UKIAH – dig! music in association with Mendocino College ComEx proudly presents Patty Griffin on July 22.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. Sunday, July 22, at the Mendocino College Center Theater for a very special, intimate evening with Patty and her band.
Patty was voted No. 19 of the best living songwriters by Paste magazine. Amped magazine calls Patty “one of the most important singer, songwriters of our time!”
Since the release of her new album, Children Running Through (ATO) in February, Patty has performed on David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Ellen DeGeneres show.
Her first visit to Mendocino County is part of a three-date stop in California that includes the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts (Santa Rosa) and the Mountain Winery (Saratoga).
The new album debuted at No. 34 on the Billboard charts and continues the remarkable, creative evolution that’s quietly established Patty Griffin as a vital and singular musical force. Her seamless songcraft is supported by spare, spacious arrangements and production by Griffin along with Mike McCarthy (Spoon) that emphasize her effortlessly eloquent lyrics, her subtly indelible melodies and her sublimely expressive voice.
The artful instrumental settings are perfectly suited to the soul glory of “Heavenly Day,” the wistful melancholy of “You’ll Remember,” the haunting intimacy of “Railroad Wings,” the vivid storytelling of “Trapeze” (with Emmylou Harris), the rocking “No Bad News,” the steely determination of “I Don’t Ever Give Up” and the healing gospel of “Up to the Mountain” (recently performed by Kelly Clarkson and recorded by Soloman Burke).
"I just wanted to write from the heart and let it be," Griffin said of the new album. Some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard is when you catch somebody singing to themselves. I wanted to make music that had that feeling."
That sort of heartfelt forthrightness has won Griffin a fiercely loyal fan base that's continued to expand. Among her higher-profile admirers are the Dixie Chicks, who recorded much-loved versions of the Griffin compositions "Top of the World," "Truth No. 2" and "Let Him Fly"; and Emmylou Harris, a longtime supporter who's covered several Griffin songs.
A Maine native, Patty grew up the youngest of seven siblings, listening to her mother sing hymns, country songs and made-up ditties. She began singing during childhood, and wrote poems and songs as a teenager, but was too shy to perform in public.
Later she moved to the Boston area, where she waited tables and worked as a telephone switchboard operator at Harvard University. It wasn't until her guitar teacher coaxed her into joining him on stage in a tiny Cambridge club that Griffin began performing her songs in public.
On the strength of a set of acoustic demo recordings, Griffin won a deal with A&M Records. The label agreed to release the stripped down original demos and the result was her 1996 debut release, Living With Ghosts, which won wide spread critical acclaim and the beginnings of a passionate and devoted fan following.
In 2000, after the rocking album, Flaming Red, Griffin found a more hospitable home when fan Dave Matthews signed her to his new artist-friendly ATO Records. With the change in labels, Griffin was determined to scale her music back down to its essence, a direction that was reflected on 2002’s sparse, mostly acoustic 1000 Kisses, which earned a Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary Folk album category. It was followed in 2003 by the live CD/DVD set A Kiss in Time.
Impossible Dream, released in 2004, was Griffin’s most ambitious and accomplished effort yet, encompassing a broad range of musical influences while boasting some of her most emotionally complex songwriting to date. It also netted a second Grammy nomination for Griffin.
As her own releases have continued to win consistent critical attention and a steadily expanding audience, Griffin has simultaneously become a popular source of material for other artists. In addition to the ones mentioned above, Griffin's songwriting has been embraced by a diverse assortment of performers, including Martina McBride, Bette Midler, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Reba McEntire and Maura O'Connell, all of whom have recorded her songs. Also inspired by her work, filmmaker Cameron Crowe personally selected her to appear in his 2005 feature film "Elizabethtown."
In addition to raising her public profile, having her songs covered by other artists has allowed Griffin the luxury of making music on her own terms.
Children Running Through was recorded in the artist’s adopted hometown of Austin, Texas, in a makeshift studio set up in a rented house across the street from her home. In addition to Griffin on vocals and guitar, the sessions featured a sterling assortment of Austin, Nashville and New York players, including long-time Griffin collaborator, Doug Lancio on guitar, legendary Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, and a nine-person string section conducted and arranged by multi-instrumentalist John Mark Painter.
“To see and hear Patty Griffin in Ukiah, at a venue this size, will be a very special evening, say Michael and Denise of dig! music.”
Opening for Patty Griffin is singer-songwriter Scott Miller, whose music spans rock, Americana, folk rock and country rock.
Tickets are available in Ukiah at dig! music and Mendocino Book Co., in Willits at Leaves of Grass, in Fort Bragg at Tangents, in Boonville at All That Good Stuff and in Lakeport at Watershed Books. Tickets are $45 general admission.
For more information and for credit card purchases, call dig! music at (707) 463-8444.
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