Nanci Griffith’s Long Look Back

At a time when Ani DiFranco’s sexually and politically charged music is redefining what it means to be a folk artist, Nanci Griffith’s tender evocations of love lost and gained are beginning to sound a tad quaint. Her latest album, “Blue Roses From the Moons,” is typical of her recent recordings: It’s a work of sturdy craftsmanship and intermittent emotional effect. The same could be said of her performance at the Wiltern Theatre on Saturday, a far too leisurely stroll through the back pages of her 20-year career.

Griffith works the nether region between country and folk, but with a distinctly MOR slant. The dominant mode of the evening was heartfelt efficiency; the native Texan and her longtime band, the Blue Moon Orchestra, tackled everything with tasteful gentility and graceful restraint, which gave the performance a listless, soft-rock feel. Griffith’s mid-tempo, acoustic arrangements are starting to wear thin as well. Much of the new material she performed strayed so little from her previous output that it all began to sound interchangeable after a while.

The show kicked up a little dust when the Crickets, Buddy Holly’s legendary backup band, joined Griffith for a few numbers, including the theme to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” a song written by Crickets guitarist Sonny Curtis. But even they overstayed their welcome when Griffith yielded the stage for a nearly 40-minute set of oldies, which was followed by a longish intermission and a second unremarkable set by Griffith.