Patty Griffin still feels lucky to bring music and life to the Savannah Music Festival
In 1996, when Patty Griffin released “Living with Ghosts,” she debuted a sparsely produced ten-song collection that showcased the integrity of her songwriting through searing, dynamic vocals. Though it never charted, the trifecta of Griffin’s voice, writing and musicianship established her as meticulous artist with promising future.
Since that release, Griffin has regularly worked with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Shawn Colvin, Buddy Miller and Robert Plant. In a career spanning nearly 30 years, she’s been up for seven Grammys having won twice.
On Friday, April 7, Patty Griffin brings her acclaimed sound and performance to the Hostess City when she headlines with Savannah Music Festival at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. Joining her are longtime friends and collaborators multi-instrumentalist, David Pulkingham, and percussionist, Michael Longoria.
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Griffin, the youngest of seven in a Catholic family anchored in Old Town, Maine, came to music through hard work and hard knocks. After high school, she set out for Florida where she waited tables, collected stories and refined her musicianship nearly 10 years before venturing to Boston in 1994. There, she dug in as songwriter and musician.
“I realized this was the thing I was best at doing,” reflected Griffin. “Writing and singing I was most naturally good at and had other skills that made doing this a strong possibility. So, I committed to the work, and things unfolded in a way to make it possible. And luck, this took luck, too. There are so many brilliantly talented people working hard at this, and that talent stays in their community often for no other reason than luck.”
For Griffin, some of that good luck came in the form of the right A&M person hearing her music. After she moved to Boston, she started playing the city’s renowned coffee house circuit and recorded a demo. A representative at A&M Records liked her work and signed Griffin solely on the merit of those tracks. Two years later, after a back and forth with the label, the producer insisted on releasing the stripped down demo, just Griffin singing her original songs and playing guitar, as “Living with Ghosts.”
“Sweet Lorraine” is a standout from that debut about a woman making her break from an unkind family. It is emblematic of the sorts of tight, pricking insights Griffin has established a reputation for delivering from the depths and patching into her writing. The song concludes with these lines “In the battle of time, in the battle of will/ It’s only your hope and your heart that gets killed/ And it gets harder and harder, Lorraine, to believe in magic/ When what came before you is so very tragic.” She delivers it all with vocal intensity ranging from red-hot scorch to childlike, translucent whisper.
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Yet, in considering her process in writing this song, the tune’s origin remains a mystery.
“I don’t know where it came from, that song, it birthed itself,” reflected Griffin. “I wrote the bridge first, like a mumbo jumbo of phonetics, until it became clearer. I guess, drawing from the ether and being alive, knowing stories passed around that my parents and grandparents told. They all came together. 'Sweet Lorraine,' is like checking in with the ancestors to see what they have to say.”
Her next album “Flaming Red” embraced high production. The 1998 release rocked with big drums, crunchy electric guitars, and layers of multi-instrumentation. Reviews were mixed, but among her peers the work solidified Griffin as a writer’s writer, musician’s musician—versatile yet authentic, and definitely not a one trick pony.
Yet, like “Living with Ghosts,” its commercial success was lackluster, placing Griffin in a perilous position as the traditional recording industry began crumbling.
In 2000, she went into the studio to pen her third album, what many anticipated as her big breakout. But in the face of industry-wide restructuring, Interscope Records took over A&M and dismantled the label’s artist development and creative network in which Griffin was beginning to thrive. When she finished the album “Silver Bell,” the label dropped her but kept the recordings. It was a crushing blow.
“People ask me fairly often, ‘Patty, how do I make it in music?’” emphasized Griffin. “And I don’t know what that means, that question. People everywhere are so talented, and if your whole point with music is to raid to the top and make a lot of money, you should be a stockbroker. Nothing is guaranteed in this, and music is a lot of work that continues to be a lot of work no matter how high you climb. If you want to make it in music, you have to make music.”
As quickly as she could, she got back on the horse, found a producer in Nashville eager to work with her, buckled down and recorded another album from scratch “1000 Kisses.” Newly formed ATO Records, Dave Matthews’s independent imprint, picked up the release and signed Griffin to a four-album deal. When “1000 Kisses” came out in 2002, critics praised it, setting a positive tone for her six-year tenure with ATO.
After three more releases, the Americana Music Association named Griffin Artist of the Year in 2007.
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When her father died, Griffin’s music took another turn. The solace she found in the words and melodies of traditional gospel inspired her to reach out to Buddy Miller for help in producing a gospel album. Miller, a keen songwriter, musician and producer, knew immediately the best place for capturing the essence of the music, Nashville’s Downtown Presbyterian Church. Over the course of one week they recorded in the sanctuary, enlisting the talents of Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Jim Lauderdale, Mike Farris and Julie Miller.
“Downtown Church” earned Griffin her first Grammy for Best Traditional Gospel Album in 2010, an award she was very surprised to receive.
“I got a phone call from Kenny Weinstein that it had been awarded to me, and it felt like I snuck in through the back door,” recalled Griffin. “My point of doing that record was partially to reclaim the language of Christianity for myself. Religion, its language, has been commodified, abused really, and I struggled with that and its meaning in my spiritual life. But gospel music is the music I use to uplift myself. I wanted to connect with that and unite a bunch of different ideas. I am honored the music is recognized. But I feel like I didn’t deserve that award.”
When Griffin won her second Grammy, it came after a four-year recording hiatus and triumph over tough battle with breast cancer. She released “Patti Griffin” in March 2019 with a production quality conjuring “Living with Ghosts,” her vocals out front, shining with restrained arrangements and instrumentation. But as she went into production, Griffin lost her voice due to cancer treatment. She persisted.
“My manager said just make a record, just make a record, but I don’t have a voice," recalled Griffin. “My manager said, ‘just do it.’ We worked on that project a year. It was a big struggle to move forward without vocals, but we kept working knowing, hoping, I’d sing again. That was hard to make, but I am proud of that one, proud of the work on those songs.”
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These days, Griffin continues writing and performing while making fewer professional commitments to more fully embrace her life and the people within her close circle of friends.
“I don’t tour nearly as much as I used to, just over a hundred shows last year,” exhaled Griffin. “I’ve slowed down, changed the way I see touring. Music has a physical intensity to it that doesn’t lessen with time. It’s physical work that’s harder on my body now. But slowing down let’s me really enjoy the crowds and people in ways I didn’t before. I see longtime fans and new, young faces, and feel lucky I still get to do this. It’s been a really long time, I can’t remember the last time I was in Savannah, but I’m looking forward to spending time there, making music to keep on making it.”
IF YOU GO
What: Patty Griffin
Where: Lucas Theatre for the Arts, 32 Abercorn St.
When: Friday, April 7, 8:00 p.m.
Cost: Tickets start at $37
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Music Festival: Patty Griffin on 30-year career
