Toe in the Water

Goodbye Nanci

Goodbye Nanci

Today I learned, purely by chance, that Nanci Griffith died three days ago. This was a bit of a shock to me, particularly as I only discovered her recently. I suppose that was because her music is usually classified as country, whereas my interest lies mainly in the rock area. During her long career through the seventies to the early 2000s, I was listening elsewhere.

But what a revelation she was when I stumbled across her videos in YouTube. The clear, bright quality of her voice, her flawless guitar playing, the quality of her song writing and the joy in her eyes was irresistible. It did not even occur to me to wonder about the genre of her music until I’d heard most of what YouTube had to offer.

There are many tributes on the net, giving due recognition to her influence on music, but few mention how accomplished a guitarist she was. I was never more than a beginner at playing the guitar so that, although I could recognise the skill of her finger style, I could never understand or explain what made her virtuosity so special. The tribute below, from an English guitarist (who, unfortunately, spells his name Fil), reveals just how much her ability in this area will be missed.



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