Refreshingly, Patty Griffin has subtle, scattered fine lines of maturity around her smiling, syrup-colored eyes.

And when she performs, she doesn’t sing about post-adolescent rebellion or lost relationships. And she definitely doesn’t fling her mane of hair in rampant female angst. In lieu of the recent overload of female artists who can’t even purchase a cocktail at their own venue, Griffin is a thirst quenching 32-year-old newcomer who is full of real catharsis and raw talent.

Griffin’s ruby-red hair and sparkly green dress illuminated the stage of 4th & B Saturday night. Playing a set limited to less than half of her A&M Records debut release, “Living with Ghosts,” Griffin’s presence was no less than an electric current through the venue because of her stark, true lyrics, guttural wail, and Bonnie Raitt-brand guitar strums.

“Diamonds, roses, I need Moses to cross this sea of loneliness, part this red river of pain,” Griffin laments in “Moses,” a sultry track about transitions and change. The majority of songs on “Ghosts” rides down the emotional highway with a melodically gifted voice behind the wheel.

A New England waitress who loved Bruce Springsteen and poetry, Patty Griffin bands with other respected female artists like Shawn Colvin and Paula Cole, blending experience with passion to make dreams come true and sprinkle inspiration among listeners along the way.

Griffin’s conversational eloquence rings clearest on “Mad Mission”: “It’s a mad mission under difficult conditions / Not everybody makes it to the loving cup / It’s a mad mission but I got the ambition / Mad, mad mission sign me up.”