Nanci Griffith has the kind of beguiling singing voice that's effortless and easily beautiful -- like a pretty girl who doesn't ever need makeup to be radiant. Sounding a little bit like
Emmylou Harris is never a bad thing, but
Griffith doesn't stop there. She duets with
Harris and a host of other
country and
folk notables on
Other Voices, Other Rooms, her first collection of cover songs. Like
Harris,
Griffith can climb inside a character-driven song with a simple twist of inflection or a lingering note. This is what she does on
Vince Bell's
"Woman of the Phoenix," deftly painting images of a winter freeze, cacti, and
Michael, the "rock 'n' roll hood from the Odessa plains."
Dylan's
"Boots of Spanish Leather" rambles like the Texas countryside and features the man himself on harmonica. The guest list for
Other Voices really is incredible.
Alison Krauss,
John Gorka,
Edgar Meyer,
Amy Ray, and
Emily Saliers -- it's a regular homespun who's who. There's plenty to sigh about here, and occasionally the album can almost be too tasteful for its own good. But raveups like
Woody Guthrie's
"Do-Re-Mi" let
Griffith trade some serenity for dustbowl grit (the addition of
John Prine's lascivious gruffness helps a lot, too), and the frustrated anger of
"This Old Town" only supports this. What might be most refreshing about
Other Voices, Other Rooms is its ability to access the warm tones of
country, grassroots, 1960s
folk, and the '70s songwriting tradition while still sounding more like it comes from
Griffith's Texas roots than anywhere else. This is highly recommended for fans of
Griffith or any of the like-minded artists who help out here. ~ Johnny Loftus
![Desire [Remastered]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0827969239322_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Desire [Remastered]")
