PORTLAND – On the heels of her critically acclaimed new album, “Children Running Through,” Maine native and two-time Grammy nominee Patty Griffin will appear in concert Tuesday, June 19, at South Portland High School.
Tickets to hear Griffin, whose songs have been covered by the likes of The Dixie Chicks, Emmylou Harris and Bette Midler, are $39. Tickets are available at Bull Moose Music locations and online at www.mktix.com.
“Children Running Through” continues the creative evolution that has quietly established Griffin as a vital musical force. The 12 originals on the new disc echo a variety of styles, most notably the classic R&B and gospel music that have long been a source of inspiration for the artist.
“I just wanted to write from the heart and let it be,” Griffin said in a prepared statement. “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 heartfelt forthrightness has won Griffin a loyal fan base that continues to grow.
The Dixie Chicks recorded versions of Griffin’s compositions “Top of the World,” “Truth No. 2” and “Let Him Fly.” Emmylou Harris lends her iconic harmony vocals to the “Children Running Through” number “Trapeze.”
The Maine native grew up as 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. After a stint living in Florida, 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 mustered up the courage to begin performing her songs in public.
After fan Dave Matthews signed her to his new, artist-friendly ATO Records, Griffin released, in 2002, the 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. “
2004”s “Impossible Dream” encompasses a broad range of musical influences while boasting some of her Griffin’s emotionally complex songwriting to date. It netted her a second Grammy nomination.
“I invested a lot more time in this than anything I’ve ever done,” she said of “Children Running Through.” “After ‘Impossible Dream,’ I had used up all the songs I’d been carrying around for years, so it was a challenge to find out if I had anything left in me. It took some time, but it was a positive thing to be tested that way.”
“Children Running Through,” was recorded in Griffin’s adopted hometown of Austin, Texas, in a makeshift studio set up in a rented house across the street from her home. Besides Griffin on vocals and guitar, the sessions featured a sterling assortment of Austin, Nashville and New York players, including Doug Lancio on guitar, legendary Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, and a nine-person string section conducted and arranged by multi-instrumentalist John Mark Painter.
“The aim,” Griffin said, “was to strip everything down and just give it a few brushstrokes here and there, to come up with something that’s quiet but powerful. I wanted to be a little less wordy, but I also wanted to make a record where I didn’t hold back and let myself sing as loud as I wanted to.”
“A great part of getting older,” she added, “is not caring so much what other people think. I feel like I’m allowed to be goofy or whatever, and I’m allowed not to worry about whether something is cool enough or smart enough. That’s pretty liberating.”
Griffin will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the high school at 637 Highland Ave. For more information, call 978-462-9630.
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