The news that Nanci Griffith had died came to me via a friend's post on Facebook. Like me he was heartbroken to learn that Nanci is no longer with us.
I saw Nanci Griffith and her Blue Moon Orchestra many times over the late 1980s and into the mid 1990s. Her songs were as much a soundtrack to my life then as R.E.M. or Huskerdu but the music she played was not rock but a literate folk country that she sometimes called 'folkabilly'.
She was a performer who engaged her audience - she connected with folk on that human level. People identified with the characters and observations in her songs sure but a major factor in her appeal was the way she built a rapport with her audience. Her folksy song intro, stories that had you laugh and, at times, shed a tear. Her intro to 'Love at the 5 and dime' is legendary and one that I never tired of hearing.
I remember going to see her at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow and finding myself very nervously perched in the 'gods' feeling I would fall forward at any point. Nanci came on stage looked up at the top of the theatre and said something like 'are you alright up there?' Instead of tipping me over the edge I was reassured and the tension left - she knew we were up there and now she was going to sing to us.
I'm glad I was able to share the room with her and share communion with with her audience over those years and see the mix of people touched by her music, yes there were punks, there were families and there were always sad eyed dreamers.
Thank you Nanci for sharing your time and your songs with us. Rest easy.
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