Legendary singer/songwriter Nanci Griffith will play in the Town Hall Theatre on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 August.

This week Lisa Regan speaks to Nanci about career highlights, her inspirations and that dream collaboration.

Whether performing her own poetically evocative material or the compositions of her influences, friends, and peers, Nanci Griffith possesses a powerful gift for inhabiting the songs she sings - for communicating unspoken intimacy and heartache through her tender voice and lilting, delicate phrasing.

At the outset of a career that has now spanned nearly three decades, Griffith first emerged as a writer of startling depth and subtlety, crafting sparse uncluttered vignettes that revealed a wealth of emotion in even the most humble of characters and settings. With her gifts as a songwriter lending invaluable insight, Griffith has also grown into a formidable interpreter of other people's songs, as demonstrated on such albums as the Grammy Award-winning Other Voices, Other Rooms.

Is this your first time performing in Galway?

No, but it has been a number of years since I last played there.

You have achieved so much success throughout your career, what has been the highlight so far?

I've really been blessed throughout my career, but I think it would probably be performing in Vietnam and Kosovo during my trips there with the Vietnam Veterans Association of America.

Your music falls under many genres but predominately under folk music, how did you begin to sing and become involved in music?

I started singing and playing guitar as a teenager. Growing up I'd been influenced by my parents' love of music, and was most inspired by the music of Townes van Zandt, and especially Buddy Holly and The Crickets.

What type of music do you like to listen to?

Lately I've been listening a lot to my friend Elizabeth Cook, and also Todd Snider.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

As the great songwriter Harlan Howard liked to say, (paraphrasing) I'm just lucky enough to catch the good songs as they fly past my window.

Do you prefer touring, writing or performing?

I like them both actually, but right now I'm enjoying performing for the fans.

If you could perform with any artist or group who would that be?

The Crickets! But I've already been lucky enough to have played with them many times.

Tickets, €42 are available from 091-569777. Doors are open at 7.30pm on Thursday and at 8pm on the Friday.

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