The Record Exchange Music Monitor
December 1991
by Anne Hamner
Nanci Griffith's "folkabilly' music has been entertaining a cult audience since 1982. In the early days, Nanci wore her influences on her album sleeve -- she posed with books by her literary heroes -- Larry McMurtry, Carson McCullers and Eudora Welty -- and her songs were poetic studies of romance and loss.
The release of Lone Star State of Mind in 1988 marked a change in style. Synthesizers began to replace guitars and the general tone became much more commercial. "Lone Star" included "From a Distance," which Bette Midler later took to No. 1. Kathy Mattea had hits with Griffith favorites like "Love at the Five and Dime" and "Goin' Gone."
Late Night Grande Hotel has continued this commercial trend, but retains the charm of her earlier albums. At a recent concert, the songs had simpler arrangements, with Griffith's warmth and southern grace at the forefront. She said she wanted to encore with "a traditional tune, a folk song we all grew up with," then tore through a rocking version of the Rolling Stones classic "No Expectations."
It's just this irreverent blending of pop, folk and rock that has endeared Griffith to her fans for the last decade. she recently took time out from touring to discuss her new release, her fans and some old friends.
RE: I noticed that you switched production teams from Glyn Johns to Peter Van Hooke and Rod Argent. How did you become involved with them?
NG: I had heard Tanita Tikaram's first album, and my young teens were spent listening to the Zombies, so Rod Argent was already a hero. I'm sure that somewhere down the road, Glyn and I will make another album, but I wanted to make an album that had the same atmosphere and feel as old Randy Newman and Tom Waits albums, and Rod Argent is a genius at orchestration.
RE: There's a definite theme of transiency and touring versus "hometown" and a settled kind of life.
NG: I am a very quiet and reclusive person. I always wished in the back of my mind that I were a Carly Simon type person who just made records and never set forth on the road. But then, the grass is always greener -- I think we all have that universal feeling.
RE: "Just Another Morning Here" was an interesting choice. There's a sense of terror in the lyrics.
NG: I feel it. I know, from speaking with friends, that there is that big fear that they're going to repeat mistakes that they've seen other people make.
RE: There's always that question, even in your more optimistic songs, about whether it's going to last.
NG: The main thing is: "Can you keep it new?" My generation had it all, so we end up asking: "Is there still something thrilling for tomorrow?"
RE: Yet a lot of your songs deal with the social problems of lower class Americans.
NG: Most of my family is from West Texas, and the generation before me lived through the Depression, so there's that great fear that I could wake up tomorrow without anything. If I fail, I'm in the streets and I'm homeless. I have more respect for people who have had to make it on their own than anyone else.
RE: You chose some interesting covers. Could you tell me something about Vince Bell, who wrote "The Sun, The Moon and Stars?"
NG: Vince Bell is a Texas songwriter who was really popular about 12 or 13 years ago. He had an awful car accident and had amnesia that brought him back to infancy. He was an old friend of Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Eric Taylor, Lyle Lovett and myself. Over the past 10 years, we've all sung some of Vince's songs. He's starting to play again, which is wonderful to see.
RE: On the other hand, Julie Gold's songs seem to stand out because their lyrics are simpler. What appeals to you about her songs?
NG: Their innocence. Julie is such a marvelously ethereal person. She goes through life with this great optimism. She has such a great amount of dignity.
RE: How much interaction did you have with people like Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt when you were starting out?
NG: When I was a teenager, my dad was a huge fan of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, so I saw them live many times. I met Eric Taylor and Vince Bell, and became good friends with them. In fact, I married Eric. Lyle Lovett was a big fan of Eric's, sort of a protege, and he slept on our living room floor a lot. It was a very exciting time -- a spontaneous combustion of a music scene. You'd get up in the morning and call Vince or Lyle and they'd say, "I've just written something," and you all end up at somebody's house hearing the new song.
RE: Your music doesn't fit the traditional country format. Did you switch from MCA/Nashville to MCA/Los Angeles to help improve your airplay?
NG: I think the main reason was because I'd had this huge success over in Europe in the pop division there. We're all much more comfortable with each other now. Since I'm no longer affiliated with MCA there, it seemed to make other artists freer to cut Nanci Griffith songs. I've had ten cuts this year.
RE: You've always called yourself "folkabilly," but the new songs are heavy on synthesizers. Does that term still apply?
NG: I think my guitar sound is almost always going to be there. Even "It's Just Another Morning Here" was written on guitar. If it's something I wrote on piano, it doesn't have the "billy" in it, but I've been working with James Hooker for so long that he's very much a part of my family.
RE: Your duets with Phil Everly have been my favorite cuts. How did you meet the Everly Brothers?
NG: Well, it's been six years ago now. Phil had seen me on my first "Austin City Limits." They were looking for an opening act -- I ended up doing almost a year on the road with them, and they both became marvelous friends.
RE: I know that you're very popular in Ireland. When did you first go there?
NG: I was invited to come to Ireland in 1987 to do a television series. Prior to that, Mary Blade and Maura O'Connell had recorded some of my songs, and U2 had mentioned me in interviews as being one of their favorite writers, so I had a great welcoming committee. Ever since then, we've toured Ireland every trip.
RE: There's a great painting in the booklet from the new release: "The Shopping Break" by John Woodfull. Who is he?
NG: He's an Irish artist. When I first found his paintings about four years ago, he was relatively unknown. He's working for the Guiness Estate, doing a lot of pub portraits. I can't afford his work now, but I feel like the little dark-haired lady in "The Shopping Break" is me.
RE: I read that you'd finished one novel and had another in the works. Any publication date for the first one yet?
NG: Not yet. I get very excited about a publisher and then I sit down and talk to the editor and decide that I'm not that excited.
RE: How do you feel about fans developing a personal relationship with your songs?
NG: I can be very honored about my relationship with my fans. I can look out in the audience and say, "These are people I'd have to my house for dinner." I think that comes from not compromising and not going down roads that aren't right for me. Last week, my band deserted me, and I had to go to lunch by myself. I went to this little cafeteria and there wasn't any place to sit, so this couple came and got me and let me sit with them. They were fans,and they were lovely. They helped me!