Nanci Griffith

Nanci Griffith

It's quite an accomplishment. The Loving Kind is the 19th album of Nanci Griffith's brand of folkabilly, but she still manages to keep us enthralled. Her first disc of all new music since 2005's Hearts in Mind engages a range of topics that's so wide other songwriters would find them daunting. The title track deals with the 1967 landmark case Loving v. Virginia, "Not Innocent Enough" invokes the death row story of the wrongfully executed Philip Workman, and Austin's onetime songbird pays tribute to mentor Townes Van Zandt on "Up Against the Rain." The Loving Kind may be the most political statement of the longtime Nashville singer's career, but it retains the comfort of an old friend. The disc closes distinctively with a honky-tonking "Tequila After Midnight" and the pensive "Pour Me a Drink." Griffith's dealing with tough times manages to cheer downtrodden souls.