Patty Griffin seems to inhabit a timeless era in her recordings. Each record sounds as if it could have been recorded either yesterday or 50 years ago, as a mix of immediacy and classic songwriting happily co-mingle from song to song. She is often described as a singer's singer or a songwriter's songwriter, which is just a fancy way of saying that she's good.

However, this timelessness also creeps into her release schedule. For many fans, it feels like an eternity that they've been waiting for a proper concert recording of the lady herself. Seeing Patty Griffin live is one of life's little joys, so the new DVD Live From The Artist's Den is good news indeed.

The set list for the recording is evenly split between tracks from her latest record and past favorites. As the concert was recorded on the eve of the release for Children Running Through, it comes off as a gratifying culmination of months of hard work, landing somewhere between presentation and release into the wild.

After a solo acoustic rendition of "You Never Get What You Want," things settle into a fine showcase for Griffin's new album. Highlights include the lilting country flavour of "Trapeze," the radiant "Burgundy Shoes" featuring Patty on the piano accompanied by a live string quartet, and a more upbeat romp through "No Bad News."

The setting for the show is in an old, converted synagogue. The dimly lit venue is augmented by candles, small tea lights struggling to reach the high ceiling above.

But the atmosphere is perfect for the intimate show of Patty with her small troupe of accompanists, feeding the souls of an appreciative crowd of New Yorkers who battled the winter chill to experience the warmth of some Flaming Red.

The concert ends with the beautiful "Top Of The World." Between the addition of string players and some able guitar work, the track builds and swells until it climaxes in an almost epic post-rock fashion. And although you want everything to keep going, it couldn't have ended on a better note.

The DVD itself is very stripped down. Aside from being able to skip straight to a song, your menu options are left to simply selecting either a stereo or 5.1 surround mix for the audio.

At just under 70 minutes for the DVD the set is also a bit stripped down especially considering that interviews with Patty begin the DVD and are interspersed between several songs. Although informative and somewhat interesting - at least the first time through - it would have been nice to include the interviews separately, so that repeat viewing of the concert could have been left to just the music.

But the minuses for the disc are overall very small, as it captures Patty in a grand light. Granted, you feel like the ride is just getting started when it suddenly ends, but hopefully this disc is the beginning of something and not the end. Here's to more Patty Griffin concerts and DVDs to come.