Interview: Patty Griffin
Some songwriters need musical support to convey emotion. Amid swelling strings and bursting harmonies, they crash a wave of feeling over their audience’s head. Then there are those who can be just as emotionally affecting with nothing but a guitar and a voice. Patty Griffin most definitely has fallen into the latter category for almost two decades. The Austin, Texas-based singer and multi-instrumentalist has become a folk-scene staple during that time, winning a Grammy and the respect of her fellow artists, many of whom—from Emmylou Harris to Bette Midler—have adopted Griffin’s songs for themselves, a testament to her songwriting craftsmanship. Her tenth album, Servant Of Love, continues her tradition of delivering meticulously wrought, stripped-down songs and stories that take the listener from a piano lounge to a Texas barroom and beyond.
This is the first album you’ve released on your own record label. Did that change anything about your process?
I don’t record for labels anyway. I haven’t for a long time. Except for maybe when I did the gospel record [2010’s Downtown Church]. There were requests involved in that contract. But other than that, I haven’t had a record deal where I have to make a single. I’m not that kind of artist anyway.
It has been two years since you released your last album of original material. Have you undergone any significant changes that guided this record’s themes?
I’m older. I turned 50 when I was working on this. I’m entering the later part of my life, and I’m sure that has a say in this. I write about what’s happening in my life and I also don’t have as much time to waste. Those things came into play in the way I wrote this record. Every single record feels different. It’s part of my life and I see things differently and I grow as a person, and this is where I’m at now.
You named Servant Of Love after its opening track. Is that song representative of the album as a whole?
Well, I like the name Servant Of Love because it was just one of those lines that popped out. And I don’t know what it means. [Laughs.] It’s provocative. I mean, it could be the name of a Rick James song. [Laughs.] Also, it’s loaded—it’s got a lot of layers to it.
How is this record different from your recent work?
For me, right now, I’m in love with the performances of the musicians on this record. The musicians put in some amazing performances. This was the first record that—almost in its entirety—is all Austin musicians, including Shawn Colvin singing backup vocals. We recorded it here and used all local people except for one person from Nashville. There are so many admirable performances—just gorgeous. I like listening to that.
From record to record and tour to tour, do you try to play with the same people, or do you mix it up?
I just feel it out, you know? Lots of times I just move on, and sometimes, when it just seems to keep working, we keep it going. There are musicians who’ve just got so much inside them. Those are the ones that you keep going back to.
Have you explored co-writing with other musicians?
I’ve started to. Not on this record, but I have started to do that—in a different way than how I write for myself. It’s probably not that different, but it feels more technical. Some- times it turns out well anyway, and maybe that’s just me getting older and more relaxed about it.
What’s your creative approach like when working with other artists?
Music is mysterious. I mean, what is it exactly? Does anybody know? [Laughs.] It’s there, and a lot is made of it, but it’s a beautiful mystery. It’s also very athletic and technical and mathematical, so there’s that side of it, too. And sometimes, when approaching it from a technical, mathematical, putting-the-puzzle-together sort of way, magic happens. But sometimes, it doesn’t; sometimes, it’s just a big headache and it’s awful. Sometimes, it comes up with its own little thing, without you trying to put it in there or approaching it from an emotional place.
So many great artists have covered your work. Have you ever heard a version of your song and thought it was better than your own?
I thought that Solomon Burke doing “Up to the Mountain” was better than my version, by a lot.
