Downtown Church by Patty Griffin

Patty Griffin is that rare roots-music artist who brings new life to the old forms. Folk, country, and blues have become one in her hands, and with 2010’s *Downtown Church* she delves further into gospel. The album was recorded at Nashville\'s Downtown Presbyterian Church by Buddy Miller and features guest spots from Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Raul Malo, and Jim Lauderdale. Hank Williams’ “House of Gold” is given a slow, ghostly read, while “Move Up” with Lauderdale, Miller, and Ann and Regina McCrary turns to an uptown blues shuffle for its gospel shout. “If I Had My Way” swirls with a full band blast. Griffin kicks it up with the Big Mama Thornton blues “I Smell a Rat” and pounds out a field holler with “Death’s Got a Warrant,” but she’s at her most gripping at her gentlest. The country-folk ballad “Little Fire” with Emmylou Harris is a stirring moment of tenderness, where the two singers do what comes naturally.

B

Something about recording in a church seems to raise musicians’ level of focus. It’s almost as if they become more aware that someone might be paying attention. Patty Griffin’s first gospel album, Downtown Church, was recorded in a historic Nashville place of worship, with the aid of producer Buddy Miller and a band…

7.4 / 10

The details behind Patty Griffins seventh release are intriguing enough without listening to a single song: The entire record was cut in a 160-year-old Presbyterian church that once welcomed Andrew Jackson and survived the Civil War as a hospital for Union soldiers.

Even when backed by a full choir on the stirring “Move Up,” Griffin still emerges as a real show-stealing powerhouse.

9 / 10

6 / 10