Line-up

Venue

Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92nd Street Y

1395 Lexington Ave., 10128, New York (NYC), NY, US

View upcoming concerts

Additional details

Doors open: 19:00

Concert in your area for Country, Folk & Blues, Rock, Indie & Alt, and Pop.

Find out more about Country, Rock, and Pop.

Patty Griffin biography

Patty Griffin (Born 16 March 1964) is a singer-songwriter from Old Town, Maine, US that is known for her stripped down presentations of folk and Americana music. She has received many awards for her music and her songs have been covered by multiple artists.

Patty Griffin grew up as the youngest child with six older siblings. When she turned 16 she bought her first guitar with the intentions to pursue music as a hobby rather than a profession. After her first marriage ended in 1992 she began performing at local coffee houses in Boston and quickly caught the attention of A&M Records, who later signed her to the label.

By 1996 Griffin released her debut album through A&M called “Living with Ghosts”. The album has been one of Griffin’s most successful releases with her selling over 222,000 copies in the US. The album featured the raw approach of Griffin performing only with her voice and acoustic guitar. She avoided the commercial approach of recording with a backing band and opted to produce an album that could be taken as more sincere and direct. The music on the album is very minimalistic and has strong emotional undertones. The album featured the songs “Moses” and “Let Him Fly”.

In 1998 Griffin released her second album “Flaming Red”, which conveyed her switching directions from a minimalistic acoustic guitar approach to a more elaborate approach with a wider range of instrumentation. “Flaming Red” covered genres ranging from folk to rock to country to pop to trip-hop. The album reached the No. 12 spot on the Top Heatseekers chart and was considered more accessible than her debut album.

After “Flaming Red” Griffin was dropped from A&M records and was picked up by Dave Matthews Band’s label ATO Records. Griffin released her third album “1000 Kisses” in 2002, which peaked at No. 101 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the Heatseekers chart. Although the album was recorded with a band, the album mostly contained acoustic instrumentation and conveyed an intimate sound. The album contained several popular original songs as well as a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Stolen Car”.

Griffin continued to release albums through ATO Records. In 2003 she released “A Kiss in Time”, which was recorded at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2004 she released “Impossible Dream”, which contained the popular song “Top of the World”, which was made famous when the Dixie Chicks covered the song. In 2007 she released “Children Running Through”, which included a collaboration with Emmylou Harris on the song “Trapeze”. The album received critical praise and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album. Griffin released the album “Downtown Church” in 2010, which won a Dove Award for Inspirational Album of the Year. In 2013 Griffin released “American Kid”, which was released to critical acclaim and included a songwriting duet with Robert Plant on the song “Highway Song”.

Griffin is also respected by her fellow musicians and has had the opportunity to tour with the likes of Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch, Robert Plant, and David Rawlings. Her music has also been covered by many artists such as Lind Ronstadt, Bette Midler, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Miranda Lambert.

Live reviews

As a Grammy award winning singer/songwriter Patty Griffin made her mark in the music industry with her minimalistic and original folk/rock sound way back in 1996 with her smash hit debut album, Living with Ghosts. Since then, Griffin has worked alongside a whole host of prestigious musicians. When another artist makes the decision and takes the time to cover your songs, you know you’ve really made it, and Griffin has had that occur countless times.
I’ve seen Griffin live a few times, but the most recent concert was definitely the most memorable. Her band (who were incredible) walked on stage, set up their instruments, and began playing the opening introduction of Carry Me as the audience began cheering in anticipation. Griffin slowly walked on stage and gave a small wave and a smile before beginning the song. It was one of the best renditions of her song that I’d heard her do, and she put a different spin on it from the recording, which was extremely refreshing.
The set journeyed through her hits, a couple of covers, and some new tracks that I actually hadn’t heard before. It was amazing to hear new music from Patty. The way that she interacts with her audience is wonderful, as she made the intimate venue seem like a living room. I’ll definitely be going back to see another concert as she just gets better and better.

Report

yazhow

Canadian singer-songwriter, Kathleen Edwards, performs with a type of sincerity that will capture your heart with its emotive lyrics and hook you with the music’s catchy riffs.
Although Canadian, her music has often been compared to the Americana genre. She has been influenced by some of rock and roll’s greatest musicians such as Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and fellow Canadian, Neil Young, and these influences have clearly steeped through into her music. Kathleen Edwards tours with a very talented backing band consisting of a bass player, a drummer, an electric guitar player, and another singer that helps her perform vocal harmonies. The electric guitar player also plays slide guitar in order to give the music a country twang to it. The keyboard player sometimes performs smooth Wurlitzer sounding effects, as well as plays an organ to deepen the sound.
The band has minimal stage theatrics and relies more on the emotion of the presentation to resonate with the audience. Kathleen Edwards sometimes sings the song in a shaky presentation to create an emotional instability that is suppose to be reflected in some of her lyrics. The guitar player will also build up the soundscape of the slide guitar playing by gradually making the guitar sound like its losing control, which enhances the aspect of instability and brings the song to an emotive climax.
Kathleen Edwards has garnered much critical acclaim and a wide fan base due to her clever songwriting abilities. Her music has also appeared in notable films such as Elizabethtown, where her critically acclaimed song, “Back to Me”, was featured. Her setlist is sure to please fans by encompassing most of her material. She is also known to spice up her setlist with some covers, such as Nirvana’s “All Apologies”.

Report