Nanci Griffith, born Nanci Caroline Griffith is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.

A self-styled "folkabilly" singer, Griffith began as a kindergarten teacher and occasional folksinger. The country scene took her to heart in the mid-'80s, giving her a reputation as a quality songwriter through hit covers of her songs by Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss. Finding no luck with commercial country radio however, she recorded several pop-oriented albums and then returned to her folk roots by the mid-'90s.

Nanci spent her childhood involved with theater and literature as well as music. She began playing clubs around Austin at the tender age of 14 and continued to perform during her college years at the University of Texas and even while she taught kindergarten in the mid-'70s.

She decided to make music her full-time ambition in 1977. Her songwriting won an award at the Kerrville Folk Festival, prompting the local label BF Deal to record her for a compilation and later for her debut album, There's a Light Beyond These Woods (1978). Her tour schedule took her all over North America, playing festivals and TV shows in addition to the small clubs in which she had begun. Meanwhile, she recorded albums in 1982 (Poet in My Window) and 1985 (Once in a Very Blue Moon).

Finally, in 1986, Griffith got her big break after moving to Nashville. The title song from Once in a Very Blue Moon placed modestly on the country charts, she released the acclaimed Last of the True Believers on Philo (the label that later reissued her first three albums), and -- most importantly -- Mattea's cover of "Love at the Five & Dime" reached No. 3 on the country charts. Last of the True Believers was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary Folk Recording, but commercial country radio still found it difficult to accept her.

She signed with MCA and released her major-label debut, Lone Star State of Mind, in 1987