American Kid is the 7th solo album of singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, and her first since 2007 that contains all original material. She is strongly supported on the album by talented musicians Luther and Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars and Robert Plant, of Led Zeppelin fame. But to me, the album is all about Patty – her vocals and her brilliant song writing. The first and last songs on the album were inspired by her father and his impending death in 2009. "Go Wherever You Wanna Go" is a sweet and whimsical look at the afterlife – “no paying bills, going to work or breaking a sweat, but you can fly up to the moon, run a hundred miles just for fun or go wherever you want to go”. I especially liked "Don’t Let Me Die in Florida" and can’t imagine anyone not wanting to “rock out” while listening to it. The third song on the album, "Ohio" was named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the 100 Best Songs of 2013. It is a slow haunting duet with Robert Plant, based on the novel Beloved, by Toni Morrison.
Patty Griffin is a Grammy Award winner for her album Downtown Church. She was named Artist of the Year by the Americana Music Association in 2007 and her album Children Running Through was named Best Album that same year.