Patty Griffin

What’s the easy way to identify the smartest country music stars? They cover Patty Griffin songs. The redheaded singer/songwriter has a knack for stories about troubled hearts laid bare, set to wistful melodies drawing on traditional folk and country music. She’s also capable of tossing in bursts of three-minute rock ’n’ roll. Her songs have launched or helped cement the careers of the Dixie Chicks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Martina McBride, and a raft of other brainy babes. Now forty-three, Griffin is a star in her own right, one firmly entrenched within the alternative folk and country music communities; no doubt tunes from her new blues-tinged album will make a few others famous as well.