Patty Griffin image ©Suzanne Cordeiro/REX/Shutterstock
Patricia Jean Griffin (b. 3/16/64) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs have been covered by numerous musicians, including Emmylou Harris, Ellis Paul, Kelly Clarkson, Rory Block, Dave Hause, Sugarland, Bette Midler and The Chicks.
In 2007, Griffin received the Artist of the Year award from the Americana Music Association, and her album Children Running Through won the award for Best Album. In 2011, Griffin’s album Downtown Church won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album and her 2019 self-titled album won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.
Early Life:
Griffin is from Old Town, Maine, United States, next to the Penobscot Native American reservation. She’s the youngest child in her family, with six older siblings.
Musical Beginnings:
She bought a guitar for $50 at age 16. She sang and played but had no inclination to become a professional musician. After a 6-year marriage, which ended in 1994, Griffin began playing in Boston coffee houses and was “scouted” by A&M Records, which signed her on the strength of her demo tape. When the finished studio recordings were submitted to A&M, the company executives thought it was overproduced, so producer Nile Rodgers and A&M instead released a stripped-down reworking of her demo tape as the album Living with Ghosts.
Discography:
Studio albums: 11
Live albums: 3
Other contributions: 10
Singles: 3
As a featured artist: 1
Music videos: 8
Filmography:
Griffin has appeared in several movies, including Cremaster 2 and Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown, the soundtrack of which includes her song “Long Ride Home” and a cover of “Moon River“, by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini. Her music has appeared in many films and TV shows which are named at wikipedia.
One thing to share:
In 2012, Griffin married Robert Plant, who is famous as the frontman for Led Zeppelin. She and Plant first toured together in 2010 as part of the group Band of Joy. Patty has collaborated with a number of musicians on her own albums. She wrote the song “Ohio” with her partner Robert Plant, which he also sings back up vocals on. Emmylou Harris is also featured on a number of her songs, most notably “Trapeze,” which appeared on her album Children Running Through.
Official website: here
Tao Talk 
Alas another artist I like but never seem to get the more listening part in!
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I. Hear. You. Randy. Too much music, too little time.
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Exactly!
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I like her music, though I lost track of her years ago.
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I was quite surprised to see she and Robert Plant were married. Thanks for reading/listening.
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I think Plant may be a bit of a folkie himself. His duo’s with Allison Krause lead that way.
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I’ve liked the music I’ve heard from her…I had not clue though she was married to Plant. That is odd in the music business…being signed when you turned 30.
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Max, if you ever learn the story behind either of those tidbits, please share them.
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The one thing I read was her voice was gone in 2019 and it was because she got breast cancer and was going through treatments. The Robert Plant thing just floored me…I had no idea…I would have guessed Krauss if anyone.
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Oh no on the cancer and her voice 😦 Yes on Krauss.
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I knew she had toured with Robert Plant, but I did not know they were married either. One of my favorites. (K)
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Kerfe, you have a wide knowledge of musical artists. Happy you’re familiar with her music.
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Music has been a constant companion in my life.
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Same here. Were your folks into music?
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They were–big bands and Broadway shows. Standards, as they are now referred to. My father used to play the piano and we would all sing along. My mother played also, but preferred classical. They hated the Beatles, but my father later told me he couldn’t remember why, as he had grown to like them in his old age…
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I’m glad you got the musical immersion in your house. Did you play or do you play the piano? In my house my mom has popular albums, but some of the children’s albums we had were classical music, so I got a very limited introduction to it. Enough to “start me up” with a lifelong love of music.
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I played a bit. I inherited the family piano, but gave it to my younger daughter as she plays a lot, and I had no room in my last apartment. I was not very good, but occasionally wish it was here.
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That’s so wonderful that three generations play and probably more either way. Happy the piano remains in your family. I’m sure you could go over and play it any time you want.
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Probably. But she is still waiting for someone to install her Ikea kitchen, and doesn’t want me to visit until it’s done. Unfortunately, it’s not a priority in her life.
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I didn’t know Patty and really like what I’m hearing!
According to Wikipedia, it sounds like Griffin had a long relationship with Robert Plant, but they weren’t married: “In 2014 Griffin parted with Plant after a long relationship; they had lived together and divided their time between Austin, Texas, and England.” That statement is sourced to a Sep 2014 NPR segment.
In any case, I guess what matters is they were in a serious relationship. They also sounded great together on “Ohio”. To be clear, this isn’t to imply Patty isn’t compelling as a solo artist!
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Thanks for the additional info, Christian. “We don’t need no piece of paper from the city hall.” You’re right it matters not if they had the piece of paper. They do sound really good together. Plant got a taste for his voice with a female voice and moseyed on to sing with Alison. They’re doing pretty well!
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I don’t know a whole lot about musicians.
Thanks for this intro.
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Jules, for most of them I learn as I go. This is the 4th years I’ve done this and have featured a lot of the ones I do know already. My pleasure 🙂
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🙂
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