Patty Griffin // Downtown Church

This article from PBS NewsHour's Art Beat piqued my interest in Patty Griffin's latest album, the rich and soulful Downtown Church. In the article, Griffin confesses she's "a lapsed Catholic at best," someone who left the church partly over frustrations with its male-centric language. But now she's made a gospel album, and apparently it was her idea to record it in a church--the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN.

I purchased Griffin's CD and finally listened to it all the way through. It's gritty. It's raw. It's soulful. Griffin's own textured alto voice is joined by other artists in such a way that it encourages the listener to join in, too. I love the shuffling "Wade in the Water" and the stripped version of "All Creatures of Our God and King."

I don't know if recording Downtown Church changed anything in Griffin's heart, but I'm grateful to have it anyway.