| Americana, Folk |
Just like Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin resides in Austin, Texas, musically closer to the extraordinary Gretchen Peters, as both share a passion for words and a keen eye on their compositions, knowing perfectly how to highlight their poetry. Her first album, *Living with Ghosts*, brought her immediate recognition. Over the years, Patty Griffin’s songs have gained more depth, with *1000 Kisses* marking a significant turning point. The album features nostalgic folk ballads and lyrics where she sheds the form to emphasize the content. With a song like “Making Pies,” everyone can relate and dream of their past. Her powerful style has led many artists to cover her songs, such as Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Solomon Burke, The Dixie Chicks, Kelly Clarkson & Jeff Beck, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert, and Melissa Etheridge, to name a few.
This album also signifies a major change for Patty Griffin, who was previously signed with A&M. *1000 Kisses* is her first release with ATO Records, Dave Matthews’ label. The result is a much more personal album, more ethnically folk, rawer musically, but incredibly charming and perfectly produced. For those who thought she was a rocker before, that’s over, and personally, it was from this album that I started to appreciate this artist, especially listening to “Nobody’s Cryin,” which is almost a cappella, a highly risky stylistic exercise that only works with the greatest voices, and in that regard, Patty Griffin is one of the finest representatives. Patty Griffin’s style has made her songs travel across many films and TV series.
With Patty Griffin, it’s above all a story of words, often speaking about life, love, death—the kind of artist you might find in a bar or restaurant, scribbling for hours in a little spiral notebook. The music serves merely as a backdrop, as Patty is primarily an extraordinary interpreter, an actress through her voice who takes you wherever she wants throughout this album. For an artist to create, they need freedom, and by changing record labels, Patty Griffin was finally able to be herself, and it’s for the best. It’s always interesting to look back on an artist’s career; all careers have ups and downs, some albums do better than others without us really knowing why. My opinion on the subject is no better than anyone else’s, but I think it’s primarily about what the public wants to hear at a given time and can relate to. In this case, I would be delighted if you paid some attention to this somewhat old album, which truly deserves to be unearthed at a time when only tons of insipid artists remain on the radio. Patty Griffin shows that it’s easy to live outside the glitter and remain true to oneself without betrayal while being recognized by a wide audience, far beyond the folk audience, as a current jazz specialist is telling you.
We therefore include this album in our long list of “Essentials,” which we could actually apply to her entire career, which has been flawless since she left A&M.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, July 17th 2024
Follow PARIS-MOVE on X
::::::::::::::::::::::