Powerfully Poetic Folk and Country Songwriter Nanci Griffith Has Died at Age 68

Nanci Griffith, Austin-raised folk and country singer-songwriter, has died at age 68. Her management company, Gold Mountain Entertainment, confirmed her passing and wrote: ​​“It was Nanci's wish that no further formal statement or press release happen for a week following her passing.”

The Grammy-winning artist, born in Seguin, Tex., was known for songs like “Love at the Five and Dime” and "From a Distance.” The one-time kindergarten teacher in Austin was also an active advocate against land mines: Griffith traveled the world with organizations like the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, the UK-based Mines Advisory Group, and the Campaign for a Landmine Free World.

In 2005, Chronicle writer Jim Caligiuri delineated Griffith’s origins in the local music scene:

“How many musicians can say they played the Hole in the Wall and headlined Carnegie Hall? Nanci Griffith can. In the Seventies, the sweet-voiced singer, now a longtime Nashville resident, had a standing gig every Sunday night during the Drag-bound bar's first half-decade. Since that time, she's appeared at the iconic New York City concert hall four times, selling it out more than once. In between shows at both venues, Griffith's won Grammys, had international No. 1 hits, and seen her songs covered by a wide range of artists while earning recognition worldwide.”

Stephen Doster, the veteran singer, songwriter, and producer, was part of the acoustic scene that held down the stage at the Hole in the Wall throughout the mid-to-late Seventies. He and Griffith both had weekly residencies. She eventually called upon him to come to Nashville and serve as the guitarist and musical director for the A-list sessions that spawned her breakout third album Once in a Very Blue Moon – the title track of which was later covered by Dolly Parton. He also backed her at her Austin City Limits debut that would follow.

“What I remember most about Nanci was always her drive and work ethic,” he said by phone on Friday afternoon. “She was always writing and always performing and always moving forward – that’s the image I have of her, she was a very focused and driven person. I feel very fortunate to have gotten to work with her.”

Doster also noted that, while she ultimately lived a lot of her life in Nashville, Griffith never played the role of a cookie-cutter songwriter.

“She was writing from her gut and writing from her heart,” he said.

Griffith, who frequently collaborated with Lyle Lovett before he became an Americana superstar, had a deep association with Austin City Limits, performing on the PBS show eight times. Four of those appearances, between 1985 and 2001, featured her on a standalone episode. She’d also been part of a Townes Van Zandt tribute in 1998, a songwriters special in 2000, and episodes where she made guest appearances with Hootie & the Blowfish and the Crickets.

“In addition to her songwriting – she had a poet’s touch to her lyricism – but also her voice was perfectly suited to the kind of songs she wrote," said Austin City Limits Executive Producer Terry Lickona, who regularly booked her to appear on the show. "She had a certain kind of angelic quality about her, a glow for lack of a better word to describe her stage persona. And when she sang, her audience was very dedicated to her and her music.”

Lickona added:

“Another interesting footnote to that first time she appeared on the show in 1985 is that Lyle actually made a quest appearance to sing harmony. That was the first time he’d ever set foot in front of our cameras and he was trying to make a name for himself. People like Lyle and Nanci Griffith represented an antidote to the more rowdy outlaw and cosmic country of the Seventies when they came on the scene. Unlike them, she and Lyle were able to break through to country radio and get some significant attention and airplay from the powers that be up there, without sacrificing their musical integrity. Especially Nanci, she really stood out for her songwriting and voice and her whole style."

Starting with the brilliant folksongs on her 1978 debut There's a Light Beyond These Woods, Griffith ultimately released 18 studio albums. A Chronicle review of her last LP, 2012’s Intersection, regarded her songwriting as continuing to be “sharp and engaging."

Austin Chronicle and South by Southwest co-founder Louis Black, in a 2005 feature titled There's a Light Beyond These Woods – a fan letter to Nanci Griffith, mused that: “Nanci Griffith is a storyteller, but her work is rarely about the twist, even less about the surprise. Her songs are stories, but they're about life and love, quiet and noise, staying still and traveling far, waking, sleeping. They're stories about wanting and not having, being together and being alone, sometimes at the same time. They're about people and the lives they lead. They're about people and the lives they dream.”

Griffith was inducted into Austin Music Hall of Fame in 1995 and had already been set to be feted at the Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association in 2022.