Bledsoe: Patty Griffin goes to church

Patty Griffin

Patty Griffin

"Downtown Church," Patty Griffin (EMI/Credential)

Singer-songwriter Patty Griffin has always had a streak of gospel running through her music. Her best songs have an ache and a longing that you can feel deep in your soul. Griffin has some-times spoken of her love of gospel, and a few songs, notably "Up the Mountain," sound as if they could be covers of vintage black gospel numbers.

Still, it's a bit of a surprise for Griffin to record "Downtown Church" - an album of (almost) entirely gospel music.

The disc, produced by fellow Americana great Buddy Miller, was recorded in the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville (built in 1849), and Griffin and her collaborators seem to draw inspiration from it.

Griffin gathers material from both the rural white gospel catalog and the black gospel and spiritual material. Opening song "House of Gold" is by Hank Williams, and Alfred Karnes' "We Shall Be Reunited" was first recorded in the 1927 Bristol sessions that launched the careers of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. "The Strange Man" is a classic written by black gospel legend Dorothy Love Coates, and "I Am Waiting for My Child" a neglected classic by Sullivan Pugh of the Consolers. And, Griffin ends with "All Creatures of Our God and King," a song with lyrics attributed to St. Francis of Assisi and includes two sweet originals, "Little Fire" and the gorgeous and sparse "Coming Home to Me."

Griffin and Miller keep the sound of the album raw and simple. "Move Up" mixes the spirit of the great gospel quartets of the 1940s and '50s with the feel of Sun Records rockabilly. Other numbers use only guitar or unobtrusive piano, organ and strings. And, Emmylou Harris, Raul Malo, Jim Lauderdale, Shawn Colvin, Mike Farris, Buddy and Julie Miller, and Regina and Ann McCrary give Griffin the sort of backup vocals that never overshadow the songs themselves.

Not every song on the disc is deity or salvation inspired, but, with one exception, the songs are all connected to the spirit and faith.

The exception is the weirdly out-of-place Big Mama Thornton cheating/party song "I Smell a Rat." It's a fine rendition, but it suddenly feels like somebody has walked into a baptism wearing a G-string.

Regardless, "Downtown Church" is a reason to give thanks.

Wayne Bledsoe may be reached at 865-342-6444 or bledsoew@knoxville.com. He is also the host of "All Over the Road" midnight Saturdays to 4 a.m. Sundays on WDVX-FM.

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