The Last Of The True Believers

Conjuring images of sawdust, line dancing and incest as all good Country should.

Holy fuck, I wasn’t expecting much from this album when I woke up this morning, and even less so after the opening bars of its first track. But there I was standing at a bus stop in baking heat wearing a Sisters of Mercy t-shirt, and this album made me completely forget the searing sun and almost reduced me to tears. It’s so fucking good. Griffiths’ voice is so uplifting, it’s majestic. The production is incredible. This album just shimmers from start to finish - with the title track and “Fly By Night” my personal highlights. Every note seems meticulously placed so as to evoke as much emotion as possible. This is a country pop masterpiece and the easiest 5 stars I’ve given out so far.

3.2 - A sweet country sound, bordering on saccharine. Also extremely feminine. Listening to this record makes me picture a group of middle-aged white women sitting out on camping chairs, sipping white wine, getting a little rowdy, getting a little sad.

About. Damn. Time. Sifted through enough punk, British bullhickey... overdue for a steel guitar.

I knew this album was going to be good but it killed expectations. I love all the country instrumentation as there’s tons of steel, dobro, mandolin, fiddle, banjo. Her vocals are unique as well and remind me of one of my favorite singers Emmylou Harris with its more folky country sound. Very good, no bad tracks.

I enjoyed it! Definitely a fun one to kick this off with. My favorite song was probably "One of These Days." Her voice really comes through in the whole album and I loved the fiddle. I looked Nanci Griffith up and apparently she passed in the last year which is tragic; she was best known for the most played song on the album ("Love at the Five and Dime" which I thought had a really nice vocal line in the eponymous line) but with someone else covering it that blew up in the country world. I hadn't ever heard of her but it seems like she was pretty important and influential.

My family took a lot of road trips when I was a kid. We lived in NC But we drove to TX, Yellowstone National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park at different points. Nanci Griffith was the soundtrack to these drives across the country and honestly I can't think of a better soundtrack to driving through the mountains and across the heartland of this country. This probably veers too far into country music for my taste these days but the nostalgia of it is strong, her voice is beautiful, and her music helped shape my love of blue grass even though I don't love country.

Damn y’all ain’t afraid of broadcasting the classism you’ve tied up with the country genre.

Iris Demint vibes. Old girl country or modern girl indie.

Good, but imho nothing special Country album.

Ahhh Ice Queen Nanci Griffith, the one that got away. I used to stalk her and her younger sister until she filed for a restraining order, forcing me to attempt suicide 37 times. Bitch. I banged the younger sister though. Hard. Without consent.

A country artist I have never heard. And that's a hard feat to do! 5 star album all the way

LOVE IT!

Amazing country album. Amazing find that I’ll return to.

Country y folk. ¿Qué más puedo pedir? Voz preciosa.

cool

I am a fully paid-up member of the NG fan club and boy how she's missed. Be grateful that this - her best album - is on Spotify as her catalogue is only patchily available on streaming. This is right in the middle of her proper Imperial Period - starting with previous album Once In A Very Blue Moon (not available on Spotify) and stretching over five albums to Storms where she was operating with a quality and consistency that few singer-songwriters can match. Virtually every track here is gold, Love at the Five and Dime of course the stand-out.

This album is like a warm hug during a thunderstorm telling you everything will be okay. I did not think I would enjoy this, but this album was one of the most enjoyable experiences. It's nice to get out of all the British new wave and shitty UK drill for good old-fashioned country tunes. The perfect album to sit out on the porch in your rocking chair with a glass of sweet tea. 5/5, 10/10.

Well isnt this just flawless

I can get down with this opening track. Love At The Five And Dime is a great tune! More Than A Whisper is such a strong lyrical song. Banks Of The Pontchartrain is another fucking banger. Goin' Gone is a great tune but it's a little hard for me to listen to right now. Something that shows through in her work is her effortless mastry of blending melody accents and lyrics. It shows off her sterling lyric work and usually catches me. One Of These Days kills. Damn what a fine album.

thank god this doesn't suffer from 80s production disease because i am a giant sucker for her voice and these kinds of songs. ultimately felt kinda middling but nice.

This was nice. Maybe a bit more country-leaning than folk-leaning for my particular taste, but I enjoyed it. 3 stars.

Powerhouse of a voice. I got pretty excited by track 1, but then couldn’t find another track to match it. Some close contenders include “Fly By Night” and “Lookin’ For The Time (Workin’ Girl)”. So close to giving it a Four, but it’s lacking some quality that distinguished my favorite albums of this genre.

Country done right.

I got two track in and was hot with an overwhelming feeling of I'm not wasting my Saturday with this shit. Cuntry music can fuck right off.

If I had one genre that I actually can't find much to like about it, it would be pop country, and this album is just that. It isn't as egregious as what you may hear on half of the radio stations available while you're driving in the middle of nowhere, but it still really isn't good for me. Country is built a lot on the stories the lyrics tell, but none of these songs feel any more interesting than what you could hear on something in any other song, and the instruments, while I suppose "soothing" are repetitive. That country twang can only be added to so many songs before I start to become numb to it, and then it goes from being annoying to boring, both things you don't want your music to be. Could I see why people may like this? Perhaps, and it's year of release was around the time when country music was starting to transition from more of a blues and folk focus to something more like what it is today, so this is probably for that "revolution" in music, but I just don't enjoy it. If you don't like country music, this does nothing to win you over, but it's certainly not the worst album I've gotten, and the last two songs on the album show some hint of something that could be good. Too little too late, however.

I did not like this album at all. It’s the old timey country love songs that I just hate. I would actively turn this off if played in the future.

So bad. The folkiest folk, mixed with yodeling country. I couldn’t even get through the whole thing. Listen again: no way Purchase for my collection: no Favourite Song:

Lullabies for adults.

Absolutely brilliant country, defies the usual stereotypes of the genre and delivers on every level. Enjoyable and comforting.

Superb songwriting. Great performances. Masterful.

The haven't been a ton of first time listens that I've given five stars to but this one just hits right.

Superb

This album blew me away. I wasn't expecting something so soft and soothing. Nanci's soft voice and lyrics sounds so comforting with the instrumentals adding a sense of nostalgia in every song. Honestly, as someone who thought that country music wasn't for me, it left me with a different opinion on the genre.

Fucking awesome made me really sad

My parents played a LOT of Nanci Griffith during my childhood (and Allison Krauss, Iris DeMent, etc) so I have a huge soft spot for that whole scene. Really enjoyed this though as far as NG albums go I prefer Other Voices, Other Rooms.

This was just the change of pace I’ve been needing on this project! Some steel guitar was music to my ears and Nanci’s songs were great! What a terrific listen!

Well this was lovely. More like this, please. More!

This was getting a 5 whether I loved it or not. Boy, did I love it!! My one complaint is how short the album is, and every time that I listened, it just seemed to get shorter. I wanted more.

One of my favorite songs in college was "Once In a Very Blue Moon" by Nanci Griffith, which I had on a mix tape. It was nice to spend some time with her again today. This is lovely and it makes me wonder why she wasn't more of a country music superstar, since she does it so very well.

utterly charming

She is an American treasure. 5 stars.

Mmm 5

Loved this

Country y folk. ¿Qué más puedo pedir? Voz preciosa.

Excellent

I love country music

Love her unique sound.

Today's album is like country folk, which has a genre title. It's called folkabilly, apparently. Pretty solid easy listening record. Nancy's like Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, or, in modern music, like Alison Krauss. Favourite songs: St. Olav's Gate, Love's Found a Shoulder, Lookin' For the Time (Workin' Girl), Banks of The Pontchartrain, Love at the Five & Dime, More Than a Whisper, The Last of the True Believers, Goin' Gone, One of These Days, Fly By Night Least favourite songs: The Wing & the Wheel 5/5

Such a lovely voice and talented songwriter

This is the voice I most closely associate with my mum. Except probably her own voice, and her mum's and okay excluding people from our immediate lives.

A Nashville album with pedal steel guitar like this is going to get a 5 star every single time from me. Put this in an enema and shoot it straight into my ass. Perfect music.

Best song - Love At The Five & Dime

Country Folk, pero en los 80, muy tranquilero pero mola para trabajar o cocinar y escuchar de fondo

Such a great album -- really top-notch. Nanci Griffith sure could write songs. I could listen to this on repeat.

Angelic. 💙. 5

This surpassed my expectations. It's everything I want in a country album: story-forward, well-written, and concise. I love Nanci Griffith's voice and melodies, and the production is on point. I'm already looking forward to listening again. Highlights: The Last Of The True Believers, Love At The Five & Dime, St. Olav's Gate, Banks Of The Pontchartrain, Lookin' For The Time (Workin' Girl), Fly By Night

Stunning and raw new America country album.

When I think of classic country I think of this sound. Such a lovely album.

want on vinyl 10 10 10’s across the board

Absolutely lovely country/folk album. Not a bad song on it.

Bello country

Brilliant. Great vocalist. Great songs. Somehow I missed her back then.

I've never really been a country music guy, but every so often an artist allows me to appreciate the genre. This was great; I enjoyed both the songwriting and the delivery. Nanci Griffith's voice suits the material perfectly. I can see a direct through-line from here to another country artist I enjoy; Waxahatchee

Man, Nanci Griffith was pure magic. Her voice, her lyrics, her storytelling. In so many ways, she reminds me of John Prine. Good storytelling with songs about love and loss, but always approachable and human. There's that small element of humor in her words and in her voice. More than anything, this is a record that I can kind of just live in. Its somewhere that I want to hang out and sip coffee. Especially on a autumn day such as today (Oct 3, 2025). "Vibe" feels to trite to explain it, but this record is a feeling. It's warm and lovely and I'm okay if it plays all day. Also, I can't listen to Nanci Griffith without thinking about Meg. Her parents are big Nanci fans, so she was kind of raised on this music.

I am at a 5. I am also in bliss. Is it too late to make that Trio we got way earlier into a Quartet? I know Dolly, Emmylou & Linda don’t need a 4th, but if they ever wanted one, I’d immediately vouch for Nanci Griffith – what a beautiful, beautiful voice. Her vocals add so much emotional depth to what’s already an album full of incredibly well written songs. I know I’m a sucker for country, and this album pretty much hits on every country trope I like, but even if I could remove my biases, I just think there’s something beautiful to the whole thing here. When I think of country music, I continue to curse the name of Toby Keith and all the other motherfuckers who took this style of country far away and made it into sucking off the troops, drinking beer, sexualizing girls in bikinis, and a bunch of other platitudinal bullshit that doesn’t really represent what country was always made to capture. It’s this type of sound, and these types of stories. It’s the slice of life Americana with good storytelling that calls back to younger days full of starry-eyed hope and wonder. It’s exactly what this album captures so well, and so beautifully. It certainly helps that there’s a real variety to these tracks – this goes all over the place tonally and even geographically in the lyrics, but it stays pretty grounded and anchored by the core instrumentation of the acoustic guitar, the steel guitar, the fiddle, and the really light percussion. No two tracks feel quite the same, especially if you actually bother to read the lyrics. Her voice just glides on top of everything else though, the little missing puzzle piece that makes these songs totally pop. Even when the choruses get a little repetitive, her voice is just so damn good that it’s easy to get lost in it without a care. I could keep going, but I just really, really, really enjoyed this. I know there’s a disposition against modern country, and it’s well deserved, but this is the type of album that makes me pray that this style can come back into the forefront someday. Intelligent writing, great storytelling, simple soundscapes, and great vocals. That’s all it takes, and while it’s easier said than done, I really think we can get there if people just put in the damn effort, just like Nanci Griffith did here. Just a stellar 5.

Simply just some good ol' classic country that sounds great. 4.5 up to 5.

Very good!

Major Allison Krauss vibes. I'm here for it. Takes me back to my childhood in a cozy way.

Great

Great folksy vibes; music feels familiar. Feels like a precursor to Bonnie Raitt or someone we'd get at JFFA.

Really solid album. Calls to mind some very specific memories and reminds me of when I learned that country music was good and worth listening to. A lot of the songs sounded the same, which was a bit of a bummer, but Love at the Five and Dime stands out as one of the few songs which belongs on both my happy and sad playlists. I had never heard of Nanci Griffith before, but now I'm glad that I have!

What a nostalgic sound! It's a harmonious album--hard to pick a highlight. Super charming.

Not really the kind of music I’d seek out on my own but this is def the kind of stuff my mom would have on cassette tapes to listen to in the car so it feels super nostalgic

I'm either getting old, or this list is making me more of a country fan. A solid set of songs from front to back, and doesn't overstay its welcome at all. Favorite tracks: "The Last of the True Believers", "Love At the Five and Dime", "Fly By Night", "Lookin' For the Time"

Love her voice. Really nice songs. Not my bag, but still appreciate them. It's like music that my wife listens to and I don't complain about it.

Particularly liked the 1st track, the last of the true believers. Country.

A really nice album with catchy singable songwriting, a storytellers gift for a beautiful lyric as well as production that is graceful and always in service to the song. I could see Patti Griffith holding the same lofty position in my library as the brilliant Lucinda Williams. 4 🌟

Wow, zaskakująco fajne. Bardzo przyjemny głos. Nie jest to jakaś płyta, do której bym chciał wracać regularnie, ale słuchało się naprawdę miło

A pleasant voice and catchy tunes. Combined nice with a train ride. An otherwise unremarkable album.

The Last of the True Believers was probably my introduction to Nanci Griffith, but I'm not sure if I've heard the entired album all at once. I have enjoyed Griffith's oddly happy take on sad stories since I first heard her music. I enjoy her storytelling, and the easily recognizable quality of her voice. I am surprised that I haven't listened to her in so long. I was happy to see The Last of the True Believers as my recommendation for the day. "Love at the Five and Dime" is an all time favorite from Griffith - finding joy in great storytelling and slight sadness. "Banks of the Pontchartrain", "Love's Found a Shoulder", and "Fly by Night" are new favorites. I hope I won't take so long to come back again.

Something I have discovered about myself during this vinyl odyssey is that I have quite a fondness for what I consider the best country. Yes, that qualifier makes it almost tautological. But remember that even the most ardent country fans would recognise that a lot of country is banal, overproduced, saccharine, meatheaded or just a bit naff. Anyway, like plenty of people my age, I first began wondering if country had some charms I had, in my ignorance, cold-shouldered after the late renaissance of Johnny Cash (actually, with me it was more that my love of Elvis steered me towards the rest of the Million Dollar Quartet, but you know what I mean). After that, it was a short jaunt to Hank Williams and Merle Haggard (who I prefer to Johnny Cash, in my standard contrarian manner), but I had no drive to explore further than there. I'm British: country is never going to be seen as cool over here. But I just looked up my stats, and country currently sits as my 5th favourite genre, with a flattering average of 4. The best album the generator's introduced to me is Time (The Revelator) by Gillian Welch, an astonishing exploration of Americana's potential. Much of the classic rock I relish openly declares its debt to country. So, I guess I like country. So where does The Last of the True Believers sit? A comfortable 4. Genuinely sweet rather than diabetes-inducing, and although a touch slight, The Last of the True Believers proves delightful throughout if you like country. If you don't, I don't think you'll gain much out of this, and that's fine: it's hardly an offence to dislike a style of music. I should say this is afflicted with that common ailment of 4-star albums: it's more a collection of very good songs than a cohesive album. But is that a fault per se? Hendrix's Are You Experienced is pretty much just a bounding-together of individual tracks, and I still consider that a masterpiece. Mind, Are You Experienced is a collection of some of the greatest songs ever, not just ones that are very good.

Brand new artist and album (to me), and I'm already over-the-moon in love after one full listen. I love Neko Case. And I "like" Alison Krauss. But I already know I'd take Nanci Griffith over either of them (although I'll still continue riding hard for Neko). What an unexpected hidden gem. Perhaps the only thing keeping me from rating it a 5 is I don't want to go all the way on the first date.

really liked it, great to hear some real country music not the cheesy soft-rock trucks guns n'Applebees travesty it has become. Will check out more of her stuff

I had never heard of Nanci Griffith but she is a gifted country singer/songwriter. It's easy to see how she influenced the likes of the Dixie Chicks. I'm personally not a fan of country though.

Some good Americana / Country has made it to the list. While not her best, this is a very good album and an example of how good the music coming out of Nashville was when the pop-Country fad started making waves and changing the genre for the worst. 4/5.

8/10. This was really nice

Right at the intersection of folk and country, which is a very nice place to be. The band are very tight, the vocals are flawless, the lyrics talk of an America that doesn't exist anymore (if it ever did). Wonderful

Lovey folk/country album.

Not a huge fan of country but I liked this

rimelig godt

I love her. I’ve seen her in concert, watched her host or appear on Austin City Limits a few times, and listened to her perform, particularly on ‘Other Voices, Other Rooms’, which sounds a bit like this album. She is wonderful. Yes, I still use the present tense with her despite her leaving her corporeal self behind about a year ago. And I love her.

Gezellige Nancy

Last of the true believers- Great opening track really setting vibe of album👍 Love at the five and dime- Sweet song about a slightly dysfunctional relationship👍 St Olavs gate- Didn’t stand out to me More than a whisper-Cute lyrics here Banks of the Pontchartrain- Very solid upbeat song👍 Lookin for the time- Like the live version more but this is still 👍 Goin’ Gone- Find the conceit pretty uninteresting here One of these days, Love’s found a shoulder- Perfectly charming songs Fly by night- Another great tune, love the carefree lyrics👍 Wing and the wheel- Doesn’t do much for me Very pleasant album, I love her vocals and there is some good tunes on the track list. Found a few of the slower tracks more boring, but that’s just personal preference. 4/5

Boss

Country music is dea-

Sadboy anthem

This is a wonderful little country album chock full of life. Wonderful storytelling is what I can best encapsulate this album. Enjoyable. That is another great word.

More Than A Whisper just knocked me on my ass

Lovely voice