Nanci Griffith and Brandi Carlile ... Two of a Kind
It must have been the year of 1996 or 1997 when I discovered the wonderful music of singer / songwriter Nanci Griffith, because videos of some of her songs were shown on Onyx TV. (Does anyone in Germany remembers that music televison channel *g*). I'm not sure if it was her version of "From a Distance" or "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" which I've seen first. I know it was one of those songs, which completely mesmerized me. (I tried to find those exact clips on youtube, but... no luck)
I just loved her clear voice, her way of storytelling and of course her music. Simple, but wonderful. Piano, acoustic guitar and traditional folk music. Handmade without (a lot of) synthesizers, electronic programming, computers or anything. I bought quite a few or her albums of the 80s and 90s and really loved a lot of the songs. I have to admit that I didn't buy many of her albums from the late 90s or even the 21st century. I just didn't feel that connection to her newer stuff.
I didn't listen to Nanci Griffith music a lot during the last few years. There were other female singer/songwriters I get to know and grew to love. Quite a few of them I discovered via Grey's Anatomy. Like Ingrid Michaelson and Brandi Carlile, who I both think are amazing. I can't wait to see Ingrid in concert again in about 4 weeks and I'm a bit sad that it I won't have the chance to see Brandi Carlile on stage anytime soon. At least it looks like she isn't touring Germany or Europe in the near future.
Last week I got the new Brandi Carlile album and I just love it. And this afternoon while I listened to the song "I Will" I suddenly was reminded of Nanci Griffith. I'm not saying that Brandi sounded like Nanci or tried to copy her style or anything like that. But I just heard the line "You can't break a heart that wasn't even yours to break" and I suddenly felt like that song could have been a wonderful Nanci Griffith song as well. I really can't explain where that feeling came from :-). But it made me get out all my old Nanci albums and marvel at the brilliance of some of the songs. Quite a few actually. She just released a new album a few weeks ago and maybe I really should order it and give her newer stuff another try...
I just loved her clear voice, her way of storytelling and of course her music. Simple, but wonderful. Piano, acoustic guitar and traditional folk music. Handmade without (a lot of) synthesizers, electronic programming, computers or anything. I bought quite a few or her albums of the 80s and 90s and really loved a lot of the songs. I have to admit that I didn't buy many of her albums from the late 90s or even the 21st century. I just didn't feel that connection to her newer stuff.
I didn't listen to Nanci Griffith music a lot during the last few years. There were other female singer/songwriters I get to know and grew to love. Quite a few of them I discovered via Grey's Anatomy. Like Ingrid Michaelson and Brandi Carlile, who I both think are amazing. I can't wait to see Ingrid in concert again in about 4 weeks and I'm a bit sad that it I won't have the chance to see Brandi Carlile on stage anytime soon. At least it looks like she isn't touring Germany or Europe in the near future.
Last week I got the new Brandi Carlile album and I just love it. And this afternoon while I listened to the song "I Will" I suddenly was reminded of Nanci Griffith. I'm not saying that Brandi sounded like Nanci or tried to copy her style or anything like that. But I just heard the line "You can't break a heart that wasn't even yours to break" and I suddenly felt like that song could have been a wonderful Nanci Griffith song as well. I really can't explain where that feeling came from :-). But it made me get out all my old Nanci albums and marvel at the brilliance of some of the songs. Quite a few actually. She just released a new album a few weeks ago and maybe I really should order it and give her newer stuff another try...