Clearly Nanci Griffith doesn’t put much stock in the notion of “anxiety of influence.” Rather than try to obscure the faces of the artists who have inspired her, the singer-songwriter came up with the idea of Other Voices, Other Rooms, a celebration of what she calls “the family tree of the songs, voices and writers whose music so firmly gave me roots and the strength to branch out on my own as a writer.” Luckily for this album, Griffith’s tree is a full one, and Other Voices, Other Rooms is a kind of fantasy folk festival with performances by Griffith, Emmylou Harris, Arlo Guthrie, John Prine, Bela Fleck and Chet Atkins—and many more. The combinations are charming: Guy Clark chimes in on Woody Guthrie’s “Do Re Mi,” Leo Kottke strums out the Weavers’ “Wimoweh,” and Bob Dylan contributes harmonica to his own “Boots of Spanish Leather.”

Along with being a well-crafted collaborative work, Other Voices, Other Rooms is simply a great idea for an album. Music industry phrases like “new country” and “new folk” erase the notion of creative debts owed from performer to performer, and in these selections, Griffith smartly nods to contemporaries as well as heroes of the past. While she is introducing new listeners to the work of Malvina Reynolds, Tom Paxton and Townes Van Zandt, Griffith the singer emerges through these songs as a distinct interpreter with an uncommonly generous spirit.