Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program '' Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award for the album '' Other Voices, Other Rooms.'' Griffith toured with various other artists, including

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

's band, the Crickets; John Prine; Iris DeMent;

Suzy Bogguss Susan Kay Bogguss (born December 30, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She began her career in the 1980s as a solo singer. In the 1990s, six of her songs were Top 10 hits, three albums were certified gold, and one album re ...

;

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

and The Everly Brothers. Griffith recorded duets with many artists, among them

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

Mary Black Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland. Background Mary Black was born into a m ...

, John Prine, Don McLean,

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

Dolores Keane Dolores Keane (born 26 September 1953) is an Irish folk singer and occasional actress. She was a founding member of the group De Dannan and has since embarked on a solo career. Background Keane was born in a small village called Sylane (near ...

, Willie Nelson, Adam Duritz (singer of Counting Crows), the Chieftains,

John Stewart John Stewart may refer to: Business * John Aikman Stewart (1822–1926), American banker * John Killough Stewart (1867–1938), businessman and philanthropist in Queensland, Australia * John K. Stewart (1870–1916), American entrepreneur and inve ...

; and Darius Rucker (lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish). Griffith had a backing band which she referred to as the Blue Moon Orchestra.

Early life and career

Nanci Griffith, the youngest of three siblings, was born in Seguin, Texas, but raised in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, the place her family moved to shortly after her birth. Nanci Griffith Was More Loved Than She Knew
texasmonthly.com, August 16, 2021 Nanci's mother Ruelene was a real estate agent and amateur actress, her father, Marlin Griffith, was a graphic artist and barbershop quartet singer.Nanci Griffith’s death: Grammy-winning singer dies at 68
globemediawire.com, Aug 14, 2021 Nanci Griffith began her career as a singer performing in a local coffeehouse, aged 12. Her father took her to see Townes Van Zandt as a teenager. At the age of 14, she did her first professional gig at the Red Lion Cabaret in downtown Austin. Nanci's debut album, ''There’s a Light Beyond These Woods'', was released in 1978, with a cover designed by her father. Her career spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country, folk, and what she termed "folkabilly." Griffith won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1994 for her 1993 recording, '' Other Voices, Other Rooms.'' This album features Griffith covering the songs of artists who were her major influences. One of her better-known songs is "

From a Distance "From a Distance" is a song written in 1985 by American singer-songwriter Julie Gold. Gold was working as a secretary at the time for HBO and writing songs in her free time. Gold's friend, Christine Lavin, introduced the song to Nanci Griffith, ...

," which was written and composed by

Julie Gold Julie Gold (born February 3, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her musical composition "From a Distance," which became a hit for Bette Midler and won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1991. "From a Distance" ha ...

, although

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

's version achieved greater commercial success. Similarly, other artists have occasionally achieved greater success than Griffith herself with songs that she wrote or co-wrote. For example, Kathy Mattea had a country music top five hit with a 1986 cover of Griffith's "

Love at the Five and Dime "Love at the Five and Dime" is a song written and originally recorded by Nanci Griffith and later recorded and released by American country music artist Kathy Mattea. It was released in April 1986 as the first single from Mattea's album ''Walk th ...

" and

had one of her largest hits with Griffith's and

Tom Russell Thomas George Russell (born 1947/1948) is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Americana music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, rock, and the cowboy music of the American West. Many ...

's "

Outbound Plane "Outbound Plane" is a song written by American country music artists Nanci Griffith and Tom Russell. It was released on Griffith's 1988 album ''Little Love Affairs''. Suzy Bogguss covered the song as the opening track and the second single from he ...

". In 1994, Griffith teamed up with Jimmy Webb to contribute the song "If These Old Walls Could Speak" to the

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

benefit album ''

Red Hot + Country ''Red Hot + Country'' (or ''RH+C'') was the follow-up to ''No Alternative'' in the Red Hot Series of compilation albums, a series produced to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV as well as other related health and social issues. This com ...

'' produced by the

Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...

. Griffith was a survivor of breast cancer which was diagnosed in 1996, and thyroid cancer in 1998. Singer-songwriter

Christine Lavin Christine Lavin (born January 2, 1952) is a New York City-based singer-songwriter and promoter of contemporary folk music. She has recorded numerous solo albums, and has also recorded with other female folk artists under the name Four Bitchin ...

remembers the first time she saw Griffith perform:

I was struck by how perfect everything was about her singing, her playing, her talking. I realized from the get-go that this was someone who was a complete professional. Obviously she had worked a long time to get to be that good.

Griffith toured with various other artists, including Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets; John Prine; Iris DeMent; Suzy Bogguss; and Judy Collins. Griffith recorded duets with many artists, among them Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, John Prine, Don McLean, Jimmy Buffett, Dolores Keane, Willie Nelson, Adam Duritz (singer of Counting Crows), the Chieftains, musician John Stewart; and Darius Rucker (lead singer of ''Hootie & the Blowfish''). She also contributed background vocals on many other recordings. Nanci Griffith Cambridge Festival 2007 (966579201)

Nanci Griffith Cambridge Festival 2007 (966579201)

Griffith suffered from severe writer's block after 2004, lasting until the 2009 release of her '' The Loving Kind'' album, which contained nine selections that she had written and composed either entirely by herself or as collaborations. After several months of limited touring in 2011, Griffith's bandmates the Kennedys ( Pete & Maura Kennedy) packed up their professional Manhattan recording studio and relocated it to Nashville, where they installed it in Griffith's home. At this location, with her backing group, including Pete & Maura Kennedy and Pat McInerney, she co-produced her album ''

Intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

'' over the course of the summer. The album included several new original songs and was released in April 2012 on Proper Records.

Awards

Griffith won the 1994 Grammy Award for

Best Contemporary Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1991 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. In 2007, this category was renamed Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album. As ...

for '' Other Voices, Other Rooms.'' She was inducted into Austin Music Hall of Fame in 1995. Griffith was awarded the Kate Wolf Memorial Award by the World Folk Music Association in 1995. In 2008, the

Americana Music Association The Americana Music Association is a not-for-profit trade organization advocating for American Roots Music around the world. It is a network for Americana artists, radio stations, record labels, publishers, and others with the goal of developi ...

awarded her its Lifetime Americana Trailblazer Award.

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

, who contributed backing vocals to her third album, ''

Once in a Very Blue Moon ''Once in a Very Blue Moon'' was singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith's third studio album. The album had more of a country sound than her previous albums. Her first two albums were backed sparsely with instrumentation, but starting with this album, ...

'', had won it before her. In 2010, Griffith received a Lifetime Achievement Award at BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Griffith was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association's Hall of Fame in February 2022 at the Paramount Theatre in Austin.

The Blue Moon Orchestra

Griffith referred to her backing band as the Blue Moon Orchestra. With regard to the chosen stage name, she wrote: The title selection of the ''Once in a Very Blue Moon'' album reached number 85 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart in 1986. ;Current members * Pat McInerney – percussion *

Maura Kennedy The Kennedys are an American folk-rock band, consisting of husband and wife Pete and Maura Kennedy. They are recognized for their harmonies and instrumental prowess, blending elements of country music, bluegrass, Western swing and janglepop. B ...

– vocals, guitar *

Pete Kennedy The Kennedys are an American folk-rock band, consisting of husband and wife Pete and Maura Kennedy. They are recognized for their harmonies and instrumental prowess, blending elements of country music, bluegrass, Western swing and janglepop. B ...

– guitar, vocals ;Previous members * Nanci Griffith – lead vocals, guitar * James Hooker – piano, B-3, keyboards, vocals * Philip Donnelly – guitar *

Clive Gregson Clive James Gregson (born 4 January 1955, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, England) is an English singer/songwriter, musician and record producer. He has toured in bands, provided backup for well-known musicians, and written songs that have been cov ...

– guitar, vocals * Doug Lancio – electric guitar *

Thomm Jutz Thomm Jutz (born December 27, 1969) is a German-born American singer, songwriter, producer and guitarist based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with folk singer Nanci Griffith (as a member of her Blue Moon Orchestra), Eric Brace & Peter Coo ...

– guitar, vocals * Byrd Burton – guitar * Frank Christian – guitar * Ron De La Vega –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, cello * Pete Gorisch – bass, cello * J. T. Thomas – bass, vocals * Denny Bixby – bass * Pete Gordon – bass * Le Ann Etheridge – vocals, bass guitar, rhythm guitar * Lee Satterfield – vocals, rhythm guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

* Fran Breen – drums * Steve Smith – drums * Liam Genocky - drums ;Guest backing vocalists: * Emmylou Harris * Iris DeMent * Lyle Lovett * Denice Franke

Personal life

Griffith's high school boyfriend, John, died in a motorcycle accident after taking her to the senior prom, and subsequently inspired many of her songs. She was married to singer-songwriter Eric Taylor from 1976 to 1982. In the early 1990s, she was engaged to singer-songwriter

Tom Kimmel Tom Kimmel (born Thomas Eugene Hobbs II in 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and poet. Biography Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Kimmel grew up largely in small towns in south Alabama. He attended public schools and graduated from the Univer ...

Death

Griffith died in Nashville on August 13, 2021, at the age of 68. The cause of death was not reported.''People magazine'' August 30th, 2021 issue Page 24

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Videography

* ''Bob Dylan:

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 on October 16, 1992, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it captures most of the concert, ...

'' Sony VHS (1993) * ''Other Voices, Other Rooms'' Elektra Video VHS (1993) * ''Winter Marquee'' Rounder/Universal DVD, Widescreen, (2002) * ''One Fair Summer Evening...Plus!'' Universal Music & VI DVD, Fullscreen, (2005)