Rickie Lee Jones and Patty Griffin bring mutual admiration society to Variety Playhouse

Rickie Lee Jones right with Petra Heyden at Variety Playhouse on Oct Photo by Jill Stein Singer songwriters Rickie Lee Jones and Patty Griffin have a mutual admiration society but they aren t alone in their appreciation of each other s work At Oct s Variety Playhouse the two artists were blanketed with love by fans who seemed equally excited about seeing Jones and Griffin perform old hits and showcase songs from their new albums Jones was the first artist to take the stage reminiscing about her previous appearance at Variety Playhouse after emerging through with hits like Grammy-nominated Chuck-E s in Love but before her appearance on Saturday Night Live saying that tickets were being sold for about Jones performed songs from her jazzed-inspired Pieces of Treasures album including Just in Time a song made famous by Tony Bennett Second Time Around which she co-wrote with David Was along with A Tree on Allenford Ugly Man and The Evening of My Best Day from her album Jones nicknamed the Duchess of Coolsville which was also the title of her compilation album opened her set on acoustic guitar and then moved to piano for the last several songs Her vocals still pure and nuanced were beautifully complemented by singer violinist Petra Heyden about whom Jones joked saying I have a boyfriend and he listens to Petra s songs more than me Patty Griffin sings selections from her album Crown of Roses at Variety Playhouse Photo by Jill Stein Two-time Grammy winner Griffin took to the stage next announcing I could fan girl all over Rickie I m such a fan before launching into All the Way Home Back at the Start Long Time and other songs from her sixth studio album entitled Crown of Roses which was distributed earlier this year It s Saturday night in Five Points she notified the audience It hasn t changed much but the people have gotten a lot younger She explained the songs on the eight-track Crown of Roses album were inspired by her mother s illness and death in February during an era of turmoil that also saw her relationship with Led Zepplin s frontman Robert Plant dissolve In an absorbing twist Plant contributed backing vocals on Long Time on the album Crown of Roses was inspired by my mom as I was hanging out with her until the end of her days Griffin mentioned While the majority of her set leaned on songs from Crown of Roses Griffin sang No Bad News from her album Children Running Through which won Album of the Year at the Americana Music Honors Awards and Shine a Different Way from her album Servant of Love Griffin s voice often described as a blend of silk grit and steel still had all the beauty and nuance of her earlier years a fact made even more remarkable by the fact that she lost the ability to speak or sing due to radiation after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in Jones and Griffin will tour throughout October with upcoming gigs in Nashville TN Port Chester NY and Portland ME before concluding Nov in Dallas TX The post Rickie Lee Jones and Patty Griffin bring mutual admiration society to Variety Playhouse appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta