Nanci Griffith

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Nanci Griffith

Nanci Caroline Griffith, (born July 6, 1953 in Seguin, Texas

Seguin, Texas

Seguin is a city in Guadalupe County, Texas, Texas, in the United States. It is part of the San Antonio, Texas San Antonio metropolitan area. As of the United States Census, 2000, the city population was 22,011....
) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
singer, guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may perform solo pieces or play with ensembles and bands of a wide variety of genres....
and songwriter

Songwriter

File:Beethoven.jpgA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer....
from Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County, Texas. Situated in Central Texas and part of the Southwestern United States, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States....
.

Griffith's career has spanned a variety of musical genre

Genre

A genre is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition; the term is often used to categorize literature and speech, but is also used for any other Art#Art forms or utterance....
s, predominantly country

Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
, Folk

Folk music

Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including:* Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous with the term "Traditional music", also often including World Music and Roots music; the term "Traditional music" was given its more specific meaning to distinguish it from the other definition...
, and what she terms "folkabilly." Griffith won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album

The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was first awarded in 1987. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording....
in 1994 for her recording, Other Voices, Other Rooms
Other Voices, Other Rooms (album)

Other Voices, Other Rooms, Nanci Griffith's tenth album, released in 1993. It is unusual in the singer-songwriter's catalog in that none of its songs was written by Griffith....
. This album features Griffith covering the songs of artists who are her major influences. One of her better-known songs is "From a Distance

From a Distance

The song "From a Distance" was written in 1985 by United States singer-songwriter Julie Gold. Gold was working as a secretary at the time for HBO and writing songs in her free time....
" by Julie Gold, although Bette Midler

Bette Midler

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Nanci Caroline Griffith, (born July 6, 1953 in Seguin, Texas

Seguin, Texas

United States

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may perform solo pieces or play with ensembles and bands of a wide variety of genres....
and songwriter

Songwriter

Austin, Texas

Genre

Country music

Folk music

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album

From a Distance

Bette Midler

Bette Midler is an American singing, actress and comedienne, also known as The Divine Miss M. During her career, she has won four Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a Tony Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards....
's version achieved greater commercial success. Similarly, other artists have occasionally achieved greater success with Griffith's songs than Griffith herself. For example, Kathy Mattea

Kathy Mattea

Kathleen Alice Mattea is an American female country music and Bluegrass music performer who often brings Celtic music sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a singer, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts....
had a country music top five hit with a 1986 cover of Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime," and Suzy Bogguss

Suzy Bogguss

Suzy Bogguss is an United States country music singer. In the 1980s and 90s she released one platinum and three gold albums and charted six top ten singles, winning the Academy of Country Music's award for Top New Female Vocalist and the Country Music Association's Horizon Award....
had one of her largest hits with Griffith's and Tom Russell's "Outbound Plane."

Griffith was married to singer-songwriter Eric Taylor

Eric Taylor (musician)

Eric Taylor is an United States singer-songwriter from Texas. He is known for his highly literate songs which often take the form of short stories....
from 1976 to 1982. In the early 1990s, she was engaged to singer-songwriter Tom Kimmel

Tom Kimmel

Tom Kimmel , is an United States singer-songwriter and poet.Tom Kimmel grew up largely in small towns in south Alabama. He attended public schools and graduated from the University of Alabama in 1975....
, but the couple parted before marrying. Griffith is a survivor of breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in the Cell of the breast in women and men. Worldwide, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer after lung cancer and the fifth most common cause of cancer death....
which was diagnosed in 1996, and thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer refers to any of four kinds of cancer tumors of the thyroid gland: papillary thyroid cancer, follicular thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer or anaplastic thyroid cancer....
in 1998.

Griffith has in recent years toured with various other artists including Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holley, known professionally as Buddy Holly was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his The Day the Music Died, Holly is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll." His works and...
's band, The Crickets

The Crickets

The Crickets were a rock & roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer/songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s.Their first hit record was "That'll Be the Day," released in 1957....
, John Prine

John Prine

John Prine is an United States country music/folk music singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s....
, Iris DeMent

Iris DeMent

Iris DeMent is an United States singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style encompasses the genres Country music and folk music....
, Suzy Bogguss

Suzy Bogguss

Judy Collins

Judith Marjorie Collins is an United States folk singer and pop standards singer and songwriter, known for the stunning purity of her soprano; for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism....
. Griffith has recorded duets with many artists, among them Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris is an United States Country music singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other highly successful, well-known artists....
, Mary Black

Mary Black

Mary Black is an Ireland singer. She is well-known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....
, John Prine

John Prine

John Prine is an United States country music/folk music singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s....
, Don McLean

Don McLean

Don McLean is an United States singer-songwriter. He is most famous for his 1971 album American Pie , containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent "....
, Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett

James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer, songwriter, author, businessman, and recently a movie producer best known for his "island escapism" lifestyle and music including hits such as "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday." He has a devoted base of Fan known as "Parrotheads." His band is called the Coral Reefer Band....
, Dolores Keane

Dolores Keane

Dolores Keane is an Irish folk music singer. She was a founding member of the successful group De Dannan, and has since embarked on a very successful solo career, establishing herself as one of the most loved interpreters of Irish music....
, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an United States country music singer-songwriter author, poet and actor. He reached his greatest fame during the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, but remains Cultural icon, especially in American popular culture....
, Adam Duritz

Adam Duritz

Adam Fredric Duritz is an United States musician and record producer. He is the lead singer and founding member of the rock band Counting Crows....
(singer of Counting Crows

Counting Crows

Counting Crows is a rock band originating from Berkeley, California. The group gained popularity in 1994 following the release of its debut album August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr._Jones_"....
), and Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker is an American muscian. He is known mainly for his role as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock music band Hootie & the Blowfish, of which he has been a member since the band's inception in 1986....
(singer of Hootie & the Blowfish

Hootie & the Blowfish

Hootie & the Blowfish is an American Rock music band that enjoyed widespread popularity in the second half of the 1990s. It was originally formed in 1986 at the University of South Carolina by Darius Rucker, Dean Felber, Jim Sonefeld, and Mark Bryan....
). She has also contributed background vocals on many other recordings.

Band (The Blue Moon Orchestra)

Current members

Nanci Griffith — lead vocals
Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
, guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
James Hooker
James Hooker

James Hooker was an American lawyer and politician from New York....
— keyboards
Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organ s as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic musical instrument....
, vocals
Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
Pat McInerney — percussion
Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration....
, vocals
Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
Thomm Jutz — guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
, vocals
Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....

Previous band members

Clive Gregson
Clive Gregson

Clive Gregson is an English singer songwriter.His career spans 29 years and 17 albums of original material, plus collaborations and preductions....
— guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
, vocals
Ron De La Vega — bass
Double bass

The double bass or contrabass is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow string instrument used in the modern orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the orchestra and smaller string musical ensembles in European classical music....
, cello
Cello

The violoncello is a bowed string instrument. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra....
Pete Kennedy — guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
Maura Kennedy — vocals
Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
Iris DeMent
Iris DeMent

Iris DeMent is an United States singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style encompasses the genres Country music and folk music....
— vocals
Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
Fran Breen — drums
Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbell s, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer....
Philip Donnelly — guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
Le Ann Etheridge — bass guitar
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
, vocals, mandolin
Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It is descended from the Mandora, a soprano member of the lute family. It has a body with a teardrop-shaped soundboard, or one which is essentially oval in shape, with a soundhole, or soundholes, of varying shapes which are open and are not decorated with an intricately carved grille lik...
Lee Satterfield — vocals, guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
, mandolin
Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It is descended from the Mandora, a soprano member of the lute family. It has a body with a teardrop-shaped soundboard, or one which is essentially oval in shape, with a soundhole, or soundholes, of varying shapes which are open and are not decorated with an intricately carved grille lik...
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett

Lyle Pearce Lovett is an United States singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the #10 chart hit on the U.S....
— backing vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Chart Positions				Label
Year	Album	US Country	US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling Albums and extended play in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine....	US Internet	UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website ; the full Top 200 is published exclusively in ChartsPlus....	Label
1978	There's a Light Beyond These Woods There's a Light Beyond These Woods *There's a Light Beyond These Woods* is singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's debut album. It was recorded live to two-track over four days, December 9 to 11, 1977 and January 3, 1978 in Austin, Texas....					Philo
1982	Poet in My Window Poet in My Window *Poet in My Window* is singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's second album. Griffith has not turned the corner yet into a more country music direction, as she would on her next two albums....
1984	Once in a Very Blue Moon Once in a Very Blue Moon *Once in a Very Blue Moon* is singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's third album. The sounds have become a little more country music and a little less folk music than her previous albums....
1986	The Last of the True Believers The Last of the True Believers *Last of the True Believers* is singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's fourth album, and her last with the folk music-oriented Philo Records. The acclaim accorded her from her previous Once in a Very Blue Moon and the current album would gain her a contract with a major recording company after this album....
1987	Lone Star State of Mind Lone Star State of Mind *Lone Star State of Mind* is Nanci Griffith's fifth album, and her first with a major recording label. Griffith's music had seen a turn from her original folk music base into more commercially viable country music in her previous two albums....	23				MCA
1988	Little Love Affairs Little Love Affairs *Little Love Affairs* is Nanci Griffith's sixth album, and it had similar success to her preceding Lone Star State of Mind on the Billboard charts....	27
1988	One Fair Summer Evening One Fair Summer Evening *One Fair Summer Evening* is Nanci Griffith's seventh album, and her first one recorded in a live setting. It was recorded on August 19 and August 20, 1988 at Anderson Fair, a Houston, Texas club long known for featuring folk artists in an intimate setting....	43
1989	Storms Storms (album) *Storms* is singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's eighth album. In it she heads in a third musical direction, that of popular music. Griffith, whose background is primarily folk music, turned toward country music in her preceding four or five albums, and here, again, ventures into a little different style....	42	99		38
1991	Late Night Grande Hotel Late Night Grande Hotel Late Night Grande Hotel was released in September 1991 on Music Corporation of America, and was produced by Peter Van Hooke and Rod Argent , with a slightly more pop-orientated sound than previous albums....		185		40
1993	Other Voices, Other Rooms Other Voices, Other Rooms (album) *Other Voices, Other Rooms*, Nanci Griffith's tenth album, released in 1993. It is unusual in the singer-songwriter's catalog in that none of its songs was written by Griffith....		54		18	Elektra
1994	Flyer Flyer (Nanci Griffith album) Released on September 13th 1994, *Flyer* is a 15-track studio album of original material. It was nominated for Best Contemporary Folk Album in the 37th Annual Grammy Awards ....		48		20
1997	Blue Roses from the Moons Blue Roses from the Moons Released in March 1997, Blue Roses from the Moons was Nanci Griffith's first studio album since 1994's Flyer. The album was recorded from live takes in the studio, with her band The Blue Moon Orchestra and Jerry Allison, Sonny Curtis, and Joe B....		119
1998	Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) Other Voices, Too is a 1998 album by Nanci Griffith. Following on from the Grammy Award winning album Other Voices, Other Rooms , 'Other Voices, Too ' is a second album of cover songs penned by a wide variety of singer/songwriters....		85
1999	The Dust Bowl Symphony The Dust Bowl Symphony *The Dust Bowl Symphony* was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with the London Symphony Orchestra, and released in 1999, presenting mostly Griffith's own songs with an orchestral accompaniment....
2001	Clock Without Hands Clock Without Hands Released in July 2001, Clock Without Hands was named after Carson McCullers' final novel , and is a particularly personal collection of songs, including "Last Song For Mother" , a moving tribute to her late mother....		149	11
2002	Winter Marquee Winter Marquee *Winter Marquee* is a live album by folk singer Nanci Griffith. Recorded live during the Clock Without Hands tour in spring 2002, this album grew from the original wish to capture just one live song into a 14 track live CD album, Griffith's first live recording since One Fair Summer Evening ....	45				Rounder
2004	Hearts in Mind Hearts in Mind Hearts In Mind is an album by country singer Nanci Griffith, which was released in Ireland and the United Kingdom on October 11th 2004. It was later released in the USA on February 1st 2005 featuring the bonus track "Our Very Own".....					New Door
2006	Ruby's Torch Ruby's Torch Released on Nov 14th 2006 on Rounder Records , Ruby's Torch is a collection of torch songs penned by various artists including Tom Waits , Jimmy Webb and Donal MacDonagh Long, complimented throughout with lush backing arrangements from a string orchestra....					Rounder

Compilation albums

Year	Album	UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website ; the full Top 200 is published exclusively in ChartsPlus....	Label
1993	The MCA Years: A Retrospective The MCA Years: A Retrospective *The MCA Years: A Retrospective* was released on MCA Records in 1993, and contains songs from Nanci Griffith five MCA albums recorded between 1987 and 1991 - Lone Star State of Mind , Little Love Affairs , One Fair Summer Evening , Storms and Late Night Grande Hotel ....		MCA
1993	The Best of Nanci Griffith The Best of Nanci Griffith The Best of Nanci Griffith is a UK album release, which is very similar to The MCA Years: A Retrospective but with several different tracks....	27
1997	Country Gold Country Gold Released on March 11th 1997, *Country Gold* is a 10 track compilation CD featuring songs taken from the Nanci Griffith MCA albums Lone Star State of Mind, Little Love Affairs, One Fair Summer Evening and Storms ....
2000	Wings to Fly and a Place To Be: An Introduction to Nanci Griffith
2001	20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Nanci Griffith 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Nanci Griffith Released in 2001 , 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best Of Nanci Griffith is a compilation of songs drawn from albums released on Music Corporation of America during the years 1987 and 1991....
2002	From a Distance: The Very Best of Nanci Griffith From a Distance: The Very Best of Nanci Griffith *From A Distance: The Very Best Of Nanci Griffith* is a compilation album that draws from the four studio albums, and one live album that Nanci Griffith recorded on the Music Corporation of America label between the years 1987 and 1991....
2003	The Complete MCA Studio Recordings The Complete MCA Studio Recordings The Complete MCA Studio Recordings is a compilation album spanning the five year period, from 1987 to 1991, that Nanci Griffith spent with MCA Records....

Singles

Year	Single	US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales....	Album
1986	"Once in a Very Blue Moon"	85	Once in a Very Blue Moon
1987	"Lone Star State of Mind"	36	Lone Star State of Mind
	"Trouble in the Fields"	57
	"Cold Hearts/Closed Minds"	64
1988	"Never Mind"	58	Little Love Affairs
	"I Knew Love"	37
	"Anyone Can Be Somebody's Fool"	64
1989	"It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go"		Storms
1991	"Late Night Grande Hotel"		Late Night Grande Hotel
1994	"This Heart"		Flyer
1997	"Gulf Coast Highway"		Blue Roses from the Moons
1999	"These Days in an Open Book"		The Dust Bowl Symphony

Awards

Griffith won the 1994 Grammy Award

Grammy Award

The Grammy Awards ?or Grammys?are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry....
for Best Contemporary Folk Album

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album

The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was first awarded in 1987. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording....
for Other Voices, Other Rooms
Other Voices, Other Rooms (album)

Other Voices, Other Rooms, Nanci Griffith's tenth album, released in 1993. It is unusual in the singer-songwriter's catalog in that none of its songs was written by Griffith....
.

Videography

Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration

The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration is a live double-album release in recognition of Bob Dylan's 30 years as a recording artist. Recorded in October, 1992 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it captures most of a show full of celebrities, new and veteran, performing classic Dylan songs, before ending with a few performances f...
Sony VHS
VHS

The Video Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, is a recording and playing standard developed by JVC and launched in Europe and Asia in September 1976, and the United States in June 1977....
(1993)
Winter Marquee Rounder/Universal DVD
DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
, Widescreen, (2002)
One Fair Summer Evening...Plus! Universal Music & VI DVD
DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
, Fullscreen, (2005)

Nanci Griffith

Band (The Blue Moon Orchestra)

Current members

Previous band members

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Awards

Videography

See also

External links