Patty Griffin Artistfacts

Patty Griffin song list

Patty Griffin Artistfacts

March 16, 1964
Patty Griffin has made a name for herself as a performer since her first album, Living with Ghosts, debuted in 1996. She was born Patricia Jean Griffin in a little town in Maine called Old Town. Her music spans a wide range of genres, including Gospel, Country, Americana, and Rock, but she is primarily viewed as a Folk singer. She is regarded for her wide vocal range and her very stripped-down style of songwriting and tends to spark a lot of emotion and feeling from her songs.
In 2012, Griffin married Robert Plant, who is famous as the frontman for Led Zeppelin. She and Plant first toured together in 2010 as part of the group Band of Joy.
Griffin's 2013 album American Kid is dedicated to her father. She gets very personal throughout the album, especially on the song "Gonna Miss You When You're Gone," which she wrote in honor of his passing and how it made her feel. American Kid was her seventh studio album and the first one with original material since 2007.
Her 2007 album Children Running Through won Album of the Year from the American Music Association, and Griffin was also named Artist of the Year.
Patty has collaborated with a number of musicians on her own albums. She wrote the song "Ohio" with her partner Robert Plant, which he also sings back up vocals on. Emmylou Harris is also featured on a number of her songs, most notably "Trapeze," which appeared on her album Children Running Through.
In 2004, Patty toured in a bit of an all-star group that called themselves Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue. This group included Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings.
Griffin's songs have been covered by a wide range of artists, from Bette Midler to Martina McBride. The Dixie Chicks have covered three of her songs.
Her work has been included in various forms of media, including films and television shows. In 1997, the song "Not Alone" from her first album Living With Ghosts was featured in the film Niagara, Niagara. Her popular song "Long Ride Home" was featured in Elizabethtown in 2005, a film directed by Cameron Crowe. Her tribute to a speech by Dr. King called "Up to the Mountain" was included in an episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Comments: 1

Adrian W. from San Tan Valley, AzGod bless Patty, a national treasure and soul mother.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)Will Glahe

In 1939, a polka craze swept America thanks to "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)."

BloodstreamEd Sheeran

Ed Sheeran's "Bloodstream" was written after an experience taking MDMA during a wedding celebration in Ibiza; it's basically about all the feelings that he got from that time.

"Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is about a revolution, but it doesn't have a happy ending, since in the end the new regime becomes just like the old one. Pete Townshend thought that whoever was in power was destined to become corrupt.

Good TimesChic

The disco song "Good Tmes" by Chic was a huge influence on early rap, providing the bassline for "Rapper's Delight."

Dancing QueenABBA

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson conceived "Dancing Queen" as a dance song with the working title "Boogaloo," drawing inspiration from the 1974 George McCrae disco hit "Rock Your Baby." Their manager Stig Anderson came up with the title "Dancing Queen."

Uptown FunkMark Ronson

The actress Michelle Pfeiffer gets namechecked in the 2014 megahit "Uptown Funk" ("Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold"). When it was released, "Riptide" by Vance Joy was on the charts; that song also mentions her ("Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen").