Griffith takes note of past

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All the many years of her distinguished career, singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith has carried a torch for the great songs of yesterday — and with her latest album, 2006's "Ruby's Torch," the "folkabilly queen" finally got the chance to pay homage.

She culled together 11 tunes that, while they may not all hail from distant decades, play like reels of beloved old movies; they're intimate confessions steeped in longing that evoke simpler (not necessarily happier) times. To complete the nostalgic emotional effect, she wraps her plaintive vocals in rich symphonic arrangements.

Selections include melodies made famous by Frank Sinatra ("In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning") and Michael Johnson ("Bluer Than Blue"), several ditties penned by Tom Waits (such as "Grapefruit Moon") and one by Jimmy Webb ("If These Walls Could Speak"), and, of course, a few of her own cuts.

"This type of music is when you were a little kid and you're riding in the car and your parents are listening to the radio," she says.

No stranger to covers (1993's "Other Voices, Other Rooms") and orchestral backing (1999 "The Dust Bowl Symphony"), Miss Griffith's "Ruby" is not so much a reinvention as an exploration.

"I've dabbled in doing these kind of classic pop songs in the past, with one or two songs per record, and my audiences just love it." she says. "It just seemed like it was time to do this."

Since she landed her first gigs in Texas at the age of 14, Miss Griffith has had a strong sense of what to do and when to do it.

Her instincts have led to a spectacular run for nearly four decades that's seen her record more than 20 albums, seize three Grammys and provide fellow musicians with chart-topping hits (her "Love at the Five and Dime" thrust Kathy Mattea into the limelight, for one).

In 2003, Miss Griffith played the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. "Who knew?" she says, still somewhat slackjawed over the honor.

While her visibility and cachet have swelled, the musician says her songwriting technique has remained pretty much the same as it was when she was plucking her first strings. "You stick your hand out in the air when songs are flying by," she says, "and if you're lucky enough to catch them ..."