Striding 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 and even while she taught kindergarten 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 and later for her debut album, There's a Light Beyond These Woods (1978). Griffith's hectic touring schedule took her all over North America, playing festivals and TV shows in addition to the small clubs in which she had begun. Meanwhile, she recorded albums in 1982 (Poet in My Window) and 1985 (Once in a Very Blue Moon).
Finally, in 1986, Griffith got her big break after moving to Nashville. The title song from Once in a Very Blue Moon placed modestly on the country charts, she released the acclaimed Last of the True Believers on Philo (the label that later reissued her first three albums), and -- most importantly -- Mattea's cover of "Love at the Five & Dime" reached number three in the country charts. Though Last of the True Believers was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary Folk Recording -- perhaps because of the fact -- 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 -- but also gave Griffith her first country Top 40 hit, the title song. Two other singles from the album, "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 1988) were slight disappointments, though "I Knew Love" became Griffith's second country Top 40 hit.
Disappointed by lack of support from the country music scene, Griffith moved from Nashville to MCA's pop division in Los Angeles and paired with noted rock producer Glyn Johns for 1989's Storms. The album included guest stars Phil Everly, Albert Lee, and former Eagle Bernie Leadon and became her best-seller, though it featured no successful singles. A move from rock to pop -- helped by producers Rod Argent and Peter Van Hook -- characterized Late Night Grande Hotel (1991); it was clear by then 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; her 1993 LP Other Voices, Other Rooms was a tribute to her influences, and several of them -- including Emmylou Harris, Chet Atkins, and John Prine -- made appearances. A compilation release of her best 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.
What a treat when I turned on the tv today and your "Other Voices 2" concert was on Ovation television! I love exposing my children to the wonderful messages found in your song, through your voice. Thank you, Nanci.
hey you, whats up? cindy ended up getting that FREE Gucci Bag!!! yesterday. i can't believe they actually sent it. lol all she had to do was enter her email and take that 30 second survey. i just filled it out. go get yourself a FREE Gucci Bag too. either keep it or sell it haha. free money. anyways just wanted to hook you up, just click HERE. heres a picture of the one that she got for free.
I was experiencing a bumper crop of that Time of Inconvenience stuff today ... what a waste of life ... it was awesome when the library finally opened at 12:30 today ... rather like what the storming of the Bastille must've been like. The first eight people got the computers. The next eight got the comfy chairs. And the book I'd arrived for was filed in a totally inscrutable fashion that required a library person to find. What is going on?
Hey there friend ! I just dropped in to invite you to come by and check out my new digs. I've also posted 4 new songs. Let me know what you think. Have a great day !
Thanks for the add - it is a pleasure to meet you -
Please visit my book site http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-1791.html
"How NOT to Make it in the Pop World" ( Diary of an almost has-been)
( A bitter sweet / humorous diary of my quest for unlimited fame and fortune in the fickle world of pop )
JOHN is one of the journeymen of pop music. In a playing career that spans more than twenty years he has been lucky enough to have played recorded and toured with world name artists that include:
BOY GEORGE / CULTURE CLUB / THE FUN BOY THREE / IGGY POP / MUSICAL YOUTH / THE SWINGING LAURELS / JERRY DAMMERS / THE CLASH / RHODA DAKAR (THE SPECIALS) / CRAZYHEAD / THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH / BANANARAMA/ IST
Check out the new SWINGING LAURELS 80s instrumentals for free download on:
www.myspace.com/theswinginglaurels
For archive material visit; www.theswinginglaurels.co.uk
There are some new songs on my page, a sample of my album coming out in 2007. Please drop by for a listen if you feel like it. All the best for a happy Christmas and New Year. I love your work, thanks for what you share,
"This is one of those rare happenings, an album that warms the cockles from uplifting start to fantastic, celebratory end. I love this man; I love his music. Watch him grow and grow. Five stars? It should be fifteen." ***** Loudon Temple (Maverick, October 2006)
Just stoping by to say HI. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in day to day life we forget our friends. So I'm trying to let everyone of my friends know how much they mean to me. Thanks so much for for being my friend. Ed
Thank you for accepting my friend request. You wouldn't believe just how big an influence you and your songwriting are on me. I got to see you live with Tommy when you were in london and it was a real treat.
You are a superb musician, writer and lady!
How have you been? OMG....I just found the GREATEST software...it alerts you if someone you like on MySpace starts or stops dating or if people are commenting things about you or your friends on other profiles. You should definitely get it...I copied the link to download it:
WE here at American Odyssey have several of Nanci's albums on....ermmmmm vinyl, not that this says anything about our ages at all...anyway Massive thanks go out to Nanci for providing us with some wonderful tales, and yes we do remember THAT smell of Woolworths, there was one just up the street from where we lived in Birmingham, England, and Love At The Five and Dime evoked that memory, and it still does.
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