Griffith was the daughter of musical parents, and she 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. Griffith finally 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 Griffith for a compilation and later for her debut album, There's a Light Beyond These Woods (1978). Griffith's hectic touring 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, Nanci 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 -- Kathy Mattea's cover of "Love at the Five & Dime" reached number three in the Country charts. Though Land of the True Believers was nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary Folk Recording -- perhaps because of the fact -- commercial country radio still found it difficult to accept Griffith. She signed with MCA, and abandoned Nashville to begin recording in Los Angeles.

Nanci Griffith's major-label debut, Lone Star State of Mind, popularized the Julie Gold song "From a Distance" -- later covered by Bette Midler -- but also gave Griffith her first Country Top 40 hit, the title song. Two other singles from the album, "Trouble in the Fields" and "Cold Hearts/Closed Minds," also grazed the Country charts. Little Love Affairs and the live album One Fair Summer Evening (both 1988) were slight disappointments, though "I Knew Love" became Griffith's second Country Top 40 hit. MCA paired her with noted rock producer Glyn Johns for 1989's Storms; the album included guest stars Phil Everly, Albert Lee and former Eagle Bernie Leadon and became her best-seller, though it featured no successful singles. A move from rock to pop -- helped by producers Rod Argent and Peter Van Hook -- characterized Late Night Grande Hotel (1991); it was clear by then that Griffith's move away from Nashville was also compromising her folk and country roots.

A move to Elektra in 1992 marked a return to form for Griffith; her 1993 LP Other Voices, Other Rooms was a tribute to her influences, and several of them -- including Emmylou Harris, Chet Atkins and John Prine -- made appearances. A compilation release of her best from the MCA years also appeared in 1993. The following year, Griffith's tenth studio album Flyer continued her dedication to folk. In March of 1997, Griffith released Blue Roses from the Moons; Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) followed a year later.