A Kiss In Time [CD/DVD]

This live album documents a love affair, one between a singer-songwriter who attracted a whole new following with the release of 2002’s 1000 Kisses and the devoted fans who flocked to her subsequent tour. The rapturous response at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, long the hallowed home of the Grand Ole Opry, makes it plain that Griffin is among friends for this concert recording, with kindred spirits Emmylou Harris and Julie and Buddy Miller joining her onstage to lend vocal support. Despite the setting, Griffin’s music resists categorization as country (or folk or rock), with acoustic guitar, accordion, and piano providing exquisite settings for her expressively edgy vocals on a range of striking material--from the suicide of a tormented gay boy in "Tony" to the plight of an unhappy heiress in "Christina" (which Griffin explains to the crowd came to her in a dream about Christina Onassis) to the hint of ragtime in "Mad Mission." A bonus DVD of backstage scenes and videos completes the package, which lets fans feel they’ve gotten to know not only the music, but the artist. -- Don McLeese