GREAT READS

Downtown Church

Patty Griffin.

If you love the rawness of Gillian Welch, the tenderness of Julie Miller, or the power, soul, and range of Bonnie Raitt, do yourself a big favor and pick up Patty Griffin's most recent release, Downtown Church. On previous albums, Griffin has demonstrated her songwriting mastery, using understated imagery to capture the soul of lyricism. In Downtown Church, Griffin focuses her attention on capturing the soul of melody by revisiting several gospel traditions. The effect is explosive, her selections showcasing her skill as a singer. The album is also a powerful reminder that the roots of all American music is communal spiritual yearning - from the backs of slaves, from the pews of small Appalachian chapels, from the bouncing gospel choirs behind the pulpit. How appropriate, then, that Patty Griffin chose to produce this album in a Nashville church, dedicating her album to the homeless and downtrodden.

Fans of many musical genres will welcome this album with open arms. Blues fans will be delighted with "I Smell a Rat," written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the men responsible for Big Mama Thornton's (and later Elvis') "Hound Dog." Bluegrass, Americana, and country fans will be drawn to collaborations with Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller (who produced the album), Julie Miller, and Stuart Duncan (the fiddler who toured with Robert Plant and Allison Krauss), as well as a cover of Hank William's "House of Gold." And gospel fans will be pleased to hear five tracks featuring Regina and Ann McCrary, daughters of Rev. Sam McCrary, one of the founding members of The Fairfield Four.

1. House of Gold
2. Move Up
3. Little Fire
4. Death's Got a Warrant
5. If I Had My Way
6. Coming Home to Me
7. Wade in the Water
8. Never Grow Old
9. Virgen de Guadalupe
10. I Smell a Rat
11. Waiting for My Child
12. The Strange Man ** my personal favorite; I could listen to it 10x a day and not get bored
13. We Shall All Be Reunited
14. All Creatures of Our God and King

Recommended by Leah Youse