Patty Griffin Comes Around to Sigur Ros

Singer-songwriter Patty Griffin admits she's been a little stodgy when it comes to new music. "When you get to a certain age you go, 'You guys have the Strokes and we had the Replacements,'" she tells Spinner. And she made that same argument with a friend who tried to turn her onto Sigur Ros, until she was forced to come around. "I was watching some movie [with] a Sigur Ros piece and it kind of me hit over the head," she says.

Sigur Ros was one of several eclectic influences that played a part in her new album, 'Children Running Through.' "A lot of the music I listened to wasn't in English. I listened to this Cuban group called Jesus Alemany," she says. "Also, the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duets were a big template for me. Duets are really hard to write and those -- especially the Ashford and Simpson duets that they sing -- are so brilliant."

And who would be her dream vocal partners? "I really love raspy voices. I got to sing a duet with Willie Nelson a few years ago and that was pretty great," she says laughing.