Crown of Roses [CD]

Patty Griffin’s new album, Crown of Roses, is a deeply personal and introspective work that explores themes of identity, nature, family, and womanhood. Emerging from a creative drought during the pandemic, Griffin—two-time Grammy winner and Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement honoree—found herself reevaluating the stories she’d long told herself. The result is an eight-track collection that is both sparse and emotionally rich, blending folk, Americana, and gospel blues.

Produced by long-time collaborator Craig Ross, the album features contributions from trusted bandmates David Pulkingham and Michael Longoria, and a haunting vocal cameo from Robert Plant. Griffin's vocal approach changed after cancer treatment, leading her to embrace a softer, more intimate style that reflects the vulnerability and strength woven through the songs.

Much of Crown of Roses is shaped by Griffin’s relationship with her late mother, whose love of music and nature left a lasting imprint. The album cover features her mother’s wedding photo, symbolizing their deepened bond in the last years of her life. Songs like “Born in a Cage” and “Way Up to the Sky” echo her mother’s observations of a vanishing natural world and Griffin’s own reckoning with mortality and legacy.

Griffin also confronts her past efforts to understand and please men, ultimately shifting her creative focus toward women’s experiences. She calls this her first album primarily concerned with women’s stories, signaling a liberating perspective change. Reflecting on her artistic journey, Griffin shares, “The older you get, you just get sick of yourself staying stuck.”

With Crown of Roses, Griffin offers a record that’s both grounded and transcendent—one that invites listeners to release old narratives, embrace new truths, and stay truly alive while they’re here.