Concert review: Nanci Griffith, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

WHILE it’s Irish audiences who are primarily credited for taking Texan singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith to their hearts in the 1980s – when Nashville wouldn’t – cementing her prominence among that decade’s new wave of alternative country/folk artists, Scotland has never been far behind in embracing her music.

Glasgow in particular, with its voracious musical appetite for all things Americana, has become a home from home, and the Concert Hall – where Griffith has now played dozens of times – almost her surrogate living-room.

It was filled to near-capacity once again, substantially with long-time fans, and on a stage decked out with a couple of vintage standard lamps for extra cosy intimacy, a characteristically relaxed, expansive Griffith was clearly in her element as hostess.

Besides her having apparently been showered with presents by some in the crowd, the fact that Griffith’s 20th album Intersection has been topping the UK country charts since its release three weeks ago presumably also added to her bonhomie, though she sang surprisingly little of its material.

And it’s true that the new songs she did feature mostly lacked the melodic distinction and lyrical finesse of her best previous work – though the brilliantly splenetic Hell No (I’m Not Alright) brought the house down as her first encore.

But the array of cherry-picked gems from her illustrious back catalogue worked their customary bittersweet magic, wrapped in a voice which has gained in grit, weight and resonant wisdom what it’s sacrificed in sweetness over the years.

Rating: ****