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Social commentator

Folk musician Nanci Griffith During her “annual vacation,” Texan country and folk musician Nanci Griffith took time out to tell Meadhbh Monahan why she enjoys the Belfast Nashville song-writers’ festival so much and reveals where she gets inspiration for her music.

“The song-writer’s festival in Belfast has become my annual vacation. It’s an extraordinary event,” says Grammy award-winner Nanci Griffith.

Since Belfast and Nashville were established as ‘sister cities’ 15 years ago, the festival has become a means for Belfast City Council and other interested bodies to promote the link between the two and highlight their shared musical heritage.

This was Griffith’s third year at the festival and she continues to return because the Belfast audience is “so enthusiastic.”

“I’ve been coming here since the mid-80s and I think they appreciate the fact that I came when it was a very troubled time.”

Griffith (56) – who is best known for songs such as ‘From a Distance’, ‘Love at the Five and Dime’ and ‘Lone Star State of Mind’ – has collaborated with Irish artists Paul Brady, The Chieftains and Mary Black. She has also penned songs about Ireland; ‘I Would Bring you Ireland’ and ‘On Grafton Street’. But she admits: “I’m one of the few Americans who doesn’t claim to have an Irish background.”

During the festival she performed at the Empire Music Hall and May Street Church. In addition, Griffith experienced “the best venue I’ve played in my whole career” when she appeared at Springhill Primary School on the Ballygomartin Road as part of the Pan Arts cross-community programme.

“I got to go into schools in north Belfast to work with the children and that’s a big deal for me.”

Northern Ireland’s troubled past is not viewed negatively by Griffith because she has “never understood it.” She comments: “When you can’t understand something, it is very difficult to have a negative view of the country as a whole.”

Lyrics

Griffith’s fans include fellow social commentators Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Emmy Lou Harris, all of whom have either recorded her songs or insisted she record theirs. She is known for dealing with controversial social issues in her music. In her most recent album ‘The Loving Kind’, Griffith has used her lyrics to “tell stories” about things that the American people are often “too busy working to think about.”

The title track refers to the 1967 civil court case Loving v. Virginia, whereby a mixed-race married couple were forced to leave the state of Virginia under threat of arrest because Mildred Loving was black and Richard Loving was white. “That was the case that once and for all ended the ban on inter-racial marriages,” Griffith explains.

“I read Mildred’s obituary in a newspaper and I was floored. I was shocked that as an American I did not know about this couple.

“She never remarried and in her last interview, just before she passed away, Mildred expressed hope that their case would eventually open a door to the legalisation of same-sex marriage.”

Another track on the album, ‘Not Innocent Enough’, is built around the controversial death-row case of Philip Workman, who was convicted in 1981 of killing a Memphis police officer despite new evidence that allegedly proved his innocence. He was put to death by the State of Tennessee in 2007.

George W. Bush comes in for criticism in ‘Still Life’.Nanci Griffith

“There are Ws everywhere,” Griffith states. “It’s that part of society that I can’t tolerate in my country. They just want to ruin it for everybody and they go through life getting away with everything.”

Obama has brought “a new sense of hope” and she explains that ‘Across America’ is about the American people’s ability to “lift themselves up by their bootstraps and make the most of their life.”

In terms of being politically aware, though, Griffith’s countrymen and women “don’t pay attention.”

She criticises them for not doing more to eradicate the death penalty, saying: “There’s a huge moral element in that the taxpayers’ money is being spent on murder.”

Inspiration for her music comes from things that “just kinda happen every day.”

“You never know where you are going to be when you get inspiration, says Griffith. “I like to stick my hand out the window and grab a song as it passes by.”

Her health has affected her work over the years with breast and thyroid cancer diagnoses in the 1990s causing her to experience a case of writer’s block.

“I have had a few scares but thankfully I’ve been in good health for nine years now.”

She reveals that dealing with Cancer “made me live for the moment more.” Griffith comments: “Instead of dreaming about what I want tomorrow, I’ve learned to cherish what I have today.”

Achievement

Griffith was recently presented with the BBC Radio 2 life-time achievement award at the Folk Awards and was “so overwhelmed.” After a week in Belfast, Griffith travelled to Australia for further promotion of her nineteenth album. And, when she’s not writing music or touring the globe, Griffith looks forward to getting home to her dogs and horses.

She cites key influences in her life as being her step-father who died last year and renowned country singer Pete Seeger, who is famous for songs such as Turn! Turn! Turn!, and whose music has been covered by Bruce Springsteen.

“Pete Seeger is a great influence and hero of mine. I was really impressed at Obama’s inaugural concert at The Mall in Washington because it was so cold and everyone was wrapped up in coats, scarves and gloves, and out walks the 90-year-old Pete Seeger in a flannel shirt and a pair of blue jeans,” Griffith recalls.

“I thought: ‘I hope I can be made of what he’s made of if I reach 90.’”

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