2002.
Winter Marquee (live), Rounder, 2002.
The Complete MCA Studio Recordings (compilation), MCA, 2003.

Sources
Periodicals
Billboard, March 13, 1993; August 6, 1994; June 20, 1998; January 15, 2000.
Connoisseur, February 1989.
Detroit News, November 12, 1989.
Guitar Player, June 1993.
High Fidelity, June 1988.
Interview, August 2001.
Melody Maker, March 19, 1988; April 23, 1988; April 30, 1988.
New York Times, February 10, 1988; April 3, 1988; September 17, 1989.
People, March 7, 1987; March 7, 1988; September 11, 1989; June 2, 1997.
Rolling Stone, May 7, 1987; March 24, 1988.
Sing Out!, Fall 1986.
Stereo Review, May 1988; June 1988; March 1989.
Texas Monthly, January 1999.
Time, July 25, 1988; May 5, 1997; December 7, 1998.
Variety, March 23, 1988.
Wall Street Journal, April 14, 1987.

Online
"Nanci Griffith," All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (June 5, 2004).
Nanci Griffith Official Website, http://www.nancigriffith.com (June 5, 2004).

• Genres: Country

Biography

Straddling the fine line between folk and country music, Nanci Griffith has become as well-known for her brilliant, confessional songwriting as her beautiful voice. A self-styled "folkabilly" singer, Griffith began as a kindergarten teacher and occasional folksinger. The country scene took her to heart in the mid-'80s, giving her a reputation as a quality songwriter through hit covers of Griffith's songs by Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss. Finding no luck with commercial country radio however, Griffith recorded several pop-oriented albums and then returned to her folk roots by the mid-'90s.

Griffith was the daughter of musical parents, and she spent her childhood involved with theater and literature as well as music. She began playing clubs around Austin at the tender age of 14 and continued to perform during her college years at the University of Texas, as well as during her stint as a kindergarten teacher in the mid-'70s. Griffith finally decided to make music her full-time ambition in 1977. Her songwriting won an award at the Kerrville Folk Festival, prompting the local label BF Deal to record Griffith for a compilation; they also issued her debut album, There's a Light Beyond These Woods (1978). Griffith's hectic touring schedule took her all over North America, where she played festivals and TV shows in addition to the small clubs that had launched her career. Meanwhile, she recorded albums in 1982 (Poet in My Window) and 1985 (Once in a Very Blue Moon).

In 1986, Griffith finally got her big break after moving to Nashville, and a flurry of activity followed. The title song from Once in a Very Blue Moon fared modestly on the country charts, Last of the True Believers was released on the Philo label (which later reissued her first three albums as well) to noticeable acclaim, and -- most importantly -- Mattea's cover of "Love at the Five & Dime" reached number three on the country charts. Though Last of the True Believers was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Contemporary Folk Recording, commercial country radio still found it difficult to accept Griffith.

Griffith signed with MCA and released her major-label debut, Lone Star State of Mind, in 1987. With it, she popularized the Julie Gold song "From a Distance" -- later covered by Bette Midler -- and scored her first country Top 40 hit with the album's title track. Two additional singles, "Trouble in the Fields" and "Cold Hearts/Closed Minds," also grazed the country charts. Little Love Affairs and the live album One Fair Summer Evening (both released in 1988) were slight disappointments, though "I Knew Love" became Griffith's second country Top 40 hit.

Disappointed by a lack of support from the country music scene, Griffith moved from Nashville to MCA's "pop" division in Los Angeles, where she partnered with noted rock producer Glyn Johns for 1989's Storms. The album included guest stars Phil Everly, Albert Lee, and former Eagle Bernie Leadon. Moreover, it became her best-selling work to date, though it featured no successful singles. A move from rock music to pop characterized 1991's Late Night Grande Hotel, whose transitional sound was aided by producers Rod Argent and Peter Van Hook. By this point, it had become clear that Griffith's move away from Nashville was also compromising her folk and country roots.

A move to Elektra in 1992 marked a return to form for Griffith, whose 1993 LP Other Voices, Other Rooms was a tribute to her influences (several of whom -- including Emmylou Harris, Chet Atkins, and John Prine -- made appearances). A compilation of her best work from the MCA years also appeared in 1993. The following year, Griffith's tenth studio album, Flyer, continued her dedication to folk. In March of 1997, Griffith released Blue Roses from the Moons; Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) followed a year later, trailed in 1999 by Dust Bowl Symphony.

Griffith traveled the world over the next few years, flying to Cambodia and Vietnam in 2000 in order to retrace the steps of her ex-husband, Vietnam War vet Eric Taylor, and visited Angola and Kosovo the following year. After four years of travel and activist work for organizations like the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Griffith released a new full-length, Clock Without Hands. A live album, Winter Marquee, followed in 2002, along with a dual-disc retrospective piece, The Complete MCA Studio Recordings. The following year was a landmark for Griffith, as she performed at the Grand Ole Opry for the very first time in 2003. With thoughts of war weighing heavy on her mind, however, she returned to the recording studio shortly thereafter to create Hearts in Mind, which was released the following year. Ruby's Torch, a collection of sentimental torch songs penned by the likes of Tom Waits, arrived in 2006. While only two of Griffith's own songs appeared on the album, she wrote the bulk of the material for her follow-up effort, 2009's The Loving Kind. Griffith cut 2012's Intersection at her home studio in Nashville. ~ John Bush, Rovi

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