VARIOUS ARTISTS : MORE THAN A WHISPER: CELEBRATING THE MUSIC OF NANCI GRIFFITH

  1. You Can’t Go Home Again (Sarah Jarosz)
  2. Love At The Five & Dime (John Prine & Kelsey Waldon)
  3. Listen To The Radio (Billy Strings & Molly Tuttle)
  4. Love Wore A Halo (Back Before The War) (Emmylou Harris)
  5. Trouble In The Fields (Lyle Lovett & Kathy Mattea)
  6. Gulf Coast Highway (Brandy Clark)
  7. Outbound Plane (Shawn Colvin)
  8. Radio Fragile (Ida Mae)
  9. It’s A Hard Life Wherever You Go (Steve Earle)
  10. Late Night Grande Hotel (Aaron Lee Tasjan)
  11. Ford Econoline (Todd Snider)
  12. Banks Of The Pontchartrain (Iris DeMent)
  13. More Than A Whisper (Mary Gauthier)
  14. From A Distance (The War And Treaty)

Label : Rounder Records

Release Date : June 28, 2023

Length : 58:42

Review (Bandcamp) : More Than A Whisper: Celebrating The Music Of Nanci Griffith is an all-star tribute to the legacy of the GRAMMY award-winning singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Featured artists include Brandy Clark, Shawn Colvin, Iris Dement, Steve Earle, Mary Gauthier, Emmylou Harris, Sarah Jarosz, Lyle Lovett and Kathy Mattea, Ida Mae, John Prine and Kelsey Waldon, Todd Snider, Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and The War And Treaty covering some of Griffith’s most notable releases.

Review (Folk Alley) : Nanci Griffith excelled at capturing the details of a small world in her songs. Her songs were like snapshots of a landscape and the lives that inhabited it; in wry lyrics, she caught the denizens of small town Texas life embroiled in the web of love, loss, and hope. With her crystalline vocals and her spare, intuitive musical arrangements, Griffith created an atmosphere of intimacy so that the songs came to life, touching listeners in enduring ways. Had she not died two years ago (August 13, 2021), Nanci Griffith would have turned 70 this year (July 6). What better way to celebrate her birthday and to honor her legacy and continuing influence on songwriters and singers than in a tribute album, More Than a Whisper: Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith (Rounder)? The album features artists with whom Griffith often shared stages—Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, Iris DeMent—and those whose music reflects Griffith’s influence—Sarah Jarosz, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle. Jarosz’s spaciously unfolding version of “You Can’t Go Home Again,” from 1982’s The Poet in My Window, conveys the yearning and regret of the original. If you close your eyes for a moment, you’d think you’re listening to Griffith. John Prine and Kelsey Waldon capture the enduring character of love in the portrait of small town romance on “Love at the Five and Dime,” from Griffith’s 1986 The Last of the True Believers, while DeMent turns in a spiraling version of “Banks of the Pontchartrain,” from the same album, layering her vocals over cascading piano and strings and creating the photo of a couple waltzing on the lake’s banks. Lyle Lovett and Kathy Mattea deliver a spare, emotionally powerful version of “Trouble in the Fields,” from 1987’s Lone Star State of Mind, that captures the enduring power of love in the face of poverty and economic devastation. Brandy Clark’s version of “Gulf Coast Highway,” from 1988’s Little Love Affairs evokes the promise and the regrets of the open road, while Shawn Colvin offers a spare take on “Outbound Plane,” from the same album, that captures the longing for love and the will to capture it. Todd Snider’s take on “Ford Econoline,” from Lone Star State of Mind, captures the hard-edged, celebratory tale of an abused woman escaping her abuser by “cruising along in that Ford Econoline,” while Strings and Tuttle deliver a rousing version of the Griffith’s hopeful ballad “Listen to the Radio,” from 1989’s Storms. More Than a Whisper closes with the War and Treaty’s soulful version of “From a Distance,” from Lone Star State of Mind.