Nanci Griffith

Nanci Caroline Griffith, born July 6 1953, is a singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas. Her career has spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country and folk, and what she terms "folkabilly." Sometimes r

Nanci Caroline Griffith, born July 6 1953, is a singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas. Her career has spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country and folk, and what she terms "folkabilly." Sometimes referred to as a "pop waif," she won a 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for "Other Voices, Other Rooms", an album of Griffith covering the songs of artists who influenced her. She is particularly popular in Ireland. Her best-known song is From a Distance by Julie Gold, although the version that achieved greater commercial success was not Griffith's but Bette Midler's. Similarly, other artists have occasionally achieved greater success with Griffith's songs than Griffith herself: for example, Kathy Mattea, who had a country music top five hit with a 1986 cover of Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime."

Griffith was married to singer-songwriter Eric Taylor from 1976 to 1982.