Ohio boy Griffin House never grew up dreaming of his future career in the music industry. But all on his own he has built an impressive library of records, relationships, and great stories on his belated journey to musicianship within the past 10 years.
At 18 years of age, Griffin decided to take his life in a new direction. Refusing a golf scholarship, a sport that had been a big part of his life up until then, and throwing caution to the wind in pursuit of a newborn passion and love for making music, he said goodbye to his hometown to frequent Philadelphia for six months before moving to the city of music itself, Nashville. However, the local music scene here was nothing like it is today. Country and Christian artists played upon their monopoly in Griffin’s eyes, and this newcomer unknowingly became the first wolf in the pack to fight for his right as a singer/songwriter without either one of these labels.
“I have a constant need to go my own route… when I went away to college I saw it as an opportunity to reinvent myself.”
This reinvention drew him quickly to the public eye, and within only a couple of months of kick-starting his career in Nashville he began receiving interest calls from companies and agents in New York and L.A.
“I never said to myself I want a career in music. I don’t want to work on my career, I just want to jam!” he admitted to me, laughing out loud.
For Griffin, his pursuit of music has always been rooted in the love of music more than the responsibility of making it. “When I look back now I realize the purity of it, that I began to run after my career because I just wanted to love it and share it.”
Upon looking back at the past decade, Griffin had this to say:
“I think I can say this about my experience here: I’m grateful that I followed my instincts to move here when I did, because if I had waited for ten years I don’t know if I would have ever gotten such a helpful start. I do feel like I owe so much to this city, it has been such a great place to launch my career. What’s cool is now I am able to really see everything that’s changed, and I’ve had a girl in my life for ten years now and as that has changed me continually as the city has also been growing and changing. It wouldn’t have been good for me to not change with it. After living here for this long, I think I can call Nashville home.”
Griffin’s latest album Balls, a savory reflection and compilation of raw emotions, gives a renewed sense of how to sing and songwrite the elements that make up life. For new comers and old appreciators, you can find this album on iTunes or Amazon or grab yourself a physical copy.
Get some balls and check out more about Griffin here:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Interview and article by: Kaitlyn Crocker, EVOLve magazine
