The Bush administration had a detrimental effect on Nanci Griffith [ tickets ]. A prolific country-folk songwriter for decades, she went through five years of stifled creativity--a first for her.

Griffith rediscovered her muse--which can be heard on her 19th album, "The Loving Kind," released Tuesday (6/09) by Rounder Records--by reading non-fiction and talking with fellow songwriters.

"I don't co-write very often, but I did it on this album with people I know very well," she told a crowd Monday (6/08) at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles, one of a handful of promotional appearances for the album. "Those [writers] came into my living room and asked, 'What have you been jotting down? Have you had any thoughts about Texas?'"

Her thoughts about Texas centered on two people--President Lyndon Johnson and the late Townes Van Zandt--as well as her own family of West Texas farmers.

"That got the ball rolling," she said. "My first few years, I drove myself across America and handled everything--I was my own manager, booker, publicist. That was a great experience for me; you're always in touch with people and fans and not surrounded by anything. You learn to be your own artist.

"[Producer Thomm Jutz] brought that up to me and I went and wrote 'Across America,' which I think is the most singable song on the album."
Prior to her museum appearance, Griffith spoke with LiveDaily about writer's block, mentors and using newspaper stories as source material for songs.

LiveDaily: In the liner notes of your new album “The Loving Kind” (Rounder), there is talk about you going through about five years of writer’s block. How did you finally recover from that?

Nanci Griffith: It lasted through the Bush administration. The direction the country went in for four years led me into severe depression and my pen went into the sand. The election [of Barack Obama] brought out the acceptance of hope and a new direction. When I went to Europe, I wasn’t embarrassed about my country. It opened up hope for me and allowed me to take my pen out of the sand.

Was this a new experience or had you felt, as you say, your pen was in the sand?

I had never had any kind of block; I was always prolific. As I matured, I edited myself. But this was terribly depressing and I didn’t have a clue as to how to get out of it.

For several songs on the new album, you turned to non-fiction. Were those among the ones that helped you break the block or the more introspective numbers?

I have always been a writer dealing with social issues. I got out of this rut by reading newspapers prolifically. "The Loving Kind" came out of me reading about the death of Mildred Loving; "Not Innocent Enough," the Philip Workman story, came from reading about it.

While you have always blended folk and country styles, this album leans much more to traditional country music.

My style has always been basic country, influenced heavily by Loretta Lynn. That’s where my head always goes.

But is that intentional in very case? Considering the subject matter, some of these songs sound like they could work in a folk context. Did you try various arrangements?

Songs melodically write themselves--it all comes at the same time, the words and the melody. It’s a mystery. Basically, I follow the old-fashioned [model]: Prose should read like music and music should read like prose.

This is your 19th album in 31 years. What separates it from the pack?

What distinguishes this is it’s a return to the old me, musically and production-wise. I am coming out of a writer’s slump and writing things I never thought I would write.

When you say “the old me,” I instantly think of your early years in Texas. Obviously, you have recorded songs from writers of various backgrounds and become entrenched in Nashville. Do all of those experiences alter your perception of yourself as an artist?

I still feel very much a Texas songwriter. I think that’s just embedded in anyone who comes from Texas. Roy Orbison said it best: when you grow up in Texas, you have to use your imagination for everything in life because there is nothing to look at. That will always be there for me and for Guy Clark. And it was there for Townes Van Zandt.

The new album has two songs written by Dee Moeller: "Party Girl" and "Tequila After Midnight." You refer to her as a hero of yours in the album’s liner notes. How did that come to be?

Dee Moeller was a major influence. As a teenager in Texas, when I heard her music--and it was championed by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson ("Slow Movin’ Outlaw")--it sounded like it had always been there. We did a radio show and talked about what it means as an artist to have a mentor.

She’s at the top of the list?

Over the years, there have been many. Townes Van Zandt was a great mentor. But it’s Dee’s influence and her style that is always part of my heart.

Most of your concert dates are August through November. It’s a ways off, but do you have a plan for how you will integrate the new songs into your shows?

It kind of naturally takes place. It’s what’s people write in and ask for and where my heart is. With this tour, I plan to do a majority of the record.