The Last Of The True Believers

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

Lullabies for adults.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

I’ve never heard of Nanci Griffith before, but I tend to enjoy country music from this era, so I have some decently high expectations for this album. Granted, I had high hopes for Merle Haggard last week as well, and his album didn’t land with me. Let’s see what this album is all about! This album was a really pleasant surprise. The vocals were really great throughout the album, and were probably my favorite part of listening to this. I’m not exactly an expert on vocals, but it sounds to me like Nanci Griffith has a pretty good range to her voice, and I loved how she was able to sing softly but also with intensity when the moment called for it. On the title track, I loved the way she belted out the line “Comin’ up around the bend” towards the end of the song, but then she shifts right back to her soft and melodic singing for the rest of the song. The vocal harmonies were great too, but I’m glad that the album used them sparingly enough to where they were able to provide a little unexpected punch. The musical arrangements on this album were great too, and I enjoyed how this album had a lot of folk influences in its sound. The mandolin playing really stood out to me as well, but the other string instruments were great as well. The more up-tempo song were probably my favorites, like the title track, “Banks of the Pontchartrain,” “Fly By Night,” and “Lookin’ For The Time,” but the whole album was really great. I thought this album was really outstanding, and I’m really surprised that something as beautiful as this never found a really wide audience. This definitely beats the pants off of a lot of the country music this century, and I’d be quick to go back to this album in the future.

The Last of the True Believers I thought this was great, a sweet spot of country and folk and pop, where you can almost hear how the fiddle from traditional folk became the fiddle in country, and all tied together with her great voice and her smart takes on classic country stories and themes. It manages to skirt the edges of saccharine, MOR country, deftly hitting some of those touchpoints before skipping away, making it feel familiar but fresh at the same time. It really is a lovely 35 and I loved the first 6 songs in particular; the great, skittering opener, the melancholy Love at the Five and Dime, the almost Pogue-ian St Olav’s Gate, the very lovely More Than a Whisper, the picaresque Banks of the Pontchartrain and the how down of Lookin’ For the Time. The Wing and the Wheel is also excellent. An easy 4, something I’ll definitely return to. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Playlist submission: More Than a Whisper

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.

Good, but imho nothing special Country album.

another surprise; I'm really not into country but the songwriting on this is top shelf.

Hooked from the first ten seconds of the first song. Sweet voice, sweet lyrics, sweet fiddle. Would absolutely listen again.

Very good!

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

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.

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'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

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

Bello country

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

want on vinyl 10 10 10’s across the board

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

Stunning and raw new America country album.

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

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

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.

Well isnt this just flawless

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.

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.

cool

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

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

LOVE IT!

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

Country done right.

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.

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

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.

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:

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.

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 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.

9.5/10

Lovely - a twangy pleasure from start to finish.

Gorgeous and understated, wall-to-wall full of great songs. Maybe the shiniest hidden gem that the generator has treated me to. Best song: Love at the Five & Dime

Pleasantly surprised by this one. Loved it. What this list is all about exposing me to great music i never would have heard otherwise. top ten of new stuff.

I'm pretty new to country and folk music and WOW. What an amazing album. I'll definitely be adding Nanci Griffith to the rotation moving forward!

This is probably a four but the amount of stupid comments in the reviews and the amount of mediocre men I’ve had to listen to I’m giving it a 5.

Folksy old-school country with a voice reminiscent of Stevie Nicks. Loved it.

A beautiful collection of poignant, hopeful, uplifting, and emotion-invoking songs. I embraced country music many years ago under the influence of my parents and their friends, but later let it go to explore and appreciate other genres. This album may just have been the catalyst for a reconciliation. I will certainly add it to my Tidal library, and give it the full five stars.

Another lovely surprise

The vocals are so soft, tender, and beautiful. The instrumentation adds a really nice touch to the entire album. The lyrics are nice.

Marvellous

Angelic. 💙. 5

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

Best song - Love At The Five & Dime

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.

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.

Such a lovely voice and talented songwriter

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

Love her unique sound.

I love country music

Excellent

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

Loved this

Mmm 5

She is an American treasure. 5 stars.

utterly charming

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

Fucking awesome made me really sad

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.

Superb

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

Superb songwriting. Great performances. Masterful.

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

Okay wasn't expecting to enjoy it but I did??? I never listen to country music but when I do I somehow like the atmosphere:))

You know you're in for a treat when the first song of an album makes you want to sing along, even though it's the first time you've ever heard it. Sure, it's country - twangy, plenty of fiddle - with a woman singing - sweet, of course, though not *quite* saccharine. But the vocals are powerful, and instrumentals work together just *so*, and the storytelling in the songs is great. On top of that, the songs just flow from one to another with impeccable smoothness. A joy to listen to. Even if you're not a fan of the genre, it should be clear a lot of thought and heart went into the album, and that's something worth appreciating.

Sweet country voice

this was actually way better than i anticipated. mainly writing it off for being country. twas delightful

Contemporary Folksy Country, not Country and Western... Just great singer/songwriter vibes that could have been transplanted from Laurel Canyon in the late 60s.

Oh my god—country! But also beautiful.

Music for summer easygoing afternoons

Reminded me of that paper roses song. Very classic country and very good

Such great storytelling and Nanci's voice is incredible!

Fun listen. No bad songs.

If you like classic country with a touch of Old-time then you’ll really like this one. Some of the tracks seem decades ahead of their time, which is an odd thing to say about an Americana album.

A solid country album. Really enjoyed this one. Ashley thought it sounded like the Indigo Girls.

The Last Of The True Believers was my pet name for Len’s 14th and as it stands last wife! I do miss Belinda. 4.2

One of the great surprises on this list. Carole King/Carly Simon go country

Pretty good for a 80s country album. "Lookin' for the time" goes hard.

I really enjoyed this one.

Easy listen - I liked it very much :) Giving me Dolly vibes. The slide, the banjo, the fiddle, the whiskers and that smokey southern voice is just so pleasant, and makes me feel like I'm actually on a train pacing through America. I'm a sucker for country pop, it just sounds so good. Very nice and intelligent pop songwriting. I love that the melodies and lyrics in the choruses are so hooky, but also not trying to hard. It sounds so effortless. As a songwriter I think it's one of the most difficult things to do. Writing simple yet intriguing songs. It feels more like it's written by a team, than by one person (don't know it for a fact). A feeling I mostly dislike, but here it feels good. Like they had a good time writing. Favorite tracks: The Last Of The True Believers Love At The Five & Dime Banks Of The Pontchartrain Lookin' For The Time Going gone The Wing & The Wheel Eager to listen to her other stuff Giving it 4 for the good songs and the vibes. Not 5 because, yes, it is mildly too simple. Not that I don't like that. Like it does inspire me, but it doesn't surprise me at any times. And I don't feel like the album is exploring anything new. Unless it is some of the first of it's kind.