Patty Griffin

Anyone who claims that the eccentric Juliana Hatfield is the best female songwriter to come from Boston's indie music community should really dig into Patty Griffin's discography. Albeit more folky than quirky, Griffin's sultry vocals, unraveling lyrics and melodic arpeggios all make for a hypnotizing chemistry that holds your attention every time she plays. She picked up a guitar and began playing at 16 but never took it seriously until she married and her husband encouraged her to play her music in front of an audience. Griffin made a demo tape which an A&R scout as sounding criticized overproduced. So she stripped it down and released it as her first album Living With Ghosts on A&M records in 1996.