Hailed by Rolling Stone as “the Queen of Folkabilly,” Nanci Griffith’s folk and country roots have taken her from Austin’s Hole-In-The-Wall bar to Carnegie Hall, Grand Ole Opry and London’s Royal Albert Hall; from an 8-year-old girl in Texas learning to play guitar from a television instructor to a woman of the world, visiting and performing in Vietnam, Cambodia and Kosovo in support of the abolition of landmines.

Griffith performs with her band at the Napa Valley Opera House on Monday at 8 p.m.  Tickets are $40 and $45. 

The torchbearer of a music that brings together folk and country, the female sensibility of a new genre that embraced the likes of Lyle Lovett, Dwight Yoakam and Steve Earle, Griffith has written such classics as “Gulf Coast Highway,”  “Love at the Five and Dime and “Outbound Plane.” In turn, she was the first to record Julie Gold’s Grammy-winning classic “From a Distance.” She has received five Grammy nominations, three as a solo artist (winning once) and twice for performances on albums by the Chieftains (winning once).

Griffith’s latest CD, “Ruby’s Torch,” brings together Griffith originals and a selection of material from some of her favorite writers,  with Griffith’s longtime band the Blue Moon Orchestra.

The title “Ruby’s Torch” is a tribute to torch songs, ballads of love, regret and loss.  “Recording an entire record of torch songs has been a dream come true for me,” she said, “and something my listeners have been asking me to do for many years.”

Nanci Griffith

The Napa Valley Opera House

Monday, April 16, 8 p.m.

Tickets: $40, $45

Box office: 226-7372