THE READING ROOM: The Lasting Influence of Nanci Griffith

When Nanci Griffith died just a little over three years ago — on August 13, 2021 — many hearts were broken. We knew we had lost a woman who loved fiercely, sang tenderly, told stories of women embracing their power, and looked with a gimlet eye into the ragged ways individuals move through the world. Her ringing, crystalline voice struck a chord in the hearts and souls of her listeners. Her artful lyrics and music echoed across every album she released. Griffith lives on through her songs, of course. “Ford Econoline,” “Gulf Coast Highway,” “Trouble in the Fields,” “Late Night Grande Hotel,” and others reveal her ability to tell colorful stories through memorable characters. This is to say nothing of other artists’ performances of her compositions — Kathy Mattea with “Love at the Five and Dime,” Suzzy Boggus with “Outbound Plane.”

Now music writer Brian T. Atkinson does for Griffith what he’s already done for Townes Van Zandt (I’ll be Here in the Morning), Ray Wylie Hubbard (The Messenger), and Mickey Newbury (Looks Like Rain). In Love at the Five and Dime: The Songwriting Legacy of Nanci Griffith (Texas A&M University Press). Atkinson gathers interviews from scores of songwriters and artists, many of whom performed with Griffith — Tish Hinojosa, Peter Rowan, Carolyn Hester, Darden Smith, Lyle Lovett, Amy Grant, Rodney Crowell, and Betty Soo, among many others. In its pages, they reflect on Griffith’s songwriting, friendship, and legacy.

Atkinson divides the chapters into verses, choruses, and a bridge, each covering various stages in Griffith’s career and several tied to an album or a song. The book offers a brief narrative introduction to each chapter, but the interviews take centerstage and reveal the depth of these artists’ love of Griffith.

Singer-songwriter Dave Alvin told Atkinson that Griffth’s literate songwriting, her compassion for others, and her eagerness to help other artists is enough to fill a book. “I admired the way Nanci survived an incredibly difficult business as a woman on her own terms,” he says. “She never sold out. She was always about intelligent, literate songwriting. Thinking about her dying is overwhelmingly sad, but I know that Mary Gauthier had a beautiful experience with Nanci early on that really summarized her. Nanci had a passion for songs and songwriters. Mary’s story about Nanci is the real story to me. Generosity was Nanci Griffith—beginning, middle, and end. Print that story. There’s your book.”

‘Love at the Five and Dime: The Songwriting Legacy of Nanci Griffith’ by Brian T. Atkinson (Texas A&M University Press)

The story: When Mary Gauthier arrived in Nashville, Griffith gave Gauthier her own guitar, telling her, “Welcome to Nashville, kid. Stay on the good side of mystery and paradox.” In the book, Gauthier recalls her relationship with Griffith: “Nanci Griffith was a teacher to me. She showed me folk music, educated me on what came before, spoke my language, and sang her way into my being. I loved her music and saw her perform many, many times. I got to work with her when I was getting started and got to know her after she came to Nashville. She was always kind to me, generous, a profound influence on me. Her spirit will always remain alive inside her music.”

Eliza Gilkyson also focuses on Griffith’s generosity, as she reflects on her songwriting. “Nanci was so sweet, funny, and intimate,” she told Atkinson. “We had mutual respect. Nanci was not just a songwriter. She was a very tenderhearted person who made every song her own and was a good player and musician. She constructed a song with so much musical knowledge. Her songs were visceral, but she was a quirky person with chops on her guitar, a great groove, and a sense of song construction. She wasn’t gonna write a typical melody because her head didn’t work that way. She strung chord progressions and melodies together in a way that wasn’t predictable, but they had a familiarity when you heard them.”

Indeed, Griffith had a singular voice. Some have described her singing voice as a little girl voice. In the book, Caitlin Cannon commented on the distinctiveness of Griffith’s voice, focusing on what her voice revealed in the songs. “I go back to Nanci’s songs because of the pain and power,” she says. “I can feel both in her music. … I think Nanci lived with an extreme loneliness and pain that she metabolized into her songs. She was extremely vulnerable, but that translates into extreme power. She had a very distinctive voice.”

Amy Ray summed up for Atkinson what she and Indigo Girls bandmate Emily Saliers believe is Griffith’s enduring influence. “Nanci was such a fixture, an inspiration, and a compass, who was always around in the first twenty years of our career,” she recalls. “We who got to know Nanci, even in a little way, knew she was so humble. She didn’t toot her own horn. … People can learn from Nanci Griffith.”

Thanks to Atkinson and his Love at the Five and Dime, all who loved Nanci Griffith can get to know her and discover how many lives she touched through her relationships with artists and through her songwriting. Love at the Five and Dime will occasionally bring a tear to the eye, and it will certainly encourage readers to listen again — or for the first time — to Griffith’s intimate, brilliant music.