On "Children Running Through," Griffin's seamless songcraft is supported by spare, spacious arrangements and production by Griffin along with Mike McCarthy (Spoon) that emphasize her effortlessly eloquent lyrics, her subtly indelible melodies and her sublimely expressive voice, while making judicious use of such sonic frills as horns and strings.

"I just wanted to write from the heart and let it be," Griffin says of the project. "Some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard is when you catch somebody singing to themselves. I wanted to make music that had that feeling."

That sort of heartfelt forthrightness has won Griffin a fiercely loyal fan base that's continued to expand. Among her higher-profile admirers are the Dixie Chicks, who recorded much-loved versions of the Griffin compositions "Top of the World," "Truth No. 2" and "Let Him Fly"; Emmylou Harris, a longtime supporter who's covered several Griffin songs, and who lends her iconic harmony vocals to the Children Running Through number "Trapeze"; and Solomon Burke, who covers "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)" on his latest record. . In addition, Griffin's songwriting has been embraced by a diverse assortment of performers, including Martina McBride, Bette Midler, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Reba McEntire and Maura O'Connell, all of whom have recorded her songs. Also inspired by her work, filmmaker Cameron Crowe personally selected her to appear in his 2005 feature film "Elizabethtown."

While the "New York Times" in the past has called Griffin's music "enthralling," noting that "the down-home and the existential merge" in her songs, "No Depression" has weighed in early on "Children Running Home." In their highlighted review, editor Grant Alden hails: "Every other record she has made - and most of them are quite good - seems to have been a preamble to this work, by leaps and bounds the best of her career....if somebody makes a better record in 2007, it will have been a spectacular year."

Here's her new bio:

 
Patty Griffin's new album Children Running Through (ATO) continues the
remarkable creative evolution that's quietly established Griffin as a
vital and singular musical force. It also belies her persistent
sensitive-singer-songwriter image—a limiting perception that fails to
fully convey the emotional depth and breadth of her songwriting or the
emotive power of her fluid, soulful singing. Indeed, the new disc's 12
Griffin originals maintain a timelessly truthful resonance that echoes a
variety of styles, most notably the classic R&B and gospel music that
have long been a source of inspiration for the artist.

On Children Running Through, Griffin's seamless songcraft is supported
by spare, spacious arrangements and production by Griffin along with
Mike McCarthy (Spoon) that emphasize her effortlessly eloquent lyrics,
her subtly indelible melodies and her sublimely expressive voice, while
making judicious use of such sonic frills as horns and strings. The
artful instrumental settings are perfectly suited to the soul glory of
“Heavenly Day,” the wistful melancholy of "You'll Remember," the
haunting intimacy of "Railroad Wings," the vivid storytelling of
"Trapeze," the rocking "No Bad News," the steely determination of "I
Don't Ever Give Up" and the healing gospel of "Up to the Mountain (MLK
Song)."

"I just wanted to write from the heart and let it be," Griffin says of
the project. "Some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard is when
you catch somebody singing to themselves. I wanted to make music that
had that feeling."

That sort of heartfelt forthrightness has won Griffin a fiercely loyal
fan base that's continued to expand, even as she's retreated from the
cookie-cutter machinery of the mainstream music industry. Among her
higher-profile admirers are the Dixie Chicks, who recorded much-loved
versions of the Griffin compositions "Top of the World," "Truth No. 2"
and "Let Him Fly"; Emmylou Harris, a longtime supporter who's covered
several Griffin songs, and who lends her iconic harmony vocals to the
Children Running Through number "Trapeze”; and Solomon Burke, who covers
"Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)” on his latest record.

The Maine native first became aware of music's capacity to communicate
while growing up as the youngest of seven siblings, listening to her
mother sing hymns, country songs and made-up ditties. She began singing
during childhood, and wrote poems and songs as a teenager, but was too
shy to make much of an effort to perform in public. After a stint living
in Florida, she moved to the Boston area, where she waited tables and
worked as a telephone switchboard operator at Harvard University. It
wasn't until her guitar teacher coaxed her into joining him on stage in
a tiny Cambridge club that Griffin mustered up the courage to begin
performing her songs in public.

On the strength of a set of unadorned acoustic demo recordings, Griffin
won a recording deal with A&M Records. When an attempt at cutting more
elaborate studio versions of the same material proved unsatisfactory,
the label agreed to release the artist's stripped-down original demos
instead. The result was her 1996 debut release Living with Ghosts, which
won widespread critical acclaim and won Griffin the beginnings of a
passionate and devoted fan following. The following year, Griffin defied
expectations by taking a radically different approach on her noisy
sophomore effort, Flaming Red.

After an album she recorded in 2000 went unreleased due to corporate
shuffles, Griffin found a more hospitable home when fan Dave Matthews
signed her to his new, artist-friendly ATO Records. The change in labels
coincided with Griffin's determination to scale her music back down to
its essence, a direction that was reflected on 2002's sparse, mostly
acoustic 1000 Kisses, which earned a Grammy nomination in the Best
Contemporary Folk Album category. It was followed in 2003 by the live
CD/DVD set A Kiss In Time.

2004's Impossible Dream was Griffin's most ambitious and accomplished
effort yet, encompassing a broad range of musical influences while
boasting some of her most ambitious, emotionally complex songwriting to
date. It also netted a second Grammy nomination for Griffin.

As her own releases have continued to win consistent critical attention
and a steadily expanding audience, Griffin has simultaneously become a
popular source of material for other artists. In addition to the ones
mentioned above, Griffin's songwriting has been embraced by a diverse
assortment of performers, including Martina McBride, Bette Midler, Mary
Chapin Carpenter, Reba McEntire and Maura O'Connell, all of whom have
recorded her songs. Also inspired by her work, filmmaker Cameron Crowe
personally selected her to appear in his 2005 feature film “Elizabethtown.”

In addition to raising her public profile, having her songs covered by
other artists has allowed Griffin the luxury of making music on her own
terms, and her iconoclastic approach is reflected throughout Children
Running Through.

"I invested a lot more time in this than anything I've ever done," she
says of the new album. "After Impossible Dream, I had used up all the
songs I'd been carrying around for years, so it was a challenge to find
out if I had anything left in me. It took some time, but it was a
positive thing to be tested that way."

While her new songs maintain the levels of clarity and insight that
Griffin's fans have come to expect, the new album's organic, deeply felt
performances embody an openhearted sense of directness and simplicity.
"The aim," Griffin states, "was to strip everything down and just give
it a few brushstrokes here and there, to come up with something that's
quiet but powerful. I wanted to be a little less wordy, but I also
wanted to make a record where I didn't hold back and let myself sing as
loud as I wanted to.

"A great part of getting older," she adds, "is not caring so much what
other people think. I feel like I'm allowed to be goofy or whatever, and
I'm allowed not to worry about whether something is cool enough or smart
enough. That's pretty liberating."

Children Running Through, was recorded in the artist's adopted hometown
of Austin, Texas, in a makeshift studio set up in a rented house across
the street from her home. In addition to Griffin on vocals and guitar,
the sessions featured a sterling assortment of Austin, Nashville and New
York players, including longtime Griffin collaborator Doug Lancio on
guitar, legendary Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, and a nine-person
string section conducted and arranged by multi-instrumentalist John Mark
Painter.

"This record was tough, but it was really rewarding," Griffin reports.
"I was more relaxed than I've ever been making a record, and I had a lot
of confidence in the material. But there was also a lot of tension, and
there were definitely moments where we didn't think we were gonna get it
together. But we did.

"One of the most important things to me is avoiding cynicism, and that's
what this record represents to me," she concludes. "For me, the best
songs and the best ideas have always emerged from just thinking, 'Well,
what do I feel like singing right now?' That's always a good, honest
place to start from. For me, this whole record is a little like that."