In the two-plus decades since Patty Griffin began playing coffeehouses, she has released nine studio albums, collaborated with the likes of Emmylou Harris and Robert Plant, nabbed a Grammy, and become one of Americana’s biggest stars. (We hear she has some pretty good jokes, too.) Now, the Austin, Texas-based artist is back with her self-titled tenth studio release, featuring thirteen songs written during a period of immense struggle with—and ultimately triumph over—breast cancer. Lead single “River” focuses on strength in the face of adversity—“Be careful where you send her/’Cause you can’t hold her back for long/A river is just too strong/And she’s a river,” Griffin sings.
Album standout “Hourglass”—which Garden & Gun is pleased to exclusively premiere today—touches on the cyclical nature of life (“The hourglass never really runs out of sand/You get to the end and you just turn it upside down again/It’s like a book where the story never ends/The plot keeps turning around”). “When I sing it, it feels fun,” Griffin says. “It brings humor to the feeling that all we do is start over, over and over again—try stuff out, get lost, and start all over again. The older I get, the more I appreciate the clueless, curious, and adventurous dreamer inside me. It’s gotten me here, and that’s pretty good.”
Hear “Hourglass” below before the album is released on March 8. Patty Griffin is available for preorder, and Griffin’s spring tour features dates all across the South.
