Another Friday, another 'XPN Free-at-Noon concert. This week it was Maine singer-songwriter Patty Griffin. When I got to World Cafe Live, I was a little surprised to see that Griffin pulled in a full house for the concert. Not that she isn't talented enough to draw a crowd, but she's never really gotten the attention she deserves.
That should change with her new album, Children Running Through. In the past, Griffin's been willing to try all kinds of musical styles - soul, folk, jazz, rock, country - and sounded comfortable with each of them. From what I heard at the concert, her new stuff has a little taste of everything and an overall sound that's fuller than anything I've ever heard from her.
Griffin played quieter songs on the piano and some harder hitting songs on guitar. Her backing band complimented her very well, resulting at times in a sound that seemed to swirl around the room. Hard to explain, but it sounded just great. Patty also brought a lot of energy to the show. For a woman who looks like she weighs about eighty pounds, she plays a mean guitar. And she's got such a strong voice.
As always, NPR has the concert at their website. I only took a few shots - we weren't supposed to take any, but towards the end people started whipping out cameras and Patty didn't seem to mind, so I snuck a few. Shhh....
I have the 10th anniversary World Cafe CD set on which Griffin belts out a version of "Crazy" that knocks my socks off.
Posted by: Karen | 2007.02.12 at 01:36 PM