The two multi-award winners are on a joint tour
Two musical icons took the stage on Columbus Day (Oct 13th) at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Music City. This tour is a rare chance to see two of America’s most lauded singer-songwriters.
Jones went first, her pure-yet-sharp and singed vocals rising to the very top of the Mother Church’s vaunted rafters. Accompanied and accentuated by a three-piece band—Particularly the soft bongos and drum brushes of Mike Dylan—Jones was equal measures pensive and irreverent (“Altar Boy”) and wondrously sincere (“Chuck E.’s in Love.”)
Along the way, Jones shared her inner thoughts in an endearing, childlike voice. A solemn utterance, though, was when Jones seemed humbled to be playing the Ryman. “This is the cathedral,” she said in almost a whisper. The crowd responded enthusiastically.
Jones’ voice is in pristine shape, and the foursome understood it was the star of the show. And that voice seemed to drive its vessel. More than once, Jones called for a song she hadn’t played in years. “Let’s do another song I haven’t rehearsed with these guys,” she deadpanned at one point.
If the cornerstone of Rickie Lee Jones’ set was the light percussion, Patty Griffin’s was marked by an unapologetic, crunchy electric sound from guitarist David Pulkingham to her left. A standout for both Griffin and Pulkingham was the bluesy “Gunpowder,” with an infectious energy that rippled through the crowd.
There were beautifully soft moments too, such as “The End,” from Griffin’s 2025 album Crown of Roses. In these moments, her phrasing has the distinct ability to start as a statement, falling gently into the melody. It’s an emotive-forward way of singing, which in turn made everyone lean forward in their pews.
The standout of Griffin’s sonically expansive set was another 2025 song, “Long Time.” It was inspired by a news report about a family in Palestine, Griffin told the crowd, and by the 11-year-old in that family now thrust into the responsibilities of adulthood. It started with a haunting note that echoed the desert region as Griffin pulled the string of her acoustic guitar. The performance of “Long Time” was made all the more prescient on this day, which saw the president visit the Middle East to officially mark the end of fighting in the two-year-long Gaza war.
Griffin took to a grand piano at the back of the stage for the spiritually contemplative “Mother of God.” It encapsulated the kind of storytelling both Griffin and Rickie Lee Jones are beloved for; so personal and yet, somehow, at the same time, so universal. The exact type of music that belongs inside music’s Mother Church.
