ITINERARY
GRIFFIN: CAMBRIAHARKEY; THEFEATURES: JONATHONKINGSBURY
24
JUNE 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
{ MUS IC }
Lonesome
Road
PATTYGRIFFIN
experiences
loveand lossonhernew
album,
AmericanKid
.
L
,
Austin,Texas,hostedashowbilled
mysteriouslyas“PattyGri nand
HerDriver.”A few songs into the folk sing-
er’sset, shewas joinedonstagebyaman in
achaueur’scap:RobertPlant.Gri nhas
beenamemberofPlant’sband since2010.
They’renowacouple.“Ifollowedhimonthe
road for 18months,”Griffin told the audi-
ence. “After itall,hesaidhe’dbemydriver.”
Griffin, however, is firmly behind the
wheel for her new record,
AmericanKid
(NewWestRecords,$16),thoughPlantrides
along in thepassenger seat for twoduets.
But most of the album—
her seventh sinceher 1996
debut
Living with Ghosts
— isa solo journey through
loss. “A lotof this record is
inspiredbymepreparingto
letmy fathergo,” saysGrif-
fin,whose fatherhas since
passedaway.
The49-year-old singer-
songwritercraftsherworks
like a master carpenter.
AmericanKid
’sunplugged
guitars, mandolins and
bowed bass slot together
in a tongue-and-groove
parquet of acoustic tex-
tures. But the songsaren’t
varnished.On“GonnaMiss
YouWhen You’re Gone,”
Griffin sings a tribute to
her fatherclearly from the
heart. “That wasmyway
of telling him, ‘I, for one,
think you’rewonderful,’ª”
shesays.
The lead single, “Ohio,”
is apoemabout slavery in-
spiredbyToniMorrison’s
novel
Beloved
. It was ar-
rangedbyPlant,whoalso singson it.Grif-
fin’sprofilecertainlyhasbeenraisedbyher
collaborationswiththesinger,whomshede-
scribesas“genuinely joyfuland in lovewith
music—a lotofpeopleyoumeetdon’thave
thatshine.”ButGri n’sreputationhasbeen
ontheupswingforawhile;herprevioustwo
albumschartedintheTop40,andhersongs
havebeencoveredby the likesof theDixie
Chicks,EmmylouHarris,MirandaLambert
andKellyClarkson.
“I always feel like I start from scratch
witheverysinglerecord,”Gri n laughs. “I
didasmalltourinthefall.Ifthatwasanyin-
dication,thingshavebeenbuildingsteadily.”
Gri n isplanningmore livedateswith
a band (and—who knows?— perhaps a
famousdriver, too). But her ambitions for
AmericanKid
arequitemodest:“Ihopethat
it falls into thehandsofpeoplewhowillbe
movedby it.”—² ³´ µ ³´
FeaturedArtists
According to
THEFEATURES
frontmanMatthewPelham, the
band’snew self-titledalbum
(SerpentsandSnakes, $12) came
togethermuch faster than its three
earlier full-length releases. “With
previous records,wewouldplay
songs live formonthsbeforewe
would step intoa studio,”he says.
“With thisone,wedidn’t allow
ourselves that luxury.We just sort
of said, ‘Let’scommit to things
andnot second-guesswhatwe’re
doing.’”
AmericanWay
caughtup
withPelhamas theNashville-based
quartet,whose song “FromNowOn”
was featuredon the soundtrack for
TheTwilightSaga:BreakingDawn
–Part 1
, preps for ayearof heavy
touringbehind the record.
ONTHEFEATURES’ SOUND:
“We’re sort of
hard topin, just becausewehave a lot of
influences coming from everydirection and
everymember of theband. You could saywe
sound like a rockband, and then sometimes
we sound like apunkbandor ablues band. It
sounds pretty eclectic in the end.”
ONHISFAVORITETRACKONTHENEW
RECORD:
“I thinkmy favorite track right now is
‘Rotten.’ It’s a really simple song. I just like the
overallmood that it sets.”
ONHIS INFLUENCES:
“Iwould say thatBob
DylanandTheKinks specificallyhavebeen
reallybig influencesonme, and that goes to
showhow theother guys—andwhat they
bring towhat I do— changes [our sound].”
—JAMES MAYFIELD
CLOCKWISEFROMTOPLEFT:
TheFeatures’ keyboardist,MarkBond; drummer
RollumHaas; guitarist/vocalistMatthewPelham
andbassistRogerDabbs
