Nanci Griffith brings that Loving feeling to Town Hall Theatre

Nanci Griffith, one of the most esteemed names in American roots music, plays the Town Hall Theatre on Tuesday next, February 16. The show comes halfway through a run of eight shows in Ireland, and Nanci is happy to be coming back here.

“I love playing in Ireland,” she says. “We’re in England first for the BBC Folk Awards, then we’re off to Ireland and then we’re off to Scotland. And then we’ll go to Australia – very busy!”

The Loving Kind, Nanci Griffith’s 18th studio album, sees the songwriter at the peak of her powers with her sense of social justice still intact. The title track is inspired by the case of Richard and Mildred Loving, a mixed-race couple who were jailed after they got married in 1958. The Lovings took their case to the Supreme Court and won a landmark ruling in 1967. Nanci only became aware of the Lovings’ story when she read Mildred’s obituary.

“I’d never heard of the Lovings and their case ‘Loving Vs the State of Virginia,’” she says. “I sat and cried for a couple of hours because I just found it so appalling that it wasn’t on my radar and it wasn’t in the history books. Why it isn’t being taught to American children as a landmark case? It’s something that maybe the people did not agree with but the court overruled them. That’s the way things usually get done; progress gets made whether people want it or not.”

Given the campaign for same-sex marriages in the US, Nanci feels the Lovings’ story is still relevant today.

“Their case was just so special, and the fact that their last name was Loving. It did away with any laws that could be put in place against inter-racial marriage. Hopefully it will be the cornerstone for the government getting out of the loving business altogether-for everyone.”

Up Against The Rain was inspired by Townes Van Zandt, the legendary songwriter behind the hit Poncho And Lefty – recorded by both Emmylou Harris and as a duet by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson – who died in 1997.

“He was a good friend, he was a hero,” says Nanci. “One of the people that I co-write with, Charlie Stefl, was his best friend and is, in fact, godfather to two of Townes’ children. I met Charlie through Townes when I was 16. Townes took him to hear me play in Austin.”Townes Van Zandt’s influence is still evident in modern Americana with Steve Earle having released an entire album of his songs last year. Townes’ absence is something that Nanci still feels greatly.

“He’s a very special person and a great loss. The song that Charlie and I wrote about him really is that, often times, with very, very talented people, a lot of their talent and lot of their work comes out of their own depression and their own anxieties.”

Townes’ personal struggles were something he faced fearlessly in his work.

“He was honest about them,” agrees Nanci. “I think Townes suffered severely from depression through his entire adult life. It’s a serious problem and I think as artists, we all kind of through it one time or another. But Townes lived with it constantly.”

Nanci Griffith is an inspired interpreter of other people’s songs – her version of Julie Gold’s From A Distance raised Griffith to superstar status. What draws her to certain songs?

“Different things,” she muses. “On the new record I’ve two songs by one of my heroes, Dee Moeller. When I was a teenager she never wrote a bad song; she wrote the most incredible honky-tonk songs that have ever been written. She’s retired now from writing and runs a bookstore – and that’s a great thing for a writer to do!”

Nanci has been a fan of Moeller’s work since the 1970s and found Dee inspirational when her own creative well ran dry.

“When I went through my little slump of not being able to write I called Dee Moeller up and I said ‘can you send me this song or that song? I want get back to what I intended as a songwriter’. She did and it really inspired me to get back to my guitar and get back to writing.”

That creative block must have been a difficult for such an experienced songwriter as Nanci.

“It lasted for about six years,” she recalls. “I’d never had a writer’s block before. I think that everybody experiences them but you never know how it’s going to affect you. It was alarming for me, because I thought this has been the cornerstone of my life, being able to write. Then for a while I couldn’t and I was so happy when it all came flooding back.”

A native of Austin, Texas, Nanci is now based in Nashville, Tennessee – both of which are places steeped in the history of American country music.

“I’m very happy with both places,” she says. “I love playing the Grand Ole Opry here in Nashville and being part of the community. Nashville is somewhat like Austin but there’s more business going on in Nashville. It’s not a real crazy live music city like Austin is but both places are very warm and welcoming.”

Brown’s Diner is a small bar in Nashville, built from an old railway carriage, where some of the city’s most respected songwriters (and a few colourful locals) like to hang out.

“You’re gonna walk into Brown’s on any given day and see me talking to some guy who lays concrete for a living,” says Nanci. “Or you could walk in and see John Prine talking to an electrician. It’s just such a great combination of people.”

As is evident from her latest album, and throughout her career, Nanci Griffith is a writer who engages with her times.“I come from the old school, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie and Odetta. I think it’s very important to write about the social times that you live in.”

Has the change of president in the US made it easier to be that kind artist?

“I’ve always been a very outspoken broad!” Nanci insists. “It hasn’t made that much difference except that I can now say that I’m very happy to have Barack Obama as president.”Nanci Griffith has been performing since she was 14 and all these years later, she still feels that spark that makes her such a unique singer.

“It feels the same every night when I walk out on stage,” she says.Nanci Griffith plays the Town Hall at 8pm on Tuesday, 16th February. Tickets €38.50 from www.tht.ie or 091-569777.